The Stravinsky Years
Epilogue: Page 3
Alice Tully Hall Concerts
The Gregg Smith Singers rejoined with Robert Craft in a new series of Stravinsky concerts in the 1980s and 1990s at New York’s Alice Tully Hall. Concerts included:
A Composers’ Showcase concert on Monday, March 9, 1987 at Alice Tully Hall featured Robert Craft conducting Stravinsky’s “Oedipus Rex” and “Symphony of Psalms.” The Gregg Smith Singers performed in both works. Cast included John Rubinstein as the Narrator (using Jean Cocteau’s original French narration), Thomas Bogdan as Oedipus Rex, Yanyu Guo as Jocasta, and Charles Robert Stephens as Creon.
Also on the March 9 program was Stravinsky’s “Renard,” which featured GSS soloists: Walter Richardson, Drew Martin and Leslie Dorsey.
''Histoire du Soldat,'' featuring a new English text by Frank Corsaro and conducted by Robert Craft, was premiered at Alice Tully Hall Sunday, April 22, 1990. Cast included George Hearn as the Devil, Mark Sellers as the Soldier, Maria Magana as the Princess, and Mr. Corsaro (also the director) as a Newsman. “Les Noces," was also featured, sung by Rosalind Rees, soprano; Elsa Larsson, contralto; John Litton, tenor, and Donald Collup, baritone, and the Gregg Smith Singers.
A March 21, 1992 performance of “Perséphone” at Alice Tully Hall in NYC, conducted by Robert Craft, featured narration by noted French actress, Irène Jacob. Other participants included: soloist John Aler, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Long Island Symphonic Choral Association (LISCA), The Newark Boys Choir, and the Orchestra of St. Luke.
Other programed works included Stravinsky’s “Zvezdoliki The Star Faced One,” with the male voices of the Gregg Smith Singers. This version of “Perséphone” was later recorded April 16, 1995 by Music Masters (Igor Stravinsky—The Composer, Volume III). The recording features Irène Jacob, John Aler, the Gregg Smith Singers and the Orchestra of St. Luke.
In 1993, a concert version of Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress” was performed at Alice Tully Hall (Robert Craft conducting), with an opera chorus of Gregg Smith Singers and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Featured soloists included Jon Garrison as Tom Rakewell, Jayne West as Anne Trulove, Arthur Woodley as Father Trulove, John Cheek as Nick Shadow and Shirley Love as Mother Goose. The concert version was recorded May 10-18, 1993 by MusicMasters at SUNY, with Robert Craft conducting the Gregg Smith Singers and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
