Ian Bostridge & Brad Mehldau at Bing Concert Hall, October 16, 2019

Stanford University Live presents Ian Bostridge & Brad Mehldau
Bing Concert Hall
Stanford University, 327 Lasuen St, Stanford, CA 94305-5005 USA
7:30 PM, Wednesday, October 16, 2019

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• Brad Mehldau: the Folly of Desire
• Schumann: Dichterliebe

[7:32 PM; lights down, greetings and announcements from Nora Evans, waiting]
[7:35 PM; Ian Bostridge reads the English translation of Brecht's (filthy) poem]

Brad Mehldau: the Folly of Desire

1. [7:37 PM] the Sick Rose (William Blake)
2. [7:38 PM] Leda and the Swan (William Butler Yeats)
3. [7:42 PM] Sonnet 147 (William Shakespeare)
4. [7:45 PM] Sonnet 75 (William Shakespeare)
5. [7:47 PM] Über die Verführung von Engeln (Bertold Brecht)
6. [7:50 PM] Ganymed (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
7. [7:56 PM] Ganymede (W. H. Auden)
8. [8:00 PM] the boys i mean are not refined (e.e. cummings)
9. [8:04 PM] Excerpt from Sailing to Byzantium (William Butler Yeats)
10. [8:06 PM] Night II from the Four Zoas (the Wail of Enion) (William Blake)
11. [8:13 PM] Lullaby (W. H. Auden)
    [set ends 8:20 PM; bow and then off; lights up a minute later]

[8:40 PM lights down, waiting]

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): selected Lieder;
all text selected from poems of Heinrich Heine's Lyrisches Intermezzo

1. [8:41 PM] Dein Angesicht (Lyrical Intermezzo №5); Schumann Op.127 №2
2. [8:43 PM] Lehn deine Wang' (Lyrical Intermezzo №6); Schumann Op.142 №2
3. [8:44 PM] Es leuchtet meine Liebe (Lyrical Intermezzo №46); Schumann Op.127 №3
4. [8:46 PM] Mein Wagen rollet langsam (Lyrical Intermezzo №54); Schumann Op.142 №4
   
   [the remaining songs form Schumann's Dichterliebe (the Poet's Love) (1840), Op.48]
5. [8:49 PM] Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (Lyrical Intermezzo №1)
6. [8:51 PM] Aus meinen Tränen sprießen (Lyrical Intermezzo №2)
7. [8:51 PM] Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne (Lyrical Intermezzo №3)
8. [8:52 PM] Wenn ich in deine Augen seh (Lyrical Intermezzo №4)
9. [8:54 PM] Ich will meine Seele tauchen (Lyrical Intermezzo №7)
10. [8:54 PM] Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome (Lyrical Intermezzo №11)
11. [8:57 PM] Ich grolle nicht (Lyrical Intermezzo №18)
12. [8:58 PM] Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen (Lyrical Intermezzo №22)
13. [8:59 PM] Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen (Lyrical Intermezzo №20)
14. [9:01 PM] Hör' ich das Liedchen klingen (Lyrical Intermezzo №40)
15. [9:04 PM] Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen (Lyrical Intermezzo №39)
16. [9:05 PM] Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen (Lyrical Intermezzo №45)
17. [9:07 PM] Ich hab' im Traum geweinet (Lyrical Intermezzo №55)
18. [9:10 PM] Allnächtlich im Traume (Lyrical Intermezzo №56)
19. [9:11 PM] Aus alten Märchen winkt es (Lyrical Intermezzo №43)
20. [9:14 PM] Die alten, bösen Lieder (Lyrical Intermezzo №65)
    [9:18 PM; set ends; applause & bows, then off]
    
    1st Encore
21. [9:19 PM] These Foolish Things (Jack Strachey/Eric Maschwitz AKA Holt Marvell)
    [9:24 PM; encore ends; applause & bows, then off]
    
    2nd Encore
22. [9:25 PM] Night and Day (Cole Porter)
    [9:28 PM; encore ends; applause & bows, then off]
    
    3rd Encore
23. [9:29 PM] _Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye (Cole Porter)_
    [show ends 9:36 PM; applause & bows, then off for good]

• Ian Bostridge: tenor vox;
• Brad Mehldau: piano.

For the most part, tonight's program was performed without any break or pause between sections … which made it really hard to keep track of things unless you could exert real commitment to the listening task. Fortunately, I was up for the challenge! Didn't screw up more than, uh, a half-dozen times? It was quite tricky to watch the two performers and try to interpret from their body language whether a piece was done or not. Good thing there wasn't any penalty for my errors!

The house was quite packed for the first half, and not too surprisingly, many folks decided, “meh, that's enough lieder for tonight” and then skipped out at break. Different strokes, I guess. I was kind of confused at the start of the second set … the words didn't match the titles in my notes! But eventually I realized that four additional poems had been crammed in before Dichterliebe. Why? I have no clue. I'm glad that the printed program notes included the poetic texts … I would have been thoroughly lost without that help … and yet, I'm perplexed as to how the augmented program wasn't worth a mention. Very strange!

Anyway, I found the second half much more relaxing, as I enjoyed elbow room on both sides, and all the coughers and chair-squeekers seemed to have left. And my persistence paid additional dividends when we got three separate encores, all mid-20th Century jazz classics. Thanks guys!

Today's photo (just one or two!) comes from ol' squinty!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!