Samuel Barber, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland are among America’s greatest composers who — known for penning music for orchestra, chamber groups and theatrical performances — also wrote songs for solo voice; though the latter works are less familiar, now Salon 21 is paying tribute to this trio of composers via Pillars of American Art Song.
The event is a collaborative effort between voice and piano professors at Northern Kentucky University and University of North Florida — Kimberly Lazzeri and Krzysztof Biernacki, respectively — and the pair will perform from Barber’s Hermit Songs, Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles and Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Not that long ago, a classically trained American singer’s recital typically featured songs in German, Italian, French and, occasionally, in Russian. Works in English — especially by American composers — were rarely performed, despite the abundance of material.
But in the last 20 years, that’s changed.
“As American singers, it’s really critical that we perform our own music,” says Biernacki. “I wasn’t born here but I live here now, and there’s a wealth of extraordinary vocal music written in this country.”
Born in Poland, Biernacki became a professor of voice and director of opera at UNF in 2005. This concert marks his Cincinnati debut, thanks to a network of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music alumni now on NKU faculty, starting with Salon 21’s artistic director, Jill Jantzen. A clerical staff member there, Jantzen met Lazzeri, an NKU assistant professor of voice, at the university as well.
“Jill invited me to do a recital of American songs and I immediately thought of Krzysztof,” Lazzeri says. “I was a visiting professor of voice at UNF for a year and he and I began a series of collaborative concerts that we continue to perform throughout the country.”
Pianists Erin K. Bennett and Richard Van Dyke will also join the fold. Both have ties to CCM, with the former currently working as an associate UNF professor and the latter serving as NKU’s keyboard area coordinator.
Lazzeri will perform Barber’s Hermit Songs; mystic, bawdy, serene and witty, the song cycle is based on 10 medieval poems written by Irish monks, which were translated by contemporary Irish poets, including W.H. Auden and Nuala O’Faolain.
She also chose four selections from Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson for the program, including one of Dickinson’s best-known works, “The Chariot,” more widely recognized as “Because I could not stop for Death.”
“‘The Chariot’ is the final piece in the cycle, and it’s my favorite,” Lazzeri says. “There’s such a calm about it as it describes looking toward eternity. It reminds me of the final piece in the Hermit songs, (‘The Desire for Hermitage’); there’s a peacefulness in both.”
Composed just two years before his death, Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles explores the life cycle of an American marriage with texts by himself, his mother Jennie and Yiddish poet Yankev-Yitskhok Segal. There will be both solos and duets for voice and pianists get to show off with a four-hands performance that involves scatting, singing, improvisation and blowing a whistle along the way.
“The arias are tricky and absolutely wonderful,” Biernacki says. “They’re witty and exceptionally well put together.”
Although having the entire program in English can be a relief for audiences, it poses special challenges for singers.
“It’s the worst language to sing in because there are no pure vowels,” Biernacki says. “They can be extremely difficult to articulate especially in the upper registers.”
Lazzeri agrees, adding that there’s another critical element to singing in English for native speakers.
“We assume that we understand the text but the challenge comes in the interpretation,” she says. “I encourage my students to approach singing in English as if it were a foreign language and to translate the way they would translate any other language so that there’s that depth of understanding.”
Biernacki notes that his department requires voice majors to include works in English in their senior recitals. “We also want our students to explore the extraordinary riches in American Art Song,” he says. “And this concert provides a great introduction.”
Pillars of American Art Song takes place Thursday, March 7 at Willis Music Kenwood. More info/tickets: salon21.org.
This article appears in Feb 27 – Mar 6, 2019.
