Aaron Copland’s American songs at NCMF this summer
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There are two approaches to designing an addition to an old building: match the original or do something completely different.
The festival starts tomorrow - yes, tomorrow - with two free storytelling and music shows, one at TITO and the other at the Salisbury Public Library. Check our website for more details. All are welcome (and really, it will be quite a lot of fun).
Also, we have a staffing change. Sadly, Maria Ioudenitch had to pull out due to a family emergency. We are incredibly fortunate that Lisa Lee is able to step in last-minute and return to NCMF with her violin.
Is it weird that the piece I’m most excited about this summer is only three minutes long? We’ve done some weird stuff at NCMF, but Cathey Berberian’s “Stripsody” takes the cake.
Berberian (1925 - 1983) was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts to Armenian parents and it was her mother’s record collection that led her down “the long rabbit hole into the wonderland of music.” She attended NYU and Columbia, eventually winding up in Paris and then Milan to study singing. At one point, she wound up with avant-garde composer Luciano Berio as her accompanist for a recital. According to Berberian, “he spoke no English and I spoke no Italian. We had no contact but music.” They married in 1950 and moved to Italy.
Berberian went on to become muse to many of the 20th century’s greatest composers, premiering works by John Cage, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, and William Walton, amongst other classical luminaries. An obsessive fan of comic books, in 1966 she composed Stripsody, collaborating with illustrator Roberto Zamarin. The score is utterly unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
Instead of musical notes on a staff, the music is a series of comic book illustrations and somehow Lucy Shelton is going to sing this. Your guess is as good as mine how she will bring it to life. The score will be projected on a screen so you can follow along.
Despite her cutting-edge credentials, Berberian loved all periods of music. She was a great fan of Monteverdi, Debussy, and Gershwin, and had a special passion for both baroque opera and the pop music of the 50s. Combining her love of the two, she asked Dutch composer Louise Andriessen to arrange Beatles songs in the style of a Handel opera and recorded an album of “Beatles Arias.”
She even worked with Umberto Eco to translate American political cartoons into Italian. She died at 57 of a massive heart attack the day before she was scheduled to appear on Italian television singing the Communist Party anthem dressed as Marilyn Monroe (!) to commemorate the centennial of Karl Marx’s death (obviously).
David Yang, Artistic Director
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There are two approaches to designing an addition to an old building: match the original or do something completely different.
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David YangI could imagine doing a mix of solo and string quartet, tending to my animal sanctuary,
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David YangThe Prince hired a young Italian singer, Luigia Polzelli, with whom Haydn began a passionate and torrid affair.
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