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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
Cedille’s newest digital single, Mischa Zupko: Harpsichord Concerto is available to stream everywhere. Scored for harpsichord and string quartet, the concerto exhibits highly idiomatic harpsichord writing, brought brilliantly into the present by Zupko’s ingenious reshaping of older musical styles into a thoroughly modern expression.
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.
In honor of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we repromote our playlist of Cedille recordings of music by (almost all) American composers based on American themes — people, places, events, etc. — and add a few recent tracks that fit the theme (and bring the total to 50).
Enjoy Cedille’s Weekly Featured Release.