Pedrito Martinez: Ay Amor

Pedrito Martinez: Ay Amor

It’s really summer now. When August first rolls around, the end of summer is in sight. But, we still have a delicious month left before the kids (and many of the grown ups)  go back to school, and back to their quotidian routines. But since we have a month, this week...
Samuel Barber:  Knoxville: Summer of 1915

Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915

Soon after Samuel Barber was commissioned by soprano Eleanor Steber to compose a work for her, he stumbled upon a long prose poem by James Agee, published in The Partisan Review. “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” was a deceptively simple piece that, as its author later...
Charles Aznavour:  Yesterday When I Was Young

Charles Aznavour: Yesterday When I Was Young

Lena Horne developed into one of America’s most unique singers, but she didn’t start out that way.  From her Cotton Club debut (at the age of 16) through her galley years as one of MGM’s first black stars, Horne was required to be glamorous and unexpressive, a sort of...
Francis Poulenc:  Les Chemins de l’Amour

Francis Poulenc: Les Chemins de l’Amour

Shortly after the 1940 Nazi invasion of France, Francis Poulenc was asked to write incidental music for a light drama by Jean Anouilh, Léocadia. It starred the celebrated French actress and singer Yvonne Printemps, and Poulenc took advantage of her presence in the...
Rodgers & Hammerstein:  A Wonderful Guy

Rodgers & Hammerstein: A Wonderful Guy

When Mary Martin died in 1990, the headline of her New York Times obituary called her “the first lady of musicals.”  Probably now unknown by anyone younger than 40, Martin was, in her time, one of the most famous performers in the United States, and the creator of two...