Musica Plenti’s “Viva La Musica” At Atria

On Sunday, June 21, 2009, Musica Plenti presented a concert of works by American composers, followed by the song cycle, Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs) by Johannes Brahms at the Atria Senior Residence in Stamford, Connecticut.

The first half of the program opened with the lively “Viva la Musica”, by the Hungarian composer Ivan Erod. Following was a broad selection of short works by modern American Composers. These included “Sure on This Shining Night”, by Samuel Barber, set to a text by the American writer James Agee; “Come In”, from “Frostiana”, by Randall Thompson (text by Robert Frost); and the hilarious takeoff on the English madrigal, “My Bonnie Lass She Smelleth”, by Peter Schickele, otherwise known as P.D.Q. Bach

Notable among the American works were two pieces by Connecticut composers: Constance Walton’s “Five Little Songs based on Mother Goose Rhymes; and Eugenie Rocherolle’s “”Adieu, la Jeunesse” (“Farewell, Youth”). Both these works were scored for women’s voices.

Brahms’s “Zigeunerlieder” a group of eleven songs for mixed voices and piano, reflects the composer’s lifelong interest in gypsy music, and presents a varied view of this rich tradition, ranging from lively dances to lyrical love songs.

The audience was treated to a delightful encore by Rossini, his famous “Cat’s Meow”, a mock-serious madrigal by the Italian master, replete with fine singing, interspersed with – expressive meows.

Click on the Concert Schedules Link above to see the dates and locations of concerts.