If There Be Thorns....
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Sorabji (1892) was born this day in England to a Spanish-Sicilian mother and a Parsi father (whence his name). A self-taught composer, music critic, isolated and disdainful of the public, he forbade public performances of his work without his permission. But Michael Habermann, this evening’s performer, won him over through his diligence and determination. He once practiced just one measure of one of Sorabji’s pieces for an entire week (which tells you something about those thorns lying in wait for the unwary pianist).
"The Rose Garden" refers to the verse and prose of the 13th-century Sufi Persian poet Sa‘di, and presents a "flowing panorama of dreamlike beauty . . . the exotic magic of Iran." [Frank Holliday]
Another rose in another guise: "Les roses d’Ispahan," to a text by Leconte de Lisle, presents a longing lover’s sighing wish for the return of his love Leilah. Baritone Sanford Sylvan is accompanied as he brings us Faure’s beautiful song by pianist David Breitman.
"The Rose Garden" refers to the verse and prose of the 13th-century Sufi Persian poet Sa‘di, and presents a "flowing panorama of dreamlike beauty . . . the exotic magic of Iran." [Frank Holliday]
Another rose in another guise: "Les roses d’Ispahan," to a text by Leconte de Lisle, presents a longing lover’s sighing wish for the return of his love Leilah. Baritone Sanford Sylvan is accompanied as he brings us Faure’s beautiful song by pianist David Breitman.
