The song cycle "Les Nuits D'Été" by Berlioz was sung last night by Julie Simpson as part of the University of Colorado's Music Faculty Series. What a treat! Some people have commented to me about their negative reaction to Berlioz. Some of his works might be a bit over-blown, but not this song cycle. He only has 28 works with opus numbers, so for someone who lived to be 65, his output wasn't prodigious. Simpson has a silky voice and she hit a home run with her deliverance. She also sang "Arianna a Naxos" by Haydn and the witch's scene from Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel", assisted by Kara Guggenmos and Jennifer DeDominic. It was a wonderful concert.
"Les Nuits D'Été"has only been broadcast on my local , now non-reachable, classical station, KVOD, 11 times since the beginning of 2004. 6 broadcasts were between 8 PM and midnight, and 5 between in the 1 AM and 4 AM. What a shame that listeners in the Denver area don't get much chance to hear this wonderful cycle.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment