What is Music in May?
Mim brings renowned musicians to Santa Cruz in a weekend full of concerts. Donations at the door will benefit local non-profits. Our intent is to expand and broaden the audience of classical music, impact youth, and increase awareness and develop relationships with other local non-profit organizations serving the Santa Cruz community.
Thursday, May 14
Calvary Episcopal Church (532 Center Street, Santa Cruz, California 95060)
7:30pm
Invitation only
Private preview concert for donors of Santa Cruz Chamber Players, Music in May and special friends and guests of our 3 local non-profits, Willow Pond Ranch, Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center, and Think Local First.
Program to feature Celebrating Youth, members of Santa Cruz Chamber Players and Music in May musicians.
Friday May 15
Holy Cross Church (126 High St. Santa Cruz CA 95060)
7:30pm
Opening gala performance to feature guest artists soprano Nicolle Foland and violinist Roy Malan along with Music in May musicians.
Program to include "Io son l'umile ancella" aria from Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea, "Il Tramonto" by Respighi, "Times of Day" by Jake Heggie, "Quando me'n vo" from Musetta's Waltz from La Boheme, and more...
Saturday, May 16
Museum of Art and History (705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060)
An early afternoon performance outdoors in Abbott's Square. Families and picnic lunches encouraged!
1:00-1:45 Abbott's Square
2:15-3:00 The Atrium (The Museum's Ground Floor)
Program to include Bach Inventions for violin and cello, La Oracion del Torero by Turina, Shostakovich String Quartet No. 7, Wieniawski Caprice No. 2 for two violins, Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 4, and more...
Museum of Art and History (705 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060)
7:30pm
Mim 09 presents:
Three’s No Crowd
Music by Beethoven, Reinecke, Donizetti, Rosenblum, and others
Kathleen Purcell, director and flute
Jane Orzel, bassoon
Ivan Rosenblum, piano
Performance Notes
Trio Pastorale by Ivan Rosenblum
I wrote “Trio Pastorale.” at the age of 20 when I was an undergraduate at Queens College - City College of N.Y. I then revisited it in 1990, marveled at its durability, and applied some finishing touches. The piece was my “breaking-free” piece, in that I had survived a semester of Renaissance “Species Counterpoint” where the “Species” rules dictated all intervallic and rhythmic values used. Aieeeee!! I felt imprisoned in a straitjacket! Not my cup of tea! This was followed by a semester of Bachian 18th century counterpoint. Much more to my liking, particularly when the instructor began referring to me as Johann Rosenblum. Bachian counterpoint was a “piece of cake” (to go with my cup of tea) and I was ecstatic. After surviving both classes, I was obsessed with counterpoint and eager to try my hand at a 20th century version. “Trio Pastorale” was my response to the obsession.
Being both a clarinet and bassoon player as well as pianist in college, it seemed the most natural thing to write this piece for winds and keyboard. “Trio Pastorale” started life as an Oboe, Bassoon and Piano piece but always with the notion that the oboe part could just as effectively be played by either a flute or clarinet (a very 18th century notion of instrumental interchangeability). The winds became the purveyor of the counterpoint and the piano was a harmonic and rhythmic foil for the winds. If the harmonies sound “jazzy” that’s because I was just beginning to delve into jazz and especially loved Alec Wilder and Bill Evans (with Hindemith and Stravinsky always lurking in the background). So that’s the story... and I hope you enjoy this little piece of “Early Rosenblum.”
- IR
Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano by Chick Corea
This trio is yet one more example of “crossover jazz” (combinations of jazz and classical music) attempted by many classically-trained jazz pianists such as Corea, Keith Jarrett, Fred Hersch, Dave Brubeck, Brad Mehldau. Like Corea’s “Addendum for Violin, Cello & Piano,” “Trio” is scored for instruments more commonly heard in the classical arena, i.e., bassoon, flute and piano. Corea’s utter freedom allows him to realize his musical ideas in whatever instrumentation or form to which he’s drawn. Corea also experiments in this piece with plucking inside the piano, something he learned from the “new music” composers of the '60s and '70s. “Trio’s” form is loose with several contrasting sections following each other in close succession without much transition. The piece fades away gradually and prompted me to segue from it immediately into a new arrangement of Corea’s “La Fiesta” which will conclude the concert.
- IR
Sunday, May 17
First Congregational Church (900 High St. Santa Cruz CA 95060)
4:00pm
Program will include the exquisite Piano Quartet in F Minor by Brahms, pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski will perform Chopin's Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise Brilliante, his own transcription of Strauss' Morgen, and the concert will conclude with Barber's Adagio for Strings.
6:00pm Meet and greet the artists at the reception.
Program Notes
Friday, May 15
"Io son l'umile ancella" from Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea
At the Teatro Lirico in Milan, on November 6, 1902, Francesco Cilea (1866-1950) won an enthusiastic reception for Adriana Lecouvreur, a 4-act opera with a libretto by Arturo Colautti, set in 18th century Paris and based upon a play by Eugene Scribe. Adriana Lecouvreur is the opera of Cilea which is best known to international audiences today, and it reveals the spontaneity of a melodic style drawn from the Neapolitan school combined with harmonic and tonal scoring influenced by then recent exponents of French music.
The actress Adriana expresses her feeling about being on the stage.
Io son l’umile ancella del Genio creator: I am the humble servant of creative genius:
ei m’offre la favella io la diffondo ai cor... he offers me the speech that I communicate to the heart.
Del verso io son l’accento, l’eco del dramma uman, I am the accent of the verse, the echo of the human drama,
il fragile strumento vassallo della man__ the fragile instrument in the player’s hand__
Mite, gioconda, atroce, Tame one, joyous one, atrocious one,
mi chiamo Fedeltà: they call me faithfulness itself:
un soffio è la mia voce my voice is a wisp of breath
che al novo dì morrà! that, at sunrise, will die away!
"Il Tramonto" (The Sunset) by Respighi for Mezzo-soprano and String Quartet
Respighi (1879-1936) was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral Roman trilogy: Fontane di Roma - "Fountains of Rome"; Pini di Roma - "Pines of Rome"; and Feste Romane - "Roman Festivals". Born in Bologna, he studied composition with Giuseppe Martucci, and briefly with Max Bruch and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Principally a violinist until 1908, he then turned primarily to composition. He lived in Rome from 1913.
There late was One within whose subtle being, Già v’ebbe un uomo, nel cui tenue spirto
As light and wind within some delicate cloud (Qual luce e vento in delicata nube
That fades amid the blue moon’s burning sky, Che ardente ciel di mezzogiorno stempri)
Genius and Death contended. None may know La morte e genio contendeano. Oh! Quanta tenera gioia,
The sweetness of the joy which made his breath Che gli fè il respiro venir meno
Fail, like the trances of the summer air, (Così dell’aura estiva l’ansia talvolta)
When, with the lady of his love, who then Quando la sua dama che allor solo conobbe l’abbandono
First knew the unreserve of mingled being, Pieno e il concorde palpitar di due creature che s’amano,
He walked along the pathway of a field Egli adusse pei sentieri d’un campo,
Which to the east a hoar wood shadowed o’er, Ad oriente da una foresta biancheggiante ombrato
But to the west was open to the sky. Ed a ponente discoverto al cielo!
There now the sun had sunk, but lines of gold Ora è sommerso il sole; ma linee d’oro
Hung on the ashen clouds, and on the points Pendon sovra le cineree nubi,
Of the far level grass and nodding flowers Sul verde piano, sui tremanti fiori,
And the old dandelion’s hoary beard, Sui grigi globi dell’antico smirnio,
And mingled with the shades of twilight, lay E i neri boschi avvolgono,
On the brown massy woods__and in the east Del vespro mescolandosi alle ombre. Lenta sorge ad oriente
The broad and burning moon lingeringly rose L’infocata luna tra i folti rami
Between the black trunks of the crowded trees, Delle piante cupe:
While the faint stars were gathering overhead.__ Brillan sul capo languide le stelle.
“Is it not strange, Isabel,” said the youth, E il giovine sussurra: “Non è strano?
“I never saw the sun? We will walk here Io mai non vidi il sorgere del sole,
To-morrow; thou shall look on it with me.” O Isabella. Domani a contemplarlo verremo insieme.”
That night the youth and lady mingled lay Il giovin e la dama giaquer tra il sonno e il dolce amor
In love and sleep__but when the morning came Congiunti ne la notte: Al mattin
The lady found her lover dead and cold. Gelindo e morto ella trovò l’amante.
Let none believe that God in mercy gave Oh! Nessun creda che, vibrando tal colpo,
That stroke. The lady died not, nor grew wild, Fu il Signor misericorde.
But year by year lived on__in truth I think Non morì la dama, nè folle diventò:
Her gentleness and patience and sad smiles, Anno per anno visse ancora.
And that she did not die, but lived to tend Ma io penso che la queta sua patienza, e i trepidi sorrisi,
Her agèd father, were a kind of madness. E il non morir ma vivere a custodia del vecchio padre
If madness ‘tis to be unlike the world. (Se è follia dal mondo dissimigliare)
For but to see her were to read the tale Fossero follia. Era, null’altro che a vederla,
Woven by some subtlest bard, to make hard hearts Come leggere un canto da ingegnoso bardo,
Dissolve away in wisdom-working grief; Intessuto a piegar gelidi cuori in un dolor pensoso.
Her eyes were black and lusterless and wan: Neri gli occhi ma non fulgidi più;
Her eyelashes were worn away with tears, Consunte quasi le ciglia dalle lagrime;
Her lips and cheeks were like things dead__so pale; Le labbra e le gote parevan cose morte tanto eran bianche;
Her hands were thin, and through their wandering veins Ed esili le mani e per le erranti vene e le giunture rossa
And weak articulations might be seen Del giorno trasparia la luce.
Day’s ruddy light. The tomb of thy dead self La nuda tomba, che il tuo fral racchiude,
Which one vexed ghost inhabits night and day, Cui notte e giorno un’ombra abita,
Is all, lost child, that now remains of thee! È quanto di te resta, o cara creatura perduta!
“Inheritor of more than earth can give “Ho tal retaggio, che la terra non dà:
Passionless calm and silence unreproved, Calma e silenzio, senza peccato e senza passione.
Whether the dead find, oh, not sleep! but rest, Sia che i morti ritrovino (non mai il sonno!) ma il riposo,
And are the uncomplaining things they seem, Imperturbati quali appaion,
Or live, a drop in the sea of love; O vivano, o d’amore nel mar profondo scendano,
Oh, that like thine, mine epitaph were__Peace!” Oh, che il mio epitaffio, che il tuo sia: Pace!”
This was the only moan she ever made. Questo dalle sue labbra l’unico lamento.
"Times of Day" by Jake Heggie (2004) for Mezzo-soprano, violin, cello, and piano.
Commissioned by the Harmida Trio, San Francisco. Premiere: January 31, 2005 at Temple Emanu-El, San Francisco. He is the composer of the acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), The End of the Aff air (libretto by Heather McDonald, Leonard Foglia and Heggie), To Hell and Back (libretto by Gene Scheer), At the Statue of Venus (libretto by McNally), more than art songs, plus orchestral and chamber music. Mr. Heggie’s operas have been performed by more than a dozen American companies, including San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Baltimore Opera and Seattle Opera. Recently, the operas have been featured in international productions by major companies in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Austria. (Website: www.jakeheggie.com)
Raymond Carver (1938-1988), poet
I. The Minuet II. Simple
Bright mornings. A break in the clouds. The blue
Days when I want so much outline of the mountains.
I want nothing. Dark yellow of the fields.
Just this life, and no more. Black river. What am I doing here,
Still, I hope no one comes along. lonely and filled with remorse?
But if someone does, I hope it’s her.
The one with the little diamond stars I go on casually eating from the bowl
at the toes of her shoes. of raspberries. If I were dead,
The girl I saw dance the minuet. I remind myself, I wouldn’t
That antique dance. be eating them. It’s not so simple.
the minuet. She danced that It is that simple.
the way it should be danced.
And the way she wanted.
III. The Best Time of Day
Cool summer nights.
Windows open.
Lamps burning.
Fruit in the bowl.
And your head on my shoulder.
These the happiest moments of the day.
Next to the early morning hours,
of course. And the time
just before lunch.
And the afternoon, and
early evening hours.
But, I do love
These summer nights
even more, I think,
than those other times.
The work finished for the day.
And no one who can reach us now.
Or ever.
"Quando me'n vo" from Musetta's Waltz from La Boheme
La bohème is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger. The world première performance of La bohème was in Turin on February 1, 1896 at the Teatro Regio (now the Teatro Regio Torino) and conducted by the young Arturo Toscanini. Since then La bohème has become part of the standard Italian opera repertory and is one of the most frequently performed operas internationally.