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Tom Petty: Runnin’ Down a Dream
I listened to a bunch of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in high school and college, but the soundtrack to my freshman year of college was Petty’s debut solo album, Full Moon Fever. I’d listen to the cd from top to bottom, only skipping over the ridiculous last track, Zombie Zoo. The track I’m highlighting today, Running Down A Dream, starts with a killer guitar riff that propels the song all the way across the finish line some four and a half minutes later. RIP, Tom Petty.
Jake Heggie: The Moon’s Lullaby
I had the great pleasure of singing Three Decembers with Frederica von Strade at Chicago Opera Theater some years ago. The role of Madeline Mitchell was written for her and she premiered it in Houston a few years before we remounted the original production in Chicago. Her honesty and generosity in the role have stayed with me for near a decade. The lullaby Madeline sings in the opera also has stayed with me. Now that I’ve got two children under the age of three, I’m singing a fair amount of lullabies and this one is near the top of the rotation.
Hanns Eisler: 7 Elegien from “Hollywooder Liederbuch”
I’ve had the pleasure of singing selections from Hanns Eisler’s Hollywood Liederbuch a couple of times in the past decade, most recently last year while pursuing my doctorate at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. In this latest go-round, I developed a greater appreciation for the historical context of Eisler’s writing. His flight from Europe during the Nazi ascent to power landed him in Hollywood where he wrote this songbook.
Brandi Carlisle: Raise Hell
For the longest time, Bob Boilen and Stephen Thompson (hosts of NPR’s All Songs Considered) were my podcasting companions on road trips and flights. They introduced me to Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire, The Head and the Heart, The Civil Wars, and Dirty Projectors. Perhaps my favorite innovation of Boilen’s is his hosting of Tiny Desk Concerts—he sets up a tripod in his office, and invites an artist to play in the office while the NPR music staff watches.
John Charles Thomas sings The Lord’s Prayer
I started studying with the distinguished voice teacher Marlena Malas in 2002. She had a great influence on my life and I love her dearly, and in the years we worked together I learned everything I now know about beautiful singing. One of the perks of studying with Marlena, and spending innumerable summers with her at her summer voice program in Chautauqua, is getting to know her husband, the inimitable Sprio Malas.
“Kol Nidrei” sung by Johnny Mathis
This most iconic and instantly recognizable sacred Jewish song has had a lot of treatments over the many centuries it’s been around. While the Aramaic lyrics are quite a mouthful even for a native Hebrew speaker, a surprising number of mainstream pop singers have tried to make the prayer their own, including Al Jolson, Neil Diamond, Perry Como – and Johnny Mathis! In this revealing interview, he describes Kol Nidrei as “…so emotionally driven that I got, I would say, 95% of the words correct.” As I do my best to make this prayer my own tonight, together with cantors all over the world, I will try to remember what inspired Johnny to do the same.
Carrie Newcomer: If Not Now
One of my resolutions this year is to think more about the “other”—the other person, the other point of view, the other side of the world. As you might imagine, Judaism has a lot to say about it. The great rabbi Hillel, who lived in the earliest days of the Common Era, wondered “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?”
Eviatar Banai: Abba (Dad)
At the risk of sounding hackneyed, I think becoming a father has made me a better person in every way. It has also given me new insight into all the father figures I’ve known, and, especially at this time of year—to use appropriate prayer book parlance—into the notion of a Heavenly Father.
Irving Berlin: Don’t Send Me Back to Petrograd
We like to think of Irving Berlin as one of the most quintessentially American songwriters, but like so many of them, he had his roots elsewhere. He wrote this little-known tune for Fanny Brice in 1925, soon after legislation had been passed placing quotas on immigration. In this live recording by the incomparable Judy Blazer and NYFOS’s own Michael Barrett, listen for lyrics like “There’s millions of people on the shore / Why can’t you make room for just one more” and marvel at how relevant Berlin’s piece still is.
Joey Weisenberg: Nachamu Nigun
The High Holy Days have arrived yet again, the busiest time of a cantor’s year. I find that a song without words (Hebrew: nigun) puts my heart and mind at ease more than any other. When composing this one, my friend and teacher Joey Weisenberg was inspired by the famous phrase in Isaiah 40:1, “Comfort ye” (Hebrew: nachamu).
J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 11
To end the week on an upbeat, let’s have a group sing. Here is the opening chorus from Bach’s Cantata No. 11. It is from the marvelous complete cantata recordings by Gustave Leonhardt and Nicholas Harnoncourt. I had the good fortune of participating in masterclasses with both of them on various occasions. I wasn’t exactly a baroque-nik, but their music making was so fresh and vital, I felt I needed to learn from them.
J.S. Bach: Mein Leben hat kein ander Ziel
Continuing our quick survey of J.S. Bach, here is another cantata aria. It is really chamber music. The countertenor’s expressive part is underpinned by an incredible duet between the organ and oboe, creating a kind of trio sonata. The mastery of counterpoint is intimidating (at least for us performers), but the outcome is so joyful, it’s irresistible. The text? Well, it is about death, but the joy comes not from some promised afterlife, where, finally, everything will be tolerable. It is about living one’s life fully, so that when you reach the endgame you are ready, fulfilled, and feel that you have made some contribution that has been ultimately satisfying.
J.S. Bach: Tief gebuckt und voller Reue
Today let’s revisit Bach’s Cantata No.199. It’s a favorite of sopranos, for the obvious reason of the absolute beauty and gentleness of the central aria “Tief gebuckt und voller Reue”. In the best Lutheran tradition, the text addresses God, admitting guilt and weakness, but implores God to be patient. This beautiful performance is sung by Magdalena Kozena and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.
J.S. Bach: Bist Du Bei Mir
I’m surveying some of my favorite Bach this week. I won’t be able to make a dent in the 250 surviving Cantatas, Oratorios, Masses, or Passions, alas. It’s true that most of Bach’s vocal output is liturgical. There are exceptions: The Coffee Cantata, the Hunt Cantata, and this beauty found in Anna Magdalena Bach’s Notebook. Did she write it herself? One of her talented sons? Or was it a valentine from her husband that she wrote down in her musical journal?
J. S. Bach: Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen
I’ve just completed a successful time at the 25th annual Moab Music Festival. It’s a big achievement which I am proud of. NYFOS is celebrating our 30th year starting next month, so this seems to be a big anniversary year for me. Moab and NYFOS have converged on many occasions, but never around the music of Bach. There are so many specialty groups now that specialize in early music, which includes Bach. At NYFOS I guess we feel that Bach is covered.