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May Day Revels | Walter Hall, Toronto
Music depicting the events of Walpurgisnacht and the arrival of spring

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
INTERMISSION
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