Rihab Chaieb: Nomad–the Eternal Wanderer
Drs. Ben and A. Jess Shenson Recital Series at Stanford UniversityAmmiel Bushakevitz, piano
Tunisian Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb explores themes of wandering, immigration, and belonging in this recital spanning songs in English, French, Czech, Spanish, and Arabic. A growing voice in opera and concert, Chaieb was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program, and has since made major debuts at The Met, BBC Proms, Glyndebourne, Houston Grand Opera, LA Phil, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Program
KURT WEILL: Selected Songs
Je ne t’aime pas
Nanna’s Lied
Surabaya Johnny from Happy End
Speak Low from One Touch of Venus
Youkali
MATTHEW RICKETTS: Nomad (West Coast Premiere)
GABRIEL FAURÉ: Selected Songs
Prison
Mandoline
Clair de lune
Les berceaux
La fleur qui va sur l’eau
Après un rêve
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK: Gypsy Songs
Má píseň zas mi láskou zní (My song resounds with love)
Aj! Kterak trojhranec můj (Hey! How my triangle rings out)
A les je tichý kolem kol (All around me the forest is quiet)
Když mne stará matka (Songs My Mother Taught Me)
Struna naladěna (The string is tuned)
Široké rukávy (Wide sleeves)
Dejte klec jestřábu ze zlata ryzého (Give a hawk a golden cage)
OSVALDO GOLIJOV: Selections from Ayre
Y una madre comió asado
Kun Li-Guitari Wateran Ayyuha Al-Maa’ (Be a String, Water, to my Guitar)
Suéltate las cintas
America 250: Kurt Weill
"I decided to become a citizen the day on which I arrived here, six years ago. I remember very well the feeling I had as the ship moved down the harbor past the Statue of Liberty and the skyscrapers. All about us were exclaiming in amazement at the strange sights, but my wife and I had the sensation that we were coming home. I had lived and worked in Germany and later in France, but I never felt as much at home in my native land as I have from the first moment in the United States. I think it is this kinship of the spirit which brings America its new citizens from all lands. Those who come here seeking the freedom, justice, opportunity, and human dignity they miss in their own countries are already Americans before they come."
- Kurt Weil, in conversation with Mr. William H. Marshall, Assistant District Director of Immigration and Naturalization at Ellis Island. Source: Radio program broadcast March 9, 1941 on NBC Blue Network.
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