I attended a lovely concert at Kosciuszko Hall in Manhattan on Monday night. Cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf and composer-pianist Joshua Rosenblum performed works by Schumann, Brahms, de Falla, Prokofieff, Rosenblum, Bolling, and others, assisted by soprano Joanne Lessner, bassist Bill Ellison, drummer Bruce Doctor, and special guest Julia Murney.
Mairi's particular interest (she referred to it as an obsession) is in performing songs with the cello taking the voice part, and she made a compelling case for her obsession in the songs of Schumann, Brahms, and de Falla. I particularly liked Brahms' Wie Melodien.
The concert included the world premiere of Josh Rosenblum's setting for soprano, cello, piano, and contrabass of T. S. Eliot's poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. I liked it a lot, and I hope to make a recording of it soon so it can be shared with others.
I was very pleased to see that the three CDs on sale in the lobby were all produced (or co-produced) by me! Not surprising, of course, because they all feature Josh Rosenblum's music:There is another Peierls-produced Rosenblum album, Impetuosities, but it wasn't on sale at the concert.
Another world premiere of Josh's music can be heard at the upcoming performance of the dance company, The Chase Brock Experience. Chase Brock commissioned a ballet from Josh, and I produced a recording of the piece for use during the performance. It's called ... are you ready? ... Cut to the Chase.
