#symsat — Public Fediverse posts

"What do mean THERE ARE NO SECOND SERVINGS OF TREATS?!" -- #AmeliaKatt

#SymSat #Caturday

Part of the reason that Samuel Barber rewrote “Vanessa” to be a 3 act Opera was in order to eliminate some of the tougher arias meant for Sopranos. One of the first people approached for the opera’s premiere performance was soprano Maria Callas (She turned it down)
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber #GianCarloMenotti

Just to remind y’all what we listened to last week: Act 1 of “Vanessa” is about the tension at an estate when the titular Vanessa, who has been waiting for 20yrs for her long lost lover Anatol to return, is faced with the arrival of a man who turns out to be Anatol’s son (also named Anatol), who in turn falls for Vanessa’s niece Erika.
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber #GianCarloMenotti

“Vanessa” was originally a 4 act opera when it premiered at the Met Opera in 1958 under the direction of gay Greek-American conductor & musician Dimitri Mitropoulos with a set designed by gay British artist Cecil Beaton. By the time of this 1979 staging, Barber and Menotti had re-written it to be 3 acts and, sadly, the sets designed by Cecil Beaton had been destroyed in a fire at the Met’s storage units
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber #GianCarloMenotti #DimitriMitropoulos #CecilBeaton

“Vanessa, Op. 32” (https://youtu.be/ykAqw1NY0UA?si=DBUUAayXcAvA325s) is another major collaboration between Samuel Barber and Gian Carlo Menotti. Tangentially inspired by Isak Dinesen's stories, in particular her “Seven Gothic Tales”. It’s essentially a gothic psychological thriller that tells the story of the delusions and illusions of obsessive love across the intersecting lives of 3 generations of women at the turn of the 20th century.
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber #GianCarloMenotti

“A Hand of Bridge, Op. 35” (https://youtu.be/GelwXT0qHLo?si=Occ38jRrZsUfOEAO) is a one act opera composed by Samuel Babrer with the Libretto written by Gian Carlo Menotti that debuted in 1959. Per the title, it’s centered around a the card game Bridge. The 4 players all air their existential anxieties and fantasies in their respective solo airettas. The original book for the opera features designs by Andy Warhol, a close friend of Barber and Menotti
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber #GianCarloMenotti #AndyWarhol

Samuel Barber (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981)🇺🇸 was a Curtis Institute trained composer, pianist, music educator, conductor and Baritone who is known for his hand in shaping American music from mid to late 20th century. While he never made any public declaration of it, he was about as openly gay as you could be in the world of professional classical music in the 1940s-mid70s.
#SymSat #PrideMonth #SamuelBarber

And here’s the reprise of “ Mama Who Bore Me” (https://youtu.be/1Bn39ZKD6Kg?si=4jjlazBI7DjD5_oi) which features the entire female ensemble. Both versions of “Mama Who Bore Me” open the show
#SymSat #HappyMothersDay #DWSA #DeafWestSpringAwakening #DeafTalent #DuncanSheik #StevenSater #ASL

Mama Who Bore Me (https://youtu.be/7yhIxX-y6Z0?si=zBEGCVOI43axoWJp) is from Coming-of-Age Rock musical “Spring Awakening” based on the 1891 German play of the same name. It was composed by Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik (yes, the same guy who wrote “Barely Breathing” (https://youtu.be/A-oh-tP6RvA?si=DXY2BzYEHpVniluC) !) A lullaby, the music contrasts with the lyrics about a young teenager’s frustration at being unprepared for harsh realities of the world
#SymSat #HappyMothersDay #SpringAwakening #DuncanSheik #StevenSater

“Credo” (https://youtu.be/NInltwWFL74?si=gxC_TNWxYiEB5y9-) is a 7-part cantata written in 1967 set to the 1904 W. E. B. Du Bois' prose poem of the same name. It’s notable for its blending of Western classical and N*gro Spiritual traditions. Each of the movements in “Credo” begins with a statement of belief and then goes on to center black historical figures and settings in a way that marries both ancestry with modern times (extra images added for alttext)

#SymSat #MargaretBonds #BlackHistoryMonth #WEBDuBois