New England Conservatory faculty members JJ Penna, Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek and Cameron Stowe present NEC graduate students from the departments of collaborative piano and voice in an evening of song.

This particular Liederabend concert will feature Jewish composers whose music was banned under the Nazi regime, including Alexander von Zemlinsky, Pavel Haas, Kurt Weill, Viktor Ullmann, and others. The program will also include a performance of Shostakovich's important cycle "From Jewish Folk Poetry,” which he wrote in solidarity with Soviet Jews just after World War II.

The Liederabend—literally, "evening of song"—dates back to the 1800s, when musicians and lovers of music would gather at someone's home, and one or more singers and a pianist would perform the songs of composers of the day. In the field of classical music, these songs are referred to as "art songs," and the German art songs are called "Lieder." In Germany, the great age of song came in the 19th century. German and Austrian composers had written music for voice with keyboard before this time, but it was with the flowering of German literature in the Classical and Romantic eras that composers found high inspiration in great poetry, sparking the genre known as the "Lied."

The tradition of the art song composition continues today, with composers from all corners of the world setting poetry in many languages, scored for voice and piano. The NEC Liederabend series presents songs in a variety of languages—not only German—dating from the 19th century up to the present day.

This Liederabend performance is connected to NEC's Song Lab, a new model of training for singers and pianists based around the performance and study of art song. This fall, Song Lab focuses on German song repertoire (Lieder), including the history and culture surrounding it, and this Liederabend is performed as an extension of this area of study.

Program:

Samuel Rosner | Ashrei Hagafrur from "A Kindling Flame"
Michaela Kelly, soprano
Thomas Burrill, piano

Alexander von Zemlinsky | Songs
Blaues Sternlein, No. 5from Walzer-Gesänge nach toskanischen Liedern von Ferdinand Gregorovius, op. 6
Liebe Schwalbe, No. 1 from Walzer-Gesänge nach toskanischen Liedern von Ferdinand Gregorovius, op. 6
Irmelin Rose, No. 4 from Irmelin Rose und andere Gesänge, op. 7
Empfängnis, No. 6 from Lieder, op. 2
Meeraugen, No. 5 from Irmelin Rose und andere Gesänge, op. 7

Angela Yam, soprano
Feng Niu, piano

Pavel Haas | Four Songs on Chinese Poetry (1944)
Zaslech jsem divoké husy  (I Heard the Wild Geese)
V bambusovém háji  (In the Bamboo Grove)
Daleko měsíc je domova  (The Moon is Far from Home)
Probděná noc  (A Sleepless Night)

Corey Gaudreau, baritone
Kyunga Lee, piano

Georg Kreisler | Ich kann tanzen

Theodora Nestorova, soprano
Hanzheng Li, piano

Hanns Eisler | Mutter Beimlein

Theodora Nestorova, soprano
Hanzheng Li, piano

Kurt Weill | Nanna's Lied

Theodora Nestorova, soprano
Hanzheng Li, piano

Viktor Ullmann | Liederbuch des Hafis
Vorausbestimmung
Betrunken
Unwiderstehliche Schönheit

Andrew Stack, baritone
Cynthia Tseng, piano

Samuel Rosner | Yesh Kochavim from "A Kindling Flame"

Michaela Kelly, soprano
Thomas Burrill, piano

Dmitri Shostakovich | From Jewish Folk Poetry, op. 79
Плач об умершем младенце  (Lament For a Dead Child)
Заботливые мама и тётя  (The Thoughtful Mother and Aunt)
Колыбельная  (Lullaby)
Перед долгой разлукой  (Before a Long Separation)
Предостережение  (Warning)
Брошенный отец  (The Forsaken Father)
Песня о нужд  (Song of Misery)
Зима  (Winter)
Хорошая жизнь  (A Good Life)
Песня девушки  (Song of a Young Girl)
Счастье  (Happiness)
Elaine Daiber, soprano
Ana Mora, alto
Samuel Rosner, tenor
Marie-Elise Boyer, piano