Discover
Artist Spotlight | Ken Smith
In celebration of Cedille’s upcoming album release, Welcome to My World, we are proud to feature celebrated pianist Ken Smith in our Artist Spotlight series, where Chicago’s classical artists discuss the music important to them.
From Ken:
Here’s a memory or anecdote concerning Handel’s “Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto”. In 1984, the Metropolitan Opera in New York brought to its stage the opera Rinaldo by Handel. It was the first Handel opera produced by the Met, and also was the debut of Samuel Ramey in the role of Argante, whose entrance aria is “Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto”. It was a sensational debut, broadcast on The Met’s Saturday afternoon program. Since the score had been put together by the Met for their performance, there was no piano-vocal score available. From a recording of the broadcast, I transcribed one and made it available to various of my bass-baritone friends, among whom was Mark. Of course, since then, the aria is included in anthologies.
Welcome to My World is available for pre-order. To learn more about the project and purchase, click below.
Recommended
From Chicago-based composter Stacy Garrop comes INVICTUS, Latin for “unconquered.” The work unfolds across four movements and an interlude, moving between lyrical introspection, fierce determination, and triumphant resolve, with Grammy-nominated pianist Marta Aznavoorian and the Chicago Philharmonic under the direction of Artistic Director Scott Speck. Available 5/8.
Haymarket Opera Company presents early-18th-century master Leonardo Vinci’s rare operatic gem, Artaserse (1730). A prominent figure of the Neapolitan School of opera, whose work influenced composers such as Johann Adolph Hasse and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Vinci’s three-act opera seria centers on the Persian prince, Artaserse, who must bring his father’s murderer to justice amidst betrayal, deceit, and mistaken identity.
In anticipation of the June 12 digital single release of Mischa Zupko:Harpsichord Concerto, this month’s playlist features that very instrument and its many personalities. There’s delicacy in Lully’s Passacaille contrasted by Soler’s muscular Keyboard Sonata No. 81 in G Minor. Appearing both accompanied and unaccompanied, the harpsichord takes center stage this month.
Enjoy Cedille’s Weekly Featured Release.