by Daniel Hathaway
HAPPENING TODAY:
Today at Noon, organist Jonathan W. Moyer, organ, plays works by Matthias Weckmann, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Dieterich Buxtehude, and his own O Nata Lux, Varied at the Church of the Covenant.
Tonight at 7:30, Tuesday Musical brings the Imani Winds and Boston Brass together onstage in Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall in works by Arturo Sandoval, J.S. Bach, Astor Piazzolla, Paquito D’Rivera, and Lalo Schifrin.
SAVE THE DATES:
Lakewood’s Beck Center will collaborate with Oberlin College, to present Spring Awakening from February 13 to March 1 in Senney Theater, featuring young performers exploring teenage self-discovery and social issues in Lakewood’s Senney Theater. Read a story on Cleveland.com by John Benson here.
HEADLINES FROM THE VIOLIN CHANNEL:
Emerson String Quartet Documentary to Premiere in New York City
Conductor Giancarlo Guerrero Performs with Bad Bunny at Super Bowl Halftime Show. (The performance garnered over 34 million views on YouTube in 17 hours)
Click here to read a related story posted by Heather Cox Richardson in Letters from an American on February 9.
TODAY’S ALMANAC:
by Jarrett Hoffman
Leontyne Price, considered one of the greatest sopranos in history, and the first African American vocalist to reach international acclaim in opera, turns 99 today. She was born in 1927 in Laurel, MS.
There are many lenses through which to examine her career, including the racially motivated obstacles she overcame, which could constitute a whole article. But it’s also important to simply appreciate her artistry. In an article for NPR published on Price’s 90th birthday, Tom Huizenga wrote, “Over years of interviewing singers and critics, whenever Price’s name comes up, something special happens. The talk turns to that powerful, gleaming voice and the strength of her artistic convictions, even in the face of adversity.”
That article contains thoughts on Price from soprano Jessye Norman, baritone Sherrill Milnes, and critic Tim Page. Norman reflected on being in middle school, when she first heard Price sing through a record her brother brought home:
Hearing this voice — this vibrant, beautiful, soaring, amazing voice, on whatever that stereo equipment was at the time, was quite overwhelming. I used to sit — very often alone — just listening to the sound and wondering what she really looked like and what her friends were like and what it must be like to carry such an instrument around in one’s own body.
One recording that stood out in Norman’s mind was of Price singing Il trovatore with frequent collaborator Herbert von Karajan at the Salzburg Festival (listen here).
…that is truly, truly, truly great singing. And because it is what it is, it is more than simple singing. It is much more than that. Whatever those words should be, I don’t have them this moment, but it’s far more than singing.
Listen to that recording, especially towards the end, to discover what a perfect description that is.
Norman concludes her thoughts thusly:
I hope that at this point in her life, that she’s able to understand and appreciate the amazing artistic life that she shared with the world.
