Episodes
Friday Jan 29, 2021
Episode 13 - 1955:Gian Carlo Menotti, The Saint of Bleecker Street
Friday Jan 29, 2021
Friday Jan 29, 2021
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first repeat winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music. We covered Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul in Episode 8 and now he's back again with The Saint of Bleecker Street. We were generally favorable toward The Consul, finding it an effective, if derivative opera. Will Menotti score another hit with this story of a young woman who displays the stigmata?
If you're interested in The Saint of Bleecker Street, we recommend:
- The original Broadway cast recording from 1954
- The TV movie version of the opera, broadcast on NBC in 1955
We also recommend exploring the Spoleto festival a bit more, both the Festival of Two Worlds held in Spoleto, Italy and the Spoleto Festival hosted in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Episode 12 - 1954: Quincy Porter, Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Tuesday Jan 12, 2021
Quincy Porter bridges many of the themes we've seen so far in the podcast: he was the last student of nineteenth-century American composer Horatio Parker (who also taught 1947 prize winner Charles Ives), he taught composition at an Ivy League school (Yale, in this case) for many years, and he was celebrated for his orchestral music during his lifetime, but is virtually forgotten today.
From that list, and from our previous episodes on Howard Hanson, Walter Piston, and Douglas Moore, you might think you have a good sense of what Porter's Ivy League New England musical style might be, but are you right? Join us to find out.
For more about Quincy Porter: