{"id":3470,"date":"2022-03-04T23:58:33","date_gmt":"2022-03-05T04:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/?p=3470"},"modified":"2024-03-04T18:00:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T23:00:46","slug":"standingwitness_opera-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/standingwitness_opera-news\/","title":{"rendered":"A Standing Witness at the Kennedy Center: &#8220;Songs that America&#8230;Needs to Hear.&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Default\"><b><span style=\"font-size: 21.5pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\">Susan Graham &amp; Music from Copland House <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Default\"><b><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\">WASHINGTON, DC<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Default\"><b><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\">The Kennedy Center<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"Default\"><b><span style=\"font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;\">11\/4\/21<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>A CENTURY HENCE, <\/strong>anyone seeking a window into the tempestuous stretch of American history between the late 1960s and the dispiriting days of a perduring pandemic could glean insights from <em>A Standing Witness<\/em>, the provocative new song cycle for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble, with music by Richard Danielpour and poems by Rita Dove. Written for the luminous Susan Graham, who gave the Washington premiere November 4 at the Kennedy Center, and the excellent group Music from Copland House, this hour-plus work distills major events that helped to define, and largely divide, the nation, as observed through the eyes of a woman whose identity the last song names as \u201cLiberty\u2019s pale green maiden, stranded\u201d\u2014the silent witness who has long stood in New York Harbor, holding aloft a torch.<\/p>\n<p>The cycle contains fourteen songs\u2014Prologue, a dozen \u201cTestimonies,\u201d Epilogue\u2014plus one instrumental interlude (a darkly beautiful reflection on 9\/11). Danielpour\u2019s writing, from lush to spiky, is rich in word-painting and other atmospheric touches that enhance Dove\u2019s poetry, which, whether rhymed or free, vibrates with high-def imagery and frequently stings&#8230;Graham anchored the performance with unmistakable assurance and conviction. Her warm, supple voice and exemplary articulation ensured that every textual nuance registered<span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;\"><span style=\"font-size: 14.6667px;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u2014the singer filled the room with a tonal glow&#8230;Throughout, there was polished, communicative playing from flutist Carol Wincenc, clarinetist Benjamin Fingland, violinist Suliman Tekalli, violist Melissa Reardon, cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach, and pianist Michael Boriskin. The firsthalf of the program featured colorful performances of instrumental works with vocal roots\u2014Pierre Jalbert\u2019s \u201cCrossings,\u201d which makes bittersweet use of a French-Canadian folk song; and selections from John Harbison\u2019s inventively arranged \u201cSongs America Loves to Sing,\u201d the perfect lead-in to songs that, as Dove and Danielpour so ardently propose, America needs to hear. \u2014<em>Tim Smith<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.operanews.com\/Opera_News_Magazine\/2021\/12\/Reviews\/WASHINGTON,_DC__Susan_Graham.html\">Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Susan Graham &amp; Music from Copland House WASHINGTON, DC The Kennedy Center 11\/4\/21 A CENTURY HENCE, anyone seeking a window into the tempestuous stretch of American history between the late 1960s and the dispiriting days of a perduring pandemic could glean insights from A Standing Witness, the provocative new song cycle for mezzo-soprano and chamber [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"related-artist":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-3470","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-press","8":"related-artist-a-standing-witness","9":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3471,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470\/revisions\/3471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3470"},{"taxonomy":"related-artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dworkincompany.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/related-artist?post=3470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}