Howell Studio recital No. 2

Howell Studio spring 2022 recitals

RECITAL ONE

FEBRUARY 17TH STORIES RECITAL TWO

FEBRUARY 18TH DEDICATIONS 7:30pm | UTSA recital Hall | music.utsa.edu

WE CULTIVATE ARTISTS

AUDITION DATES FEBRUARY 19TH MARCH 5TH MAY 9TH

music.utsa.edu

ROBERT SCHUMANN TO CLARA SCHUMANN

YOU: MY SOUL YOU: MY HEART YOU: MY RAPTURE YOU: MY PAIN YOU: THE WORLD IN WHICH I LIVE...

01

Psalm 134, Psalm 142, and Psalm 150 from Ned Rorem's Cycle of Holy Songs Greta Glasscock, soprano

02

"So like your father's" and "He never misses" from Libby Larsen's Songs from Letters Autumn Riley, soprano Letter to Freddy by Paul Bowles Kyree Harrison, bass-baritone

03

"Si mantiene il mio amor" from Antonio Cesti's Alessandro Kyree Harrison, bass-baritone Papageno's Suicide Aria from W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte Hector Tobar, baritone

RECITAL TWO

FEBRUARY 18TH DEDICATIONS

spring 2022 recitals

04

Widmung by Robert Schumann Alejandro Cuellar, bass Widmung by Robert Franz Hector Tobar, baritone

05

"Mab, la reine des mensonges" from Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette Hector Tobar, baritone

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Zelda's Dream by Benjamin C. S. Boyle Ava Upshaw, soprano

06

"Agnus Dei" from Gioachino Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle Johanna Kitchen, mezzo soprano

07

Chanson Slave by Cécile Chaminade La diva de l'Empire by Erik Satie Autumn Riley, soprano

Dedications

For this program, the term "dedication" refers to a piece written for someone or in honor of an occasion, a letter to someone, or a text that reflects devotion.

Psalm 134, Psalm 142, Psalm 150 Rorem dedicated Psalm 134 to American choreographer/dancer/director Jerome Robbins.

The two had a short romance in 1951 while in they were both in Paris. They had a brief correspondence which included three letters from Robbins to Rorem; the letters can be found here or in JSTOR here. Psalm 142 is dedicated to Pino Fasani; little information exists about Fasani. One reference to him is made in Rorem's memoir Knowing When to Stop.

Psalm 150 is dedicated to swiss tenor Hughues Cuénod who is the oldest person to make a debut at The Met. Hughues was the first to sing Rorem's cycle when it was completed in 1951.

"So like your father's..." and "He never misses" These two pieces are extracted from Libby Larsen's Songs from Letters: Calamity Jane to her daughter Janey, 1880-1902. The diary of Martha Jane Canary Hickock (Calamity Jane), reveals the struggle of an individual soul, a tender soul, a woman and pioneer on many frontiers. Calamity Jane was a working woman, good in her profession, working at what she loved and making choices because of her will to work. Calamity Jane sent Janey, her daughter by Wild Bill Hickock, to live with a "normal daddy" - her friend Jim O'Neil. She paid for child support by working as a gambler, trick shooter, cowhand, barmaid, stagecoach driver and prostitute. She even tried (and rejected) marriage. In her time she was odd and lonely. One hundred years later, her life sheds light on contemporary society. She chooses rough-tough words to describe her life to her daughter. I'm interested in that roughtoughness and in Calamity Jane's struggle to explain herself honestly to her daughter, Janey. - Libby Larsen Source: libbylarsen.com

Letter to Freddy Paul Bowles utilized this letter, likely written to him from his companion Gertrude Stein, as the text for this unusual ditty (1984). Bowles and Stein exchanged many letters. This one is quite short.

"Si mantiene, il mio amor" from Alessandro, vincitor di stesso Antonio Cesti published this opera with librettist Francesco Sbarra in 1655 for the "Most illustrious and most revered monsignor Ranuccio Rizzi, most dignified vice-legate of Bologna." The Italian term vice-legate means governor.

Papageno's Suicide Aria from Die Zauberflöte Mozart's singspiel Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) premiered in 1791 and contains nods to the composer and librettist's interest in freemasonry. The duo were dedicated to the use of the number three which is used throughout the opera. In this aria, you will hear Papageno give himself to the count of three before attempting to take his own life.

Widmung Widmung means "dedication." Robert Schumann wrote his dedication in 1840 for his brideto-be Clara Wieck. The piece is the first song in a set presented to Clara as a wedding gift.

Another Robert, this time Robert Franz, composed a song titled Widmung (1851) using a poem by Wolfgang Müller von Königswinter. Besides having an epic surname, Königswinter was a German poet and dedicated chronicler of the Rhine region. His poem "O danke nicht für diese Lieder" sheds light on his gratitude to the land and people of Germany.

Mab, la reine des mensonges Mercutio sings this aria to his friend Romeo at the festive party where the famed starcrossed lovers Romeo and Juliet eventually meet. Dedicated to Queen Mab, this aria describes Mab's methods for infiltrating all of our dreams. Learn about the challenges of singing this exciting aria by Gounod here.

Zelda's Dream This beautiful song written by living composer Benjamin C.S. Boyle uses text from one of Zelda Sayre's letters to her then fiancée F. Scott Fitzgerald. The letter was composed in April of 1919 while she was in here hometown of Montgomery, Alabama. You can view some of Zelda's paintings here. Boyle composed this piece in 2015.

"Agnus Dei" from Petite Messe Solennelle Rossini composed his Petite Messe Solennelle mass in 1863. it received it first performance on March 14th, 1864 for the dedication of the private chapel of Countess Louise Pillet-Will.

The piece is considered "petite" because of the small size of the chamber ensemble for which Rossini originally penned this work. He rescored the mass in 1867 for full orchestra.

Chanson slave This piece was written (1890) for Marie-Hélène Brunet-Lafleur (1847-1926), a french soprano who trained at the Paris Conservatory. Here is a short note written to her by the French conductor Jules Pasdeloup who founded the Pasdeloup orchestra, the oldest orchestra still in existence in Paris. The note reminds her of an upcoming rehearsal addresses two works by Massenet.

La diva l'empire This delightful and humorous song was composed in 1904 for Paulette Darty. A 'café song' written by Erik Satie, it was part of a music hall revue Dévidons la bobine. Darty was known as The Queen of Slow Waltzes and enjoyed an exciting career in operetta and opera, as a composer, and a concert headliner. You can listen to Darty sing here (but not during the recital, of course). Satie also composed the song Je te veux for Darty, this piece can be heard in Kevin March's opera Les feluettes which premiered in 2016 in Montreal.

We appreciate you.

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- JLH

spring 2022 recitals

Thank you for being with us this evening and for supporting these young singers.

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2022 AUDITION DATES

FEBRUARY 19TH* MARCH 5TH* MAY 7TH *scholarship audition dates

Mozart's

Die Zauberflöte March 24th - 27th, 2022 conducted by Troy Peters directed by Jourdan Laine Howell

UTSA LYRIC THEATRE