Performance at the MFA
Ann before her performance at the MFA.
Ann performed "L'Heure Exquise" by Reynaldo Hahn on December 10, 2015 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA. The program was based upon an assignment for The Boston Conservatory's Opera Workshop course. Student's were instructed to select a piece of visual art work and then create a section of a recital program that aligns with the visual art. Ann performed among eighteen of her peers, with piano accompaniment by James Myers. The performance was absolutely riveting. Each singer portrayed thought provoking ideas as their image was projected beside them as they sang. The performance was a powerfully collaborative experience and extremely meaningful. Ann hopes to receive more opportunities to perform at the MFA in the future.
Below is Ann's original assignment. It included two other works by Hahn that Ann plans to learn and perform in the near future. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts!
John Singer Sargent, A Capriate (1878)
- L'Enamourée Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
- Les Fontaines
- L'Heure Exquise
John Singer Sargent suspends a moment of repose, youthfulness, and elation within his painting A Capriate. He captures, the intertwinement of his model, Rosina Ferrara, and the nature around her. The field appears in motion from Sargent’s soft and free brush strokes, but Ferrara upholds serene stillness, conveying the exquisite moment of being alive in that field that summer afternoon in 1878. Reynaldo Hahn’s three songs L’Enamourée, Les Fontaines, and L’Heure Exquise convey the youthfulness, yearning, and momentary splendor that floats within Sargent’s painting through poetry, warmth, and melodic energy. Together, Hahn and Sargent’s art expresses sensuality and tranquility within a timeless moment communicable to all.