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date: May 1, 1994
The first half consisted mostly of German songs which related stories of the witches’ sabbath, supposed to take place on the eve of May Day, together with a piano-duet describing the same scenes, but concluded with a new commission, A Magic Casement, by Toronto composer, Timothy Sullivan. (This was later to be recorded by the same artists and released on a CD of the composer’s works.) The second half was, on the whole, much more lighthearted. The Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus joined us for Mendelssohn’s well-known fairy music and the concert concluded with a visit from Dame Clara Butt, that formidable contralto, impersonated by the brilliant and formidable David James.
Song | Artist | Composer | Poet |
---|---|---|---|
Neue Liebe, Op.19a/4 | Oland, Erik, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | Heine, Heinrich |
Walpurgisnacht, Op.75/4 | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Brahms, Johannes | Alexis, Willibald |
Elvershöh, Op.3/2 | Oland, Erik, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Loewe, Carl | anon. Danish, trans. Herder, Johann Gottfried |
Walpurgisnacht, Op.68/3 (From the Bohemian Forest) | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Dvořák, Antonín | n/a |
Elfenlied (Mörike-Lieder) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Wolf, Hugo | Mörike, Eduard |
Die Loreley | Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Liszt, Franz | Heine, Heinrich |
Aus alten Märchen, Op.48/15 (Dichterliebe) | Oland, Erik, baritone; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Schumann, Robert | Heine, Heinrich |
Casement I (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo | Sullivan, Timothy | Dobell, Sydney |
Come away (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Yeats, William Butler / Macleod, Fiona |
The Moon-Child / Casement II (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Dobell, Sydney / Macleod, Fiona |
A Fairy Funeral / Casement III (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Dobell, Sydney / Noyes, Alfred |
Casement IV (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Dobell, Sydney |
To Pierrot in Love (The Magic Casement) | Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Watts-Dunton, Theodore |
Under the Evening Star (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Milton, John |
Fairy Revels (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Lyly, John |
Casement V (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Sullivan, Timothy | Dobell, Sydney |
Bugles of Dreamland (The Magic Casement) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, 2 pianos | Sullivan, Timothy | Macleod, Fiona |
Overture: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op.21 | Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | n/a |
You spotted snakes (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op.61) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix | Shakespeare, William |
The Leprehaun (Irish Country Songs) | Oland, Erik, baritone; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Irish folksong, arr. Hughes, Herbert | Joyce, Patrick Weston |
The Enchantress | James, David, contralto; Ralls, Stephen, piano | Hatton, John Liptrott | Chorley, Henry Fothergill |
A fairy went a-marketing | James, David, contralto; Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Goodhart, Arthur M. | Fyleman, Rose |
Finale (Iolanthe) | Brett, Kathleen, soprano; Maguire, Linda, mezzo; James, David, contralto; Oland, Erik, baritone; Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus; Ralls, Stephen / Ubukata, Bruce, piano | Sullivan, Sir Arthur | Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck |