Absent such a lucky strike, we can glean an approximation of a piece by listening to online samples of other works by the same composer or performer. And often that approximate understanding is enough to decide on purchasing a new CD or set of audio files. That's the case today with information about a planned set of performances by Anthony DeMare. He has commissioned works from 30 composers that rework songs by Stephen Sondheim. The list of composer-interpreters has some surprises and some names new to me. (The links are to examples of each composer's music, often for piano, that are available on YouTube.)
- Milton Babbitt— "I'm Still Here" from Follies
- Mason Bates— tba
- Eve Beglarian— tba
- Derek Bermel— "Sorry-Grateful" from Company
- William Bolcom— "Anyone Can Whistle" from Anyone Can Whistle
- Kenji Bunch— "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Michaeld Daugherty— tba
- Peter Golub— "Children and Art" from Sunday in the Park with George
- Ricky Ian Gordon— "Every Day a Little Death" from A Little Night Music
- Annie Gosfield— "A Bowler Hat" from Pacific Overtures
- Jake Hegge— "A Weekend in the Country" from A Little Night Music
- Jerome Kitzke— "Sunday/Lesson No. 8 Move On" from Sunday in the Park with George
- Phil Kline— "Someone in a Tree" from Pacific Overtures
- Ricardo Lorenz— "The Worst Pies in London/A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Paul Moravec— "Losing My Mind" from Follies
- David Rakowski— "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company
- Steve Reich— "Finishing the Hat" from Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Eric Rockwell— "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" from Company
- Daniel Bernard Roumain— selections from Assassins
- Frederic Rzewski— tba
- Rodney Sharman—"Beautiful" from Sunday in the Park with George
- David Shire— "Comedy Tonight" from On The Way To The Forum
- Bernadette Speach— "Liaisons/Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music
- Nils Vigeland— "Alma Mater/Merrily We Roll Along" from Merrily We Roll Along
De Mare has distinguished himself among pianists in his development of the pianist as vocal performer. Perhaps the most expressive of such works is De Profundis by Frederic Rzewski, who set the text of Oscar Wilde's letter from Reading Gaol. This half-hour work asks the performer to alternate bravura pianistic moments with highly charged speech and other effects, both percussion and vocal. Although the listener may link the music to Schönberg's use of Sprechstimme, the vocal element is not always so carefully notated and the vocal production goes far beyond mere speaking voice. Much of the effect comes from the ability of the performer to transcend the bounds of speech and song, and De Mare explores his exceptional capacity so well that his recording of De Profundis comes to life, almost holographically.
It is through my familiarity with the recording Speak! that I anticipate the availability of Liaisons, which must await completion until several of the commissions are realized. In the meantime, Anthony De Mare has scheduled a concert tour that presents the working state of the suite in several cities and culminates with a full-suite première in New York City.
- Banff Alberta, 5 March 2011
- College Park MD, 2 April 2011
- Portland OR, 12 July 2011
- Chicago IL, 11 December 2011
- Fort Saskatchewan Alberta, 23 September 2011
- New York Century Club NY, 18 October 2011
- Hudson NY, 21 January 2012
- Fort Worth TX, 4 February 2012
- San Francisco CA, 12 March 2012
- New York Symphony Space NY, 21 and other dates April 2012, full suite première
- Kalamazoo MI, 1 and 3 May 2012
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