by Steven Blier | Jun 7, 2016 | Song of the Day
Last summer, it was Rachmaninoff. This summer, Tchaikovsky. I am listening to every song he ever wrote, in preparation for a concert in New York on January 24 (with a Washington, DC preview on the 21st). Going through scads of art songs is a daunting process. My brain...
by Steven Blier | Jun 6, 2016 | Song of the Day
For this week’s Song of the Day, I thought I’d dig into some of the music I’m studying this summer as I prepare for next year’s NYFOS concerts. I have never begun work on the upcoming season so early. But in spite of my best efforts the 2016-17 schedule has a couple...
by Samuel Levine | Jun 3, 2016 | Song of the Day
For the final Song of the Day of my week here at NYFOS, let me introduce you to the reason I became a singer: Paul Robeson. If ever there was an human embodiment of the traits I most value in an artist and human – communication, fearlessness, skill, an open heart, a...
by Samuel Levine | Jun 2, 2016 | Song of the Day
This song is an old one, even by the standards of classical art song. “Pretty Saro” is a folk ballad first notated in England the early 1700’s, though, as is the way with these things, no one knows how long it had been sung before that. After the 18th century it was...
by Samuel Levine | Jun 1, 2016 | Song of the Day
Last week, my dear friend and colleague Miles Mykkanen wrote a beautiful post on this blog about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash-hit musical Hamilton. Miles wrote very well about the piece as a whole, and many other very smart people have done so also – I...
by Samuel Levine | May 31, 2016 | Song of the Day
It’s a funny thing to love a song for many years… this tune, “There is a light that never goes out,” by the English rock group The Smiths, has been dear to me for about 15 years. When I was a teenager, this was an emo anthem to live by – Goethe’s Werther would have...
Recent Comments