I was Lenny’s assistant with Michael when we prepared the premiere of this set of eight songs for mezzo-soprano, baritone and piano four-hands. “Nachspiel” is the last one which has no text and all singers (and pianists, and perhaps the audience) humming together. It is so exquisitely written, touching and beautiful.
“Nachspiel” from Arias and Barcarolles by Leonard Bernstein
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Bright Sheng is respected as one of the foremost composers of our time, whose stage, orchestral, chamber and vocal works are performed regularly throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Born in Shanghai, China, he moved to the United States in the 1980’s and has been a professor of music at the University of Michigan since 1995. A composer with a distinctive and original voice, Sheng has created an oeuvre that is not only with Asian influence but also with a strong synthesis of Western musical tradition. His Three Chinese Love Songs will be performed in NYFOS’s Hyphenated-Americans on February 20 at Merkin Concert Hall.
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