\;Co nductor: Arie van Beek
George Gershwin (1898 &ndash\; 1937)
Lullaby for Strings
< span style="color: #ff0000\;">Aaron Copeland (1900-1990)
Appalachian Spring
Cole Porter (1891 &ndash\; 1964)
Songs
George Gershwin
Blue Monday
AGENDA
19H15: E ntre-nous. Join the Amis de l'OCG for a presentation of the program b y conductor Arie van Beek (in French).
20 H00: Concert. One 20 minute intermission. Can purchase drinks and snacks at the bar.
22H00 (approx.): AI C joins the audience for an End of Season drink (verre de l'a mitié\; ) to mingle with friends, members of the orchestra, and the Harlem Opera Theater singers: Diana Thompson (soprano), Dari an Worrell (baritone), Barry Robinson (baritone), Michael McGee (baritone) , and Tyrone Chambers (tenor).
Event price (ticket value CHF 37): Member/partner: CHF 30 each. N on-member: CHF40 each.
B ooking: AIC Members can sign-up for themselves and partner at mem ber prices, and invite two (2) non-member guests at non-member prices. Go to the Club website to sign up (either together or separately) and pay on- line or bank transfer. Deadline for PAID sign-ups is noon (12H00) on Monda y 5 June. The list of PAID tickets holders will be sent to the OCG on the afternoon of June 5.
YOU MUST PA Y FOR YOUR TICKETS BEFORE JUNE 5
Pick up your tickets from the BFM box office/guichet on the night. They will have a list with your names.
Below/attached, please find a brief description of each work.
\;PROGRAMME INFORMATION
Lullaby for strings
George Gershwin (1898 &ndash\; 1937) appeared to have little early musical training, but h ad a Schubertian gift for fluent, characteristic, and immediately compelli ng melody. Indeed, he carried what he called a tune book in which he jotted down the abundant ideas which came to him spontaneously. In 191 9, Gershwin took one of these &ldquo\;tunes&rdquo\; to his tutor, which he later scored for sting quartet.
After a "tuning up" gesture, the slowly swinging blues melody is strutte d in a skillfully varied exposition leading to a plaintively muted, hesita nt moment which gives way to a rush of the warmest, most caressing lyricis m before the initial blues returns to fade exquisitely.
\;Appalachian Spring
Aaron Copland (1900-1990) sui te premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity. Martha Graham also commissioned it as a ballet for a thirteen-member chamb er orchestra, and she danced the lead role. Copland was awarded the 1945 P ulitzer Prize for Music for his achievement.
&nbs p\;Songs (lyrics available on the night)
Cole Porter (1891 &ndash\; 1964): these songs came from two of his musical comedies. From Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929) comes & ldquo\;Where would you get your coat?&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Tale of the oyst er.&rdquo\; From DuBarry was a lady (1939 with Bert Lahr, Ethel M erman and Betty Grable) co mes &ldquo\;Katie went to Haiti&rdquo\; and &ldquo\;Give him the Oo-la-la. &rdquo\;
\;Blu e Monday (Opera à\ ; la Afro-American):&nbs p\; concert version
This short (20 minutes) one-act "jazz opera" by George Gershwin. Also heard as 135th Street in later productions. The libretto was written by Buddy DeSylva. Blue Monday (1922) is a blueprint t o many of Gershwin's later works, and is the "first piece of symphonic jaz z" - to fuse forms of classical music such as opera with American popular music, with the opera largely influenced by Jazz and the African-American culture of Harlem.
As in Gershwi n's later opera Porgy and Bess, all the singing roles are African -American characters. Unlike Porgy and Bess, however, Blue Mo nday was performed by white singers in blackface.
Setting: A basement café\; near the inter section of 135th Street and Lenox Avenue in Harlem.
Time: An evening during the Jazz Age, beginn ing at around 9:30 P.M.
After a brief overture, the g ambler Joe appears as a Prologue (like the character Tonio's open ing aria in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo). Joe tells his aud ience that just like "the white man's opera", this "colored tragedy enacte d in operatic style" focuses on primal human
Story< /strong>: Vi is in love with Joe. She comes to the café\; looking for him. Tom has an eye for her, and tries to turn h er from Joe, but is rejected. Later, Tom overhears Joe say he is awaiting a telegram from his mother, who he plans to visit. When Tom next meets Vi, he tells her that Joe is getting a telegram &ldquo\;from another women.&r dquo\; In a scene reminiscent of another &ldquo\;white man's opera&rdquo\; (Otello by Verdi after Shakespeare), the jealous Vi confronts Jo e with tragic results.