written by

Aleba Gartner

Founder of Aleba & Co Public Relations
Phil Kline:  Been to Hell

Phil Kline: Been to Hell

I’m including a Zippo Song for sentimental reasons—Phil Kline and I met via this album in 2004, when I was publicizing Bang on a Can and its record label Cantaloupe, which put out a lot of Phil’s music. We married a year later. Zippo Songs simply blew my mind. A poet...

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Purcell: When I Am Laid In Earth

Purcell: When I Am Laid In Earth

Lorraine Hunt. I have NYFOS (and Michael Barrett, who programmed the 92nd Street Y and presented Lorraine’s NY recital debut in the mid-90’s) to thank for introducing me to Lorraine. So many memories. No need to try to define Lorraine. As Alex Ross wrote: “In the days...

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Sondheim:  Epiphany from Sweeney Todd

Sondheim: Epiphany from Sweeney Todd

I’m a huge Sondheim fan. When I was 12, my father took me to a preview on Broadway of Sweeney Todd starring Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury. He told me this was a new musical by Sondheim and that it was a masterpiece—Sondheim’s best yet. (I already loved Company and A...

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Carl Loewe: Erlkönig

Carl Loewe: Erlkönig

It’s January 1996 at the 92nd Street Y in NYC. The great German baritone Hermann Prey is rehearsing a recital devoted entirely to songs by Carl Loewe (just weeks before The Schubertiade, the celebrated 10-year examination of Schubert’s works, which Prey had...

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