Spohr concert

Last year, one of the vocal professors asked me if I would be willing to participate in a concert that she was putting together for this fall. She and her husband have been doing research on a Romantic composer, Louis Spohr, whose music has been largely forgotten, and they were wanting to remember him and his music in a special concert. Recently, they even published their own edition of the complete vocal works of Louis Spohr. So, I was asked to play in two numbers on the program. One was a rather unusual vocal piece that Spohr wrote, and the second was a transcription of the overture to one of his operas, Faust, that was written for two pianos/eight hands. Most of the performers in the program were faculty members, so I was very honored to have been asked to play. Overall, I think the concert was a great success, and it was definitely a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the audio is not that great on the videos, but I think you'll get the idea.

The first piece, An Sie am Klavier, is essentially a piano sonatina with vocal commentary. The accompaniment is definitely not a traditional accompaniment, nor are the lyrics. The singer is speaking about his love for the pianist. He hangs on her every note, but alas, not one of those notes is played for him. I was supposed to be a completely arrogant, piano diva who never once noticed the man singing for her. Afterward, everyone said that I played a great diva, which was a compliment....I think?! At any rate, it was a lot of fun.

The second piece was performed by the four pianists who participated in this concert. Working with multiple pianists is always fun, and this was no different. We didn't have much rehearsal before the concert, so there were a few scary moments during the piece, but somehow we kept it together. This was the closing number, and I think everyone really enjoyed it. If nothing else, it was exciting. :)