Alice Shields: The Wind in the Pines — After the Climate Catastrophe (2021)

Описание: World premiere of Alice Shields' "The Wind in the Pines - After the Climate Catastrophe" Oct.27, 2021 at the National Opera Center, NYC for soprano and chamber ensemble, presented by The Eurasia Consort, funded by Chamber Music America.
more info below ⤵
Performed by David Bloom, conductor; Sharon Harms, soprano; Daphna Mor, recorder; Sarah Carrier, flute; Karen Lindquist, Renaissance bray harp; Adem Birson, Turkish ud; August Denhard, Baroque theorbo; Rex Benincasa, percussion.

WOMAN:

I shall go stand beneath this tree.
These are the mountain pines,
the mountain pines.

Yes,
I told you I would return to you
on this curving shore.

I see in the moonlight:
--I am too ashamed --
Pain has taught me nothing,
nothing.

I shall go stand beneath this tree.
These are the mountain pines,
the mountain pines,
the wind in the pines,
the breath of pine,
fragrant pine.


THE TREE:

All creation beheld me shining.

Pain has taught you nothing,
nothing.

Shadows go forth, bitter sorrow:
sky, heaven and earth are ruined.

You have done this.
Farewell.


About "The Wind in the Pines - After the Climate Catastrophe":
In a dream-like state, a woman seeks protection from cataclysmic climate destruction. Her voice is surrounded with pungent plucked instruments, the smooth breathing of wind instruments and the radiant sounds of pitched metal percussion. She tries to find safety under a tree, but is swept away three times in the music by pluckings and roiling metals and high shrieking winds. Finally, the tree says it will not shelter or forgive her because she and her kind, human beings, have destroyed the climate and thereby every living thing on earth.

Composer Alice Shields - Bio:

Described as "luxuriant yet eerily supernatural" (SRUTI, India), "holds the listener spellbound"(Musical America) and "intense, richly scored" (New York Times), Alice Shields' music morphs together Western and non-Western forms of classical music, including Noh Theater and the Bharata Natyam dance-drama of India. Her music has been performed by the New York City Opera VOX Festival, Akademie der Künste (Berlin), SAVVY-Contemporary (Berlin), Venice Biennale, ISCM World New Music Days and other groups. The commission for Alice Shields to create "The Wind in the Pines" has been made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.
www.aliceshields.com

Sharon Harms, soprano

Praised as “superb”, “luscious-toned”, “extraordinarily precise and expressive”, and “dramatically committed and not averse to risk” by the New York Times, young American soprano Sharon Harms is known for fearless performances and passionate interpretations of works new and old for the recital, concert and operatic stage. She has premiered the music of some of today’s leading composers. A member of the Argento Ensemble and the Curiosity Cabinet, Harms has sung with Baroque Band of Chicago, Center for Contemporary Opera, counter)induction, Da Capo Chamber Players, East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, and MET Opera Chamber Orchestra, and has been guest artist at the American Academy in Rome, Cornell University, Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and June in Buffalo. She received the Master of Music in vocal performance from Indiana University.

David Bloom, conductor

David Bloom is a conductor equally at home in opera, new music, and orchestral repertoire, noted for his “rockstar energy” (Urban Milwaukee) and “graceful sensitivity” (I Care If You Listen). He is founding Co-Artistic Director of Contemporaneous, a 23-member New York-based ensemble which he has led in performances lauded as “ferocious and focused” (The New York Times). Also Co-Artistic Director of Present Music, he brings “breathtaking and inspired programming” (Shepherd Express) to Milwaukee’s long-running new music ensemble. Bloom dedicates his work to collaborating with artists and communities to inspire creativity, empathy, and inclusiveness.
He's conducted over 300 world premieres at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, MoMA and Park Avenue Armory and has premiered productions for Opera Omaha, Tri-Cities Opera, Beth Morrison Projects, PROTOTYPE Festival, and Experiments in Opera. He's recorded for Sony Masterworks, Cantaloupe, New Amsterdam, Innova and New Focus.
davidbloomconductor.com

The Eurasia Consort

The Seattle-based Eurasia Consort presents music from across the Silk Road. Founded by Tomoko Sugawara and August Denhard in 2013, they present concerts in Seattle, New York and Houston, collaborating with leading East Asian and MIddle Eastern musicians.
https://www.eurasiaconsort.com/.