PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release
Contact: Leo Boucher Tel: 713/524-7601, ext. 16
CHOPIN IN PARIS: EPIGRAPH FOR A CONDEMNED BOOK IS SIGNATURE DA CAMERA PROGRAM LINKING MUSIC AND LITERATURE
Epigraph returns to Houston after performances at prestigious presenters around the U.S.
Pre-concert talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and Baudelaire translator Richard Howard Houston, TX, September 26, 2008 – Pianist and Da Camera of Houston Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg brings a signature work from her nationally recognized Music and the Literary Imagination series back to Houston on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 8:00pm in the Cullen Theater of the Wortham Theater Center. Chopin in Paris: Epigraph for a Condemned Book, a work conceived, directed and performed by Ms. Rothenberg, evokes mid-19th century Paris through the music of Frédéric Chopin and the poetry of Charles Baudelaire. Since its initial performances in 2002, Epigraph has been presented at the University of Iowa’s Hancher Auditorium; West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center for the Performing Arts; La Jolla Music Society and Omaha’s Lied Center for the Performing Arts. “Like long-held echoes, blending somewhere else/into one deep and showy unison/as limitless as darkness and as day, the sounds, the scents, the colors correspond…” writes Baudelaire. Sarah Rothenberg’s Epigraph for a Condemned Book brings to life such “correspondences” by creating a collage of sound (the music of Chopin and the voices of Eva LaGalliene and Louis Jordan and others reading Baudelaire’s words) and vision (paintings by Delacroix, French and English texts of Baudelaire’s poems, Jennifer Tipton’s glowing lighting, photographs by Nadar, Negre and others). Sarah Rothenberg’s performance and Christopher Kondek’s sensitive use of the latest in video projection technology together create an intimate, dream-like atmosphere that evokes Paris and invites the audience into the milieu that gave rise to these mysterious works of art.
Epigraph for a Condemned Book is the title of a poem included in the second edition of Flowers of Evil, Baudelaire’s only book of poetry, which was the subject of an obscenity trial after its first publication in 1857. In contrast to the public scorn inflicted upon Baudelaire was the high regard in which Polish pianist Frédéric Chopin was held. Also a figure in 19th-century Parisian life, Chopin was called “the musician poet” by Baudelaire and celebrated not only for his performances but also for his beautifully intimate and innovative piano compositions. Epigraph includes performance of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 1 in B Minor, the Berceuse, Op. 57, Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52, the Nocturnes, Op. 27 and a selection of preludes. Epigraph for a Condemned Book is presented in collaboration with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts and Blaffer Gallery, in conjunction with Blaffer Gallery’s exhibition Damaged Romanticism: A Mirror of Modern Emotion. Epigraph for a Condemned Book is a Da Camera of Houston production, co-commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven; University Musical Society, Ann Arbor and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, ChampaignUrbana. Production support is provided by The Humphreys Foundation. Sarah Rothenberg has one of the most distinguished and creative careers of her generation. Noted for her “power and introspection” (The New York Times) and “heart, intellect and fabulous technical resource” (Fanfare), she has received international acclaim as solo recitalist and chamber musician, and for the innovative programs that she conceives and directs. Highlights of recent seasons include performances at London’s Barbican Centre, The Aldeburgh Festival (England), Teatro Municipale (Santiago, Chile), Washington’s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress, Los Angeles County Museum and frequent appearances in Amsterdam and Maastricht. Ms. Rothenberg has received the Medal of Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters from the French government. Since becoming Artistic Director of Da Camera of Houston in 1994, she has created numerous original performance works, including the celebrated Music and the Literary Imagination series linking music to the works of Proust, Kafka, Mann, Akhmatova and others. A champion of both contemporary music and forgotten works from the past, Ms. Rothenberg performed the American premiere of Fanny Mendelssohn’s virtuosic piano-cycle Das Jahr in 1991. Her recording of Das Jahr for Arabesque Records received the 1996 Best Solo Classical Recording Award from the Association of Independent Recording Companies. This production reunites Sarah Rothenberg and Jennifer Tipton. One of the most sought-after lighting designers today and recent MacArthur Foundation “genius award” winner, Ms. Tipton’s
numerous credits include work with choreographers Paul Taylor and Jerome Robbins as well as lighting for productions both at the Public Theater and for the Wooster Group. The two-time Tony Award winner first collaborated with Sarah Rothenberg on Moondrunk, the highly acclaimed Da Camera of Houston production that received its world premiere in 1998. Video for Epigraph was created by Christopher Kondek, whose credits include work with Laurie Anderson, the Michael Nyman band and his longtime association with The Wooster Group, New York’s multimedia theater company. There is a pre-concert talk by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Howard at 7:00 PM on the 6th floor of the Wortham Theater Center. He has published more than 150 translations from the French, including works by Gide, Giraudoux, Cocteau, Camus, De Beauvoir, De Gaulle, Breton, RobbeGrillet, Barthes, Cioran, Claude Simon, Stendhal, and Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal, for which he received the 1983 American Book Award for translation. Tickets for Chopin in Paris: Epigraph for a Condemned Book are $25, $35 and $45. Tickets are available by contacting Da Camera of Houston, 1427 Branard, at 713-524-5050 or online at www.dacamera.com. Tickets for students and senior citizens are always half-price. There are discounts for groups of 10 or more.
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Da Camera of Houston’s concerts feature small ensembles performing chamber music, jazz, early music and contemporary music. A vital institution in the world of chamber music, Da Camera is a source of innovative programming, notably Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg’s programs connecting chamber music with literature and the visual arts. Da Camera is nationally acclaimed for thought-provoking chamber music programming, as well as a jazz series with a unique balance between renowned performers and emerging artists.