Graduate recital in Voice

Includes recorded audio files in WAV and MP3 formats, 69:70 in lengthThis program contains musical works spanning four centuries, offering a wide variety of styles. The recital opens with a recitative and da capo aria which occur during Act I of Handel???s opera seria, Guilio Cesare. At this point in the opera, Achillas has just brought Pompey???s head to Caesar, then Sextus vows to avenge his father???s death in the aria Svegliatevi nel core. This vengeance aria conveys a variety of moods or affects, where each section is devoted to one emotion, ranging from rage to fear, reverence, and back to rage. Most of Handel???s operas, with the exception of his popular Giulio Cesare, are no longer performed as standard repertoire. The texts for the next set of songs, by Haydn, are written by an English poet, Anne Hunter. The first piece, The Mermaids song, opens with a 21 bar ritornello centered around a dance-like triplet rhythm. The seemingly simple text about a mermaid in the sea can be interpreted as the legendary seduction of a lonely sailor. According to H.C. Robbins Landon in his book Haydn-Chronicle and Works, the second song, entitled The Spirit???s song, is one of Haydn???s finest songs and also one of Hunter???s best poems. The introduction is a single-line melody played in octaves with a varied rhythmic sequence that sets the mood for the passionate pleas of the text. The concluding canzonetta, Fidelity, is reminiscent of the early Sturm and Drang movement in music, meaning ???storm and stress???. The rapid 32nd notes which begin the piece are descriptive of a violent storm, possibly an emotional one, a very common strum and Drang theme. The harmonies then modulate between major and minor as the character in the poem struggles with feelings of love and acceptance of fate. The concluding set before intermission combines four different French composers, creating a diverse song set. Reynaldo Hahn, a well-known conductor who specialized in Mozart opera, but mainly remembered for his numerous songs, wrote the first song Si mes vers avaient des ailes. The single line arpeggios in the piano set the peaceful mood for this simple, strophic, Romance. The second song was written by a lesser known composer, Georges Hue. J???ai pleure en reve, contains markings such as avec desespoir, ???with despair???, which is indicative of the dramatic style of romanticism which explored the extremes of emotion. Cesar Franck originally wrote the hymn-like third piece, La procession, for voice and orchestra but it was later transcribed for piano. The concluding song, Dansons la Gigue, begins its quick tempo with marcato rhythms in the piano and a fast, sweeping melody in the vocal line. The composer, poldowski, is actually a pseudonym chosen for the female composer Irene Wieniawska, who was also known as Lady Dean Paul. (See more in text.