Lisboa Conducts the CSO’s “Set Free”–& the Piece That Changed Her Life
Posted on: Dec 5, 2019
The flute player was hypnotized. The cellist was crying. The conductor is rearranging the program order after Wednesday’s Concordia Symphony Orchestra dress rehearsal, because nothing can follow soprano ‘s rendition of an iconic Wagner aria.
The flautist shares:
A voice that strong not only dominates a hall, but captures the hearts within it. Despite not knowing German, I was able to completely understand the emotional weight Wagner’s piece held through Aidan’s choice of inflection and body language during her performance. Aidan transferred Isolde’s heartache so clearly it became mine to bear.
CSO conductor Danielle Lisboa was a teenager when she heard the late in the documentary –Isolde singing over her dead lover’s body, at the end of Tristan und Isolde–and was hooked. The profound truth in the performance utterly captivated her. Her near obsession with the piece led eventually to a Master鈥檚 degree from the University of Houston with special emphasis in opera conducting, and then a PhD from Eastman School of Music.
Someone else’s words, that she herself could have written:
I saw part of the film “Karajan in Salzburg” on PBS about ten years ago. I was channel surfing and happened across Jessye Norman singing “Isoldes Liebestod.” I . . . had no notion of what Norman was singing. I couldn’t understand her German. Yet I could feel the hair rising up on the back of my neck. By the time she had finished, I was crying.
That brief seven-minute film clip was an epiphany for me. I fell desperately in love with Richard Wagner and Jessye Norman . . . Wagner at his most sublime. The climax is Norman’s clear, tender ‘Liebestod’: “Do I alone/ hear this melody/ which, so wondrous/ and tender/ in its blissful lament,/ all-revealing,/ gently pardoning,/ sounding from him,/ pierces me through . . .”
Because nothing can follow such a climax, Danielle will shift the remaining repertoire in Sunday’s program, . In addition to Isolde鈥檚 transfiguration, Aidan will lend her voice to Richard Strauss鈥檚 Befreit. The orchestra will present Robert Schumann鈥檚 Symphony No. 1, 鈥淪pring,鈥� the composer’s first venture into orchestral writing, which interweaves the conflicts of his three alter egos. No longer concluding the program: an 茅clat of gypsy themes in Sergei Rachmaninov鈥檚 Caprice boh茅mien.
And then the pi猫ce de r茅sistance. See you there!
Sunday, December 8
3 pm in the Robert Tegler Student Centre
Free ticket for Concordia students, faculty, and staff available from Jennifer in A304. Additional tickets ($20/$15) available from the Bookstore, , or at the door. Special Family Admission: $40 (available at the door only).