Renowned soprano Christine Brewer sings in concert halls and opera houses all over the world. Her recent travels have taken her to Australia, New Zealand, Dubay, and Great Britain as well as numerous cities in the United States. But once a year, the Illinois native returns to her “home town” to perform with the St. Louis Symphony.
On May 3, 4 and 5, Brewer will be featured in Alexander Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony along with baritone Lucas Meachem. It was actually Brewer who suggested the Zemlinsky work to St. Louis Symphony Music Director David Robertson. “Frequently following one year’s performance, we talk about what we want to do down the road," said Brewer. "I suggested the Lyric Symphony and after David had a chance to look at the score, he agreed." The work consists of seven songs which alternate between the baritone and soprano soloists with orchestral accompaniment and interludes. The poems on which the songs are based revolve around the theme of love. The Saturday, May 4 concert can be heard live on St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU beginning at 8:00 p.m.
Christine Brewer was Steve Potter’s guest on Cityscape. Besides discussing Zemlinsky and the Lyric Symphony, they talked about Brewer's participation in the recently released recording of Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischutz by the London Symphony Orchestra and the late Sir Colin Davis. In addition, Brewer talked about her role as Sister Aloysius in the Minnesota Opera's world premiere production of Douglas Cuomo's Doubt, set to a libretto by John Patrick Shanley.
The discussion also included a “labor of love” that Brewer has taken on. Her friend, cellist Lynn Harrell, and his wife Helen Nightengale, spearheaded a project to record a CD to benefit the HEARTbeats Foundation, an organization that strives to help children in need harness the power of music to better cope with, and recover from, the challenges of poverty and conflict, in hope of creating a more peaceful, sustainable world. Titled We’ll Paint You a Rainbow, the CD features a number of other noted musicians including Jessye Norman, Paul Simon and Joan Baez, among others. It concludes with Brewer and Harrell’s collaboration with John Williams on Over the Rainbow.
Related Event
David Robertson Conducts the St. Louis Symphony with Soprano Christine Brewer and Baritone Lucas Meachem in Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony
May 3 and 4, 2013
8:00 p.m.
May 5, 2013
3:00 p.m.
Powell Hall, 718 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis Symphony Website
