On tonight's show:
Yevgeny Sudbin Recital
Monika Vischer talks with pianist Yevgeny Sudbin about his recital tomorrow at the Newman Center, followed by his recordings in our Performance Studio.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Prelude No. 6 in B minor, Op. 87
Frédéric Chopin: Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52
KVOD Performance Studio: recorded 4/27/10
Produced by Martin Skavish
Colorado Music Festival
Pianist Jon Nakamatsu has appeared at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, the Strings Music Festival and the KVOD Performance Studio. Tonight we hear him at the Colorado Music Festival.
Ernö Dohnányi: Piano Quintet in C minor, Op. 1
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Colorado Music Festival Chamber Players
Calin Lupanu, violin
Monica Boboc, violin
Matthew Dane, viola
Bjorn Ranheim, cello
recorded 7/17/07
Musical Oddities
Charley talks with CSO horn player David Brussell about the book signing of his new tome, Musical Oddities, tomorrow night at the Bookery Nook.
Opera Colorado
Charley talks with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, who sings the title role in Opera Colorado's production of Puccini's Tosca, which opens tomorrow.
Giacomo Puccini: Aria, "Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Tosca
Moscow Chamber Orchestra
Constantine Orbelian, conductor
Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano
Telarc pre-release
The Playground Ensemble
Charley talks with The Playground's Conrad Kehn about their Colorado Composers Concert (CoCoCo) Friday.
Program Notes
Ernö Dohnányi (1877–1960)
Born in Pressburg (Bratislava), Dohnányi entered the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music in Budapest in 1894. When Brahms heard his Quintet in C minor, he exclaimed, “I could not have written it better myself.” Dohnányi's Symphony in F major was awarded the king's prize in 1897, the same year he began studying with Eugen d'Albert. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin, and in 1919 was appointed director of the Budapest Conservatory and conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1948, having lost two sons in the War, he left Hungary, traveling to Austria, then spent a year in Argentina.In the fall of 1949 he came to the United States to teach at Florida State College in Tallahassee.
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924): Aria, "Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Tosca
Victorien Sardou's drama La Tosca had already been rejected by Giuseppe Verdi when Alberto Franchetti acquired the exclusive rights to set it as an opera. Meanwhile Puccini saw Sarah Bernhardt in a production of the play and was determined to have it himself. After much intrigue, Franchetti was talked into abandoning his project, only to discover that Puccini was interested. He never forgave Puccini for his treachery. Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica fashioned a libretto and Puccini's Tosca was introduced in Rome on January 14, 1900.
In the second act, the title character, an opera singer, has just heard her lover Cavaradossi being tortured when the torturer, Baron Scarpia, tries to woo her. She who “lived for art” muses on her cruel fate.
Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi, aiutai.
Sempre con fé sincera,
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli salì.
Sempre con fé sincera,
diedi fiori agli altar.
Nell'ora del dolore
perché, perché Signore,
perché me ne rimuneri così?
Diedi gioielli
della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri,
al ciel, che ne ridean più belli.
Nell'ora del dolore
perché, perché, Signore,
perché me ne rimuneri così?
Translation:
I lived for art, I lived for love:
Never did I harm a living creature!
Whatever misfortunes I encountered
I sought with secret hand to succour.
Ever in pure faith,
my prayers rose
in the holy chapels.
Ever in pure faith,
I brought flowers to the altars.
In this hour of pain.
Why, why, oh Lord,
why dost Thou repay me thus?
Jewels I brought
for the Madonna's mantle,
and songs for the stars in heaven
that they shone forth with greater radiance.
In this hour distress
Why, why, oh Lord,
why dost Thou repay me thus?
©2010 Charley Samson
