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Samuel Barber, songster
Lyric Fest's tribute to Barber's songs
Lyric Fest's tribute to Samuel Barber presented the most extensive look at his song output most of us will ever encounter.
Barber liked to sing, and his vocal works form an important part of his output. But many of the programs celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth have included only one or two songs.
Lyric Fest, by contrast, presented 19 solo songs and seven works for multiple voices, sung by Donald Nally's chamber ensemble, The Crossing. The program added a major, highly entertaining contribution to the Barber centennial, and Lyric Fest is the only organization in the Philadelphia region that could have put it together.
As a songwriter, Barber didn't bless us with catchy melodies. But his settings always suit the words, and his piano accompaniments create appropriate moods and include unexpected touches. He can add a slight touch of honky-tonk to a passage from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake and transform the simplicity of A.E. Houseman's eight-line poem, With Rue My Heart is Laden, into one of the starkest statements of human mortality I've heard.
Barber's choral works achieve their effects by the way he elaborates the text and plays the different sections of the chorus against each other. Donald Nally wrote his Ph.D. thesis on Barber's vocal works; this week he demonstrated, once again, that he's assembled some of the best voices in the region and given them the kind of knowledgeable leadership they deserve.
Veteran baritone William Stone added a vigorously masculine touch to the pieces he sang, and his soprano and mezzo-soprano colleagues all produced peak moments. Laura Ward, as always, made full use of the opportunities the composer built into his accompaniments.
Barber liked to sing, and his vocal works form an important part of his output. But many of the programs celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth have included only one or two songs.
Lyric Fest, by contrast, presented 19 solo songs and seven works for multiple voices, sung by Donald Nally's chamber ensemble, The Crossing. The program added a major, highly entertaining contribution to the Barber centennial, and Lyric Fest is the only organization in the Philadelphia region that could have put it together.
As a songwriter, Barber didn't bless us with catchy melodies. But his settings always suit the words, and his piano accompaniments create appropriate moods and include unexpected touches. He can add a slight touch of honky-tonk to a passage from James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake and transform the simplicity of A.E. Houseman's eight-line poem, With Rue My Heart is Laden, into one of the starkest statements of human mortality I've heard.
Barber's choral works achieve their effects by the way he elaborates the text and plays the different sections of the chorus against each other. Donald Nally wrote his Ph.D. thesis on Barber's vocal works; this week he demonstrated, once again, that he's assembled some of the best voices in the region and given them the kind of knowledgeable leadership they deserve.
Veteran baritone William Stone added a vigorously masculine touch to the pieces he sang, and his soprano and mezzo-soprano colleagues all produced peak moments. Laura Ward, as always, made full use of the opportunities the composer built into his accompaniments.
What, When, Where
Lyric Fest: Samuel Barber, songs and choral works. Michelle Johnson, Randi J. Marrazzo, sopranos; Emily Bullock, Suzanne DuPlantis, mezzo-sopranos; William Stone, baritone; The Crossing (chorus); Donald Nally, conductor. October 24, 2010 at First Presbyterian Church, 21st and Chestnut Sts. (215) 438-1702 or www.lyricfest.org.
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