The Concert No. 57
Program Overview

Mexican tile, 17th century.

Podcast Program No. 57
The Sopranos
(40.3MB)
Works for flute, harp, voice, violin and piano performed by flutist Paula Robison, harpist Mariko Anraku, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Viviane Hagner, and pianist Pei-Yao Wang and Avner Arad.

Saint-Saens: Romance for flute and harp
Debussy: Chansons de Bilitis
Saint-Saens: Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75

Today we will be listening to three pieces written for soprano instruments in the late 19th century by two French composers – Camille Saint-Saens and Claude Debussy. Saint-Saens’ Romance for the flute, with its elegant and soaring melodic lines, is the perfect showcase for this quintessential soprano woodwind. “Chansons de Bilitis,” written for high voice and piano, is a set of three poems that tell a mythic tale of lust, betrayal and abandonment. The last piece, Saint-Saens’ Violin Sonata in D minor, is written for the highest member of the string family. In this fiery sonata, the atmosphere is dark and brooding, interspersed with moments of beauty and playfulness. These three pieces demonstrate that soprano instruments not only embody refinement and beauty, but they can manifest a passion and ferocity that reflect the richness of human emotions.

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Thanks!
We’d like to thank the following individuals and institutions, without whose help this project would not have been possible:

Thanks to the musicians, without whose talent, cooperation and forward thinking we would not have been able to create this podcast

Thanks to the Berkman Center for their legal expertise in the complex and fascinating world of digital intellectual property. .
 

Thanks to Liberated Syndication for hosting our podcast.

Recording Engineer: Tom Stephenson of Emmanuel Recording

 
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