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recitals Becoming (or, is there life after opera?)
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Demi-Monde
Stephen Chen, Mezzo
Christopher Foley, Piano
Fri, 17 Nov 2006 | 8:00 PM | Heliconian Hall
35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto, ONAct I
Faure - Automne
Brahms - Die MainachtRomanticism as a cultural movement emerged during the sweeping social changes of the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Hence it is not surprising that the themes of nostalgia and being lost would resonate with the legions of the newly-dispossessed. Faure's Automne embodies this nostalgic regret for a (rose-tinted) simpler past, while Brahm's Die Mainacht expresses the sense of displacement and interruption of daily life through the Romantic device of (melodramatic) lost love.
Chen - Tanka I (Nameless Stream)
Webber - I'd be Surprisingly Good for You (Evita) / Nothing Like You've Ever Known (Tell Me on a Sunday)Before Cats, Lloyd Webber wrote songs that melded adult situations with a pop sensibility. Yossano Akiko marked the birth of the modern female voice in Japan through her activism and poetry; instead of silence or veiled allusions as the times dictated, she transformed the tanka form to express the prosaic and "degraded" thoughts and desires of every (wo)man.
Chen - Behind Joy and Laughter (De Profundis)
Bach - Erbame Dich (St. Matthew's Passion)Oscar Wilde's last letter written in prison (De Profundis) is a massive tome that vacillates between rage and stoicism about his situation; how despite his talent and success, he is still marginalized by society due to his sexuality. In Bach's St Matthew's Passion, the alto solos intervene for the characters narrating the Passion. Although these are some of the most gorgeous music every written, it is worth noting that the alto solos are reserved for repentance - which makes it an early example of the association of the low female voice with degradation.
Brown - Stars and the Moon (Songs for a New World)
In the 19th century, demimonde was used to refer to women on the fringes of respectable society with extravagant lifestyles supported by wealthy lovers. Jason Robert Brown's song reinterprets this theme for contemporary times.
Rossini - Cruda Sorte! Amor Tiranno! (L'italiana in Algeri)
Rachmaninoff - Prelude Op.26 No. 4 [Chris Foley, Piano]Rossini's comic heroines are proto-feminist archetypes by constantly outwitting a central (oppressive) male figure. In Cruda Sorte Isabella is captured by the Algerians; tje slow cavatina opening is a conventional lament at her cruel fate and longing for her lover. However, as the fast cabaletta section begins, she summons up courage and assesses the situation. Realizing that all men are susceptible to the charms of a pretty woman, Isabella resolves to use her "fragile sensuality" against her male captors.
Saint-Saens - Mon Coeur s'ouvre ta Voix (Samson et Dalila)
Delilah is one of two women in the biblical canon that gets her way (in a manner of speaking). Like Isabella, she transforms the perceived "weakness" of her gender into her source of power in Saint-Saen's aria of calculated seduction.
