2018-2019

Based on the French play Juliette, ou La clé des songes (Juliette, or The Key of Dreams) by Georges Neveux, Martinů’s operatic masterpiece Julietta, one of the greatest 20th-century works for the stage, explores the intersection of dreams and reality. Set in a seaside town, this psychological drama follows Michel, a traveling salesman, who finds…

Robert Mann Photo by Charles AbbottNew York City composers of the mid-20th century sought to define a new American sensibility in orchestral music. The abstract works of Robert Mann, the legendary founder of the Juilliard Quartet, and Jacob Druckman explored the possibilities of orchestral color and sound. Vivian Fine and William Schuman brought their compositional…

Walt Whitman, the defining 19th-century poetic voice of America, inspired several generations of European composers. In the 20th century, Whitman’s poetry was beautifully adapted during World War I by Othmar Schoeck. The catastrophe of World War II inspired Kurt Weill to turn to Whitman’s writings. Franz Schreker and Ralph Vaughan Williams were drawn to Whitman’s…