Bright Sheng:  Three Chinese Love Songs

Bright Sheng: Three Chinese Love Songs

I’m honored to be sharing songs with you this week, the week of the “Hyphenated Americans” concert at Merkin Hall! I have loved exploring the music of two of the composers featured on Wednesday’s program: Bright Sheng and Daniel Sabzghabaei. This is a chance to hear...
Béla Bartók: Tomlocben

Béla Bartók: Tomlocben

Bartók once said that a simple folk melody can accommodate more complicated harmony. And here is a case in point. This descending Dorian tune repeats itself while the text changes, but the piano accompaniment changes quite bit along with the text, from consonance at...
Samuel Barber:  The Daisies

Samuel Barber: The Daisies

I love this popular song because of the simplicity and charm it brings out from the moving eighth notes on both the voice and piano. Sometimes the least pretentious can be most rewarding. Leontyne Price with Barber at the piano Marilyn Horne with Martin...
Ravel:  Shéhérazade

Ravel: Shéhérazade

This three-song set is equivalent to three scenes from an opera. It paints the actions of the text both in reality and in abstraction, but in its most effective way, it depicts an unyielding longing for something unfathomable or unobtainable. Ravel’s Shéhérazade...