Bel Canto Notturno per voci e violoncello a Montclair e a Manhattan
Two of our best Bel Canto singers, Amalia Crevani and Emily Hughes, will join me and cellist Matt Zucker to present a one-hour program, “Bel Canto Notturno,” in Montclair on Sept. 4 and in Manhattan on Oct. 1. See below for ticketing information, and meanwhile read on for a little info if you’re curious. When we read “Nocturne,” we think of Chopin, but Chopin borrowed the title from a genre forgotten today, the chamber duet for two voices in close harmony. It was a staple of domestic music-making in the era when music at home had to be supplied by musicians in the home. Several generations of composers gave it some of their best inspirations. Virtuosity, melody, expression, and sheer fun are the hallmarks. These "Notturni" were mostly circulated in manuscript in Italy (which was late in the transition to engraved sheet music), and there are thousands of examples in libraries up and down the peninsula. As publishing picked up steam elsewhere, they were issued by the hundre...