Gabriel Fauré: Dans la forêt de Septembre

Written by William Sharp

Baritone

In category: Song of the Day

Published April 21, 2020

Imagine a world without the songs of Gabriel Fauré if you can.  I can’t.  He published mélodies over the course of 60 years, and leading up to the twentieth century, they became miracles of austere but sensuous beauty.  They seem made for older people to understand. I don’t recall the first time I heard the meme “bye bye boomers” a propos of the current epidemic, but I know that it hurt a little at the time.  Now, I hear it as dark satire, and it’s OK.  We seniors are, however, thinking a little more about the autumn of our lives; Dans la forêt de Septembre” speaks to me today.  Here’s dear Sandy Sylvan, whom we lost just over a year ago, singing it with David Breitman.

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William Sharp’s association with NYFOS goes back to when it was but a twinkle in Steven and Michael’s eyes.  He fondly remembers those first concerts at packed-to-the-rafters Greenwich House (hot? — in more ways than one). He has appeared with most major American symphony orchestras, and has created world premiere performances and recordings of works by composers such as Leonard Bernstein, John Harbison, John Musto, Jon Deak, Libby Larson, David Del Tredici, Lori Laitman, Steven Paulus, Scott Wheeler, David Liptak, and Jörg Widmann. Mr. Sharp’s discography of several dozen discs encompasses music from the 12thcentury to today. His 1990 world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s last major work Arias and Barcarolles (Blier/Barrett/Kaye), won a Grammy Award, and he was nominated for a Grammy (Best Classical Vocal Performance) for his recording with Mr. Blier featuring the works of American composers such as Virgil Thomson, John Musto and Lee Hoiby. He is winner of the Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Prize, and the Geneva International Competition. He has taught voice at the university level since 1977, and joined the Peabody Conservatory faculty in 2002. His students are performing throughout the world in concert and opera.

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