Though we are currently on hiatus, we will continue to share audio and video files from our 2016 programs. For “The Not Quite Paris Cabaret,” Bernardo Bermudez and Ron Barnett performed Antonio Carlos Jobim’s classic “The Girl from Impanema,” in both Portuguese and English. (Translation in the video).
Category: Spacious Vision video and recordings
Posts about video and recordings of Spacious Vision concerts
Ariel Pisturino and Ron Barnett perform “Bewitched” (Rodgers and Hart)
Though we are currently on hiatus, we will continue to share selected audio and video files from our 2016 programs. From “The Not Quite Paris Cabaret” in Los Angeles, here are Ariel Pisturino and Ron Barnett performing Rodgers and Hart’s classic “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered.”
Gerald Seminatore and Ron Barnett perform “September Song” (Kurt Weill)
Though currently on hiatus, we will continue to share some of the audio and video from our 2016 programs. For “The Not Quite Paris Cabaret” in Los Angeles, Gerald Seminatore and Ron Barnett performed Kurt Weill’s “September Song.” Click on the play button below to hear the live audio recording.
New Year’s Greeting–Britten’s “A New Year Carol”
On this last day of 2015, here is an audio excerpt from our 2014 program Carols Rare and Bright. “A New Year Carol” is from Benjamin Britten’s Friday Afternoons (op.7), a collection of songs written for the students of Clive House School in Prestatyn, Wales, where the composer’s brother was Headmaster.
The text relates a Welsh custom of sprinkling people and the doorways with water newly drawn from a well. The words “Levy dew” may be derived from the Old English levedy (“lady”), or from the French Levez à Dieu (“Raise to God”), which alludes to the elevation of the host during the Eucharist. (This would explain the water and the wine in the words that follow.) The “seven bright gold wires” represent the strings of a golden harp, presumably played by an angelic chorus that also includes shining bugles. The “Fair Maid” is medieval personification of the Virgin Mary. The East and West doorways are both literal and metaphorical.
Here are the lyrics, followed by the link to the recording.
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“New Year Carol” (Walter de la Mare)
Here we bring new water from the well so clear,
For to worship God with, this happy New Year.
- Chorus (after each verse):
- Sing levy-dew, sing levy-dew, the water and the wine,
The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.
Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her toe;
Open you the West Door and turn the Old Year go.
Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her chin;
Open you the East Door and let the New Year in.
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Click here for this live performance on SoundCloud of “A New Year Carol.” The singers are Ariel Pisturino and Anthony Moreno, with Krystof Van Grysperre at the piano.
We wish all of our visitors and friends a very happy and musical New Year!
Concert film: Gerald Seminatore and Taro Wayama perform songs of John Dowland
On their April 2015 concert at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, guitarist Taro Wayama and tenor Gerald Seminatore opened the program with three “ayres” by English lutenist John Dowland (1563-1626). These songs from the twilight of the Elizabethan era are wonderfully expressive examples of the conventions of courtly love in art music.
Awake, sweet love
Flow my tears
Can she excuse my wrongs?
(YouTube will open in a new page.)
Two Villancicos, sung by Bernardo Bermudez and Anthony Moreno
For our 2014 program “Carols Rare and Bright,” Bernardo Bermudez and Anthony Moreno sang rarely performed villancicos (Spanish language Christmas songs). These wonderful songs deserve a wider audience, and here are two selections from our salon at Elise’s in Long Beach, CA. For this concert, Kristof Van Grysperre played a restored Hamburg Steinway grand piano from 1890.
JUAN PLAZA (1898-1965, Venezuela)
“Trinan las aves” (The Birds Sing)
Sung by Bernardo Bermudez
The birds sing with great joy;
They announce that
Jesus the Messiah is coming.
The prairie prepares itself,
Putting on a gallant dress of
Colorful flowers.
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JOAQUÍN RODRIGO (1901-99, Spain)
“Colplillas de Belen” (Carols of Bethlehem)
Sung by Anthony Moreno
If the palm tree knew that
A star had fallen from heaven
To light a child sleeping
In a stable, it would offer
Its green leaves to fan
The baby in its cradle.
The Virgin prays and sings,
And the baby smiles sweetly.
How sorrowful the palm tree
Would be, if it knew what was
Yet to come.
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A playlist of selections from “Carols Rare and Bright” is available at the Spacious Vision channel on the SoundCloud music service. Videos from past programs may also be viewed at the Spacious Vision YouTube channel.
Upcoming Webcasts of “Carols Rare and Bright” on Jan. 1, 3
The audience response to “Carols Rare and Bright” was so enthusiastic, we have decided to air a Webcast of the program on Jan. 1 and Jan. 3.
“Carols Rare and Bright” features rarely heard solo songs and carols from composers such as Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughn Williams, and Joaquin Rodrigo. A highlight of the concert are performances of carols by jazz musician Alfred Burt. This music is still very much in season; after all, Twelfth Night (the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas) does not fall until Jan. 5!
Singers for these concerts are baritones Bernardo Bermudez and Anthony Moreno, sopranos Ariel Pisturino and Susan Mohini Kane, and the critically acclaimed tenor Gerald Seminatore. Pianist Kristof van Grysperre, Associate Conductor at the Long Beach Opera, presides over the program. This is an extraordinary lineup of vocal and musical talent!
New Year’s Day broadcast: Jan. 1, 2015, 7:30 pm EST (4:30 Pacific)
Re-broadcast: Jan. 3, 2015, 10:30 pm EST (7:30 Pacific)
(The program is approximately 90 minutes, with an intermission.)
The printed program may viewed or downloaded by clicking here: SV_Carols_program_abridged
To view a broadcast online, you need a reliable Internet connection. Click on the link below, and then create a Concert Window login. It’s a quick and easy thing to do. This is a “pay what you want” event; the minimum ticket price of $1 allows us to track the number of visitors and viewers. However, we suggest a donation of at least $10 so that we might recoup some of the expenses involved with producing this program. You can also leave a “Tip” at any time during the concert.
https://www.concertwindow.com/74239-spacious-vision-song-project
We hope that you will stop by this event, so that we can share some heartfelt singing with you!
Charles Ives “The Things our Fathers Loved,” performed by Gerald Seminatore
For the final video installment from our recent AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE concert, here is Gerald Seminatore performing “The Things our Fathers Loved,” with Mark Salters at the piano.
(Photo courtesy of Taso Papadakis)
Charles Ives (1874-1954) was one of twentieth century America’s most original composers. In more than 100 songs, Ives wove together original melodies, fragments of popular songs and hymns, and harmonies of sweet simplicity or crashing dissonance. There is a pronounced nostalgia in many songs, and often a humorous or ironic note.
“The Things our Fathers Loved” is a small masterpiece, with echoes of popular tunes such as “Dixie,” “Nettleton (Come thou, fount of every blessing),” and “In the Sweet By and By.” The song is a musical memory of a July 4 weekend in New England.
I think there must be a place in the soul
All made of tunes from long ago.
I hear the organ on the Main Street corner;
Aunt Sarah humming gospels, summer evenings;
The village cornet band playing in the square,
The town’s red, white and blue.
Now, hear the songs!
I know not what are the words,
But they sing in my soul
Of the things our fathers loved.
Click here to view Gerald’s performance of “The Things our Fathers Loved.” (The original key has been transposed for high voice.)
YouTube Channel Update
This past week, we passed a modest landmark–3,000 views on our YouTube channel (around 10 a day right now). Though not major label numbers, our audience is now truly international. There are more than 30 videos of our live performances on the channel, and we invite you to check them out! http://www.youtube.com/spaciousvision
Arnold Geis performs Richard Hundley’s “Lions”
On our recent AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE concert, tenor Arnold Geis offered several songs by composer Richard Hundley. “Lions” (1971) is an energetic setting of Jame’s Purdy’s poem “Lions have lain in grasses before.” Arnold’s performance captured the vitality of the song, while Mark Salters rhythmically prowled at the piano.
Click here for Arnold’s performance of “Lions.”
(Photo courtesy of Taso Papadakis)
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