Published on Jul 25, 2012 by minacciosa
The timeless theme composed by David
Raksin for the 1944 film "Laura", with the Classic FM MTEL Orchestra
conducted by John McLaughlin Williams in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
John McLaughlin Williams Conducts 1944 Film Theme 'Laura' by David Raksin, in Sofia, Bulgaria
Laura - Theme by David Raksin (6:27) on YouTube
Reminder: The Harlem Chamber Players in Free Outdoor Concert Friday, July 27, 2012 at Noon
Free Outdoor Concert
Summer on the Hudson Lunchtime Listen Series
Featuring The Harlem Chamber Players
with Conductor Tali Makell
Friday, July 27, 2012 at 12 Noon
West Harlem Piers Park
130th and the Hudson
Mozart and Beethoven Wind Serenades
Mozart Serenade in E-flat Major, K. 375
Selections from Mozart Così fan tutte arranged for Wind Octet
1st Movement from Beethoven Wind Octet in E-flat Major
'Scott Joplin Treemonisha' is Stereophile Recording of the Month of August 2012
Recording of the MonthRecording of August 2012: Joplin: Treemonisha
• Jul 25, 2012
Joplin: Treemonisha
Anita Johnson, soprano; AnnMarie Sandy, mezzo-soprano; Chauncey Packer,
Robert Mack, tenors; Edward Pleasant, high baritone; Darren Stokes,
Frank Ward Jr., basses; others; Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Singers,
Rick Benjamin
New World 80720-2 (2 CDs). 2012. Judith Sherman, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 99:06
Performance ****
Sonics *****
The great ragtime composer Scott Joplin had grander ambitions than just
the magnificent miniatures for piano he's famous for. When he died, in
1917, he had spent much of the previous 10 years polishing and
campaigning for his full-length opera, Treemonisha, the
piano-vocal score for which he had published in 1911. Joplin had studied
classical composition and notation with a German scholar who had
happened to settle in his hometown of Texarkana, Arkansas; lore has it
that Julius Weiss gave young Joplin lessons in exchange for Mrs.
Joplin's services as a laundress. Treemonisha is
through-composed, with sophisticated harmonies clearly influenced by
European teachings, but it also incorporates early-jazz beats ,
proto-blues sounds, odd syncopations, occasional Victorian-type
ballads, African-American folk and pop music, and moments that recall
field hollers and revival meetings—in short, all of the music of the
Black experience in America is represented. The amalgam is strange,
wonderful, and vastly entertaining. Treemonisha is also the only
extant opera concerned with the post–Civil War African-American
experience written by someone who had experienced it firsthand. Joplin
also wrote the libretto, which is stunningly naãve; the opera will never
be confused with a masterpiece (it's no Boris Godunov or Don Giovanni), but it's an instant pleasure, and the more one listens, the richer it gets. And as a historical document, it's crucial.
This is not Treemonisha's first recording. In 1975, Gunther
Schuller orchestrated the work Ö la grand opera, and it was presented at
the Houston Grand Opera to great critical acclaim; indeed, I still love
that recording, which Schuller conducted. But on this new set,
conductor and scholar Rick Benjamin has attempted to perform the opera
as it would have been heard 100 years ago, using what was then
colloquially known as "eleven + pno": flute (doubling piccolo),
clarinet, two cornets (in place of trumpets), trombone, violin, viola,
cello, double bass, period percussion, and piano. (Schuller used a banjo
as well; Benjamin does not, arguing that Joplin would not have wanted
anything so closely related to the minstrel tradition.) This does
wonders for the work: where Schuller gave us big, rockin' effects,
Benjamin offers transparency that allows Joplin's tunes to emerge, and
makes the recitatives (there is no spoken dialogue) less stilted and
more human.
John Malveaux: 'Opera's Next Wave to sing in Los Angeles during 150th Anniversary Emancipation Proclamation'
[Latonia Moore as Aida at the Met
© Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera 2012]
Opera News
August 2012
Opera's Next Wave
Soprano LATONIA MOORE
Opera's Next Wave
Soprano LATONIA MOORE
There are so few sopranos who seem able to lay claim to the Italian repertoire that there is bound to be plenty of
excitement when one breaks through. That happened on March 3 of this
year, when Latonia Moore made an unexpected debut at the Metropolitan Opera, filling in for an indisposed Violeta Urmana in the title role of Aida.
Moore has a gleaming spinto sound, with thrilling cut, a wide range of
vocal colors and a stunning pianissimo. She first attracted major
attention in Opera Orchestra of New York's 2008 presentation of
Puccini's Edgar, with a beautiful performance of Fidelia's
aria, "Addio, mio dolce amor," stealing thunder from her celebrated
costars Marcello Giordani and Jennifer Larmore.
Moore is a born stage performer: she knows how to swell a note, how
to caress a phrase, how to take her time. At a recital at New York's
Weill Hall in 2007, she made the bold choice to open with Tatiana's
letter scene from Eugene Onegin, and by the time she ended with "O mio babbino caro," the audience was under her spell.
'Chi-chi: Tales from the Bass Line' will premiere at the Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago Aug. 5 & 6
[Chi-chi Nwanoku]
Sergio Mims of WHPK-FM Chicago writes:
Following up I have some more news about double bass player Chi-chi
Nwanoku. Filmmaker Barrie Gavin's wonderful documentary about her,
Chi-chi: Tales from the Bass Line, which you have profiled before on AfriClassical, will makes its U.S. premiere at the Black
Harvest Film Festival in Chicago next month.
As the description of the film says "the effervescent and indomitable Chi-chi recounts the hurdles
she faced growing up as a mixed-race child and scaling the musical
establishment in Britain, interspersed with luscious performances of
Haydn, Berlioz, Elgar, Dvorak, and others."
And I can definitely
attest to the fact, having seen it more than once now, that it is a
wonderful captivating film that truly captures the spirit and personality
of Chi-chi.
The film will screen Sunday August 5 at 5:15 PM and Monday Aug 6 at 6:15 PM at the Gene Siskel Film Center in downtown Chicago.
Here's a brief video clip from the film
For more info about the film, the festival and to get tickets go to siskelfilmcenter.org
Sergio
THANKS!!!!! I forwarded the post to Chi-chi. We hope everyone comes out to see this film. It's terrific and quite moving towards the end. Sergio [Sergio Mims]
South African Broadcasting Corp.: 'Well wishes pour in as Mandela turns 94'
John Malveaux of www.MusicUNTOLD.com sends the above photo.
South African Broadcasting Corporation
Wednesday 18 July 2012
Well wishes are streaming in from all over the world in celebration
of the 94th birthday of former president Nelson Mandela today.
President Jacob Zuma has joined millions of people across the country
and the world in wishing his presidential predecessor, a happy birthday.
Zuma has praised Mandela for his contribution to South Africa and
pledged that the ANC will continue fight poverty, unemployment and
inequality. Zuma has also urged South Africans to heed Mandela's call
to make South Africa a better place.
He also says the party has committed itself to keeping alive former
president Nelson Mandela's values of unity, non-racialism,
reconciliation and human compassion.
Madiba is spending the day with family and close friends at his rural home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape
Zuma says South Africa will continue to strive for
social cohesion and nation building as evidenced at the recent Social
Cohesion Summit in Kliptown, Soweto: "We hope that all those that share
these ideals will contribute to the process that we began in Kliptown in
honour of Madiba. We urge all our people to also personally contribute
by doing good deeds as called upon by Madiba to make our country and the
world a better place for all. Happy Birthday Madiba."
US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and former US President Bill Clinton have paid tribute to Mandela.
Opera Theatre of St. Louis: Composer Terence Blanchard and Playwright Michael Cristofer to Premiere New Opera in 2013
Opera Theatre of St. Louis
May 16, 2012
Five-Time Grammy Award-Winning Composer Terence
Blanchard and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Michael Cristofer to
Premiere New Opera at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Patrick McCoy, Examiner.com: 'U. S. State Department taps Nolan Williams to lead cultural envoy to Egypt'
[Nolan Williams, Jr.]
Patrick D. McCoy
July 24, 2012
July 24, 2012
The Washington, D. C. based NEWorks Productions has
informed the D. C. Performing Arts Examiner that Nolan E. Williams, Jr.
as been tapped by the U. S. State Department to lead a cultural envoy
to Cairo, Egypt. He will lead an impressive ensemble of nine singers on the tour. which includes 2012 Helen Hayes Award winner Nova Tate, Washington National Opera soprano Samantha McElhaney and gospel recording artist Vanessa
Williams. Completing the ensemble are Dennis Sawyers, Victoria Purcell,
Byron Nichols, Danton Whitley, Iyona Blake, and Joy Swafford.
The NEWorks Inspirational Voices will represent the United States as cultural envoys, singing for the Fifth Annual Sufi and Chanting Festival, an international festival sponsored by Egypt's Ministry of Culture.
Washington National Opera soprano Samantha McElhaney shared about the
invitation. "It is an opportunity of a lifetime. When Nolan asked, I
could not turn it down. To even go to represent the United States is a
blessing. It is the essence of of my career. I feel it is my calling
to sing for many nations. So for this to be an international festival
and singing for it, I am living out my career. Many are called and
few are chosen, and I am blessed to be chosen." the soprano said from
her home
.
Willliams is certainly excited about the invitation and reflected
further. "When I first received an email from a State Department
official inquiring if I would be interested in this tour, I was
absolutely thrilled, to say the least. I had long hoped to become
connected with their cultural exchange programs and had planned to one
day apply. It is gratifying to know the work that I have been doing has raised a
level of attention that incited this prestigious invitation." he said.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Soprano Pia Broden Williams in concert performance of 'The Will: A Civil War Drama' July 27, Lansing, Michigan
[Pia Broden Williams]
At 7:30 PM Friday, July 27, 2012 Soprano Pia Broden Williams will perform in a concert performance of The Will: A Civil War Drama, written by Sandra Seaton and directed by John Lepard, with music by Erik Santos. The performance will take place at the Michigan Library & Historical Center Forum, 702 W Kalamazoo St, Lansing, Michigan.
Soprano Pia Broden
Williams is becoming known for “the sheer beauty of her sound” (thefim.org).
She has appeared as Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann in New York; and other roles include
Adina and Madame Silverpeale. Ms. Williams is a frequent soloist with the
Flint Symphony Orchestra, singing the soprano solo for Mahler’s Symphony
No. 4 in the 2010-2011 season, as well as appearing in several Pops concert
broadcasts. She made her European debut in 2010 in concert appearances in
France and Austria where she was a semi-finalist in the annual International Meistersinger
Vocal Competition. Ms. Williams holds a Master of Music degree from
Michigan State University in vocal performance and dual Baccalaureate degrees
from the University of Michigan in vocal performance and philosophy.
WHPK-FM Plays Hyperion CD of Nigerian/Irish double bass player Chi-chi Nwanoku in Dittersdorf Concertos July 25 12-3 PM
[Chi-chi Nwanoku]
On April 28, 2012 AfriClassical posted:
'Tales from the Bass Line' about the Nigerian/Irish classical double bassist, teacher and broadcaster Chi-chi Nwanoku
Sergio Mims of WHPK-FM Chicago writes:
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