February 28 - Bernadette Peters (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 28th are here: Jean-Baptiste Arban (2020), Geraldine Farrar (2021), Tommy Tune; John Alden Carpenter (2022), Bernadette Peters (2023), and Jake Bugg; Charles Bernstein (2024)

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Bernadette Peters (b. 28 February 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child Prodigy

 

She first appeared on the New York stage at age 10 as Tessie in the New York City Center revival of The Mist Happy Fella (1959). --- Wikipedia

When starting acting as a kid,

Which Bernadette (Miss Peters) did,

One runs the risk of obsolescence

Before one passes adolescence.

But Bernadette, ten years of age,

Appeared upon the New York stage,

(The year was nineteen fifty nine),

And ever since she’s done just fine.

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Ambitions

When Peters at the age of ten

   First trod the New York City boards,

She dreamed about a future when

   She’d act again, and win awards,

And she decided there and then

   That this is what she’d work towards.

 

 

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February 14 - Francesco Cavalli; Alexander Dargomyzhsky (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 14th are here: Renée Fleming (2020) and Aida Overton Walker (2021)

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Francesco Cavalli (14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was an imporatant Venetian opera composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Kid in the Block

 

Cavalli was the most influential composer in the rising genre of public opera in mid-17th-century Venice. -- Wikipedia 

Francesco Cavalli was all the rage

Upon the new Venetian stage;

In fact, the ticket sales declared he

Quite eclipsed old Monteverdi.

 

 

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Alexander Dargomyzhsky (14 February [O.S. 2 February] 1813 – 17 January [O.S. 5 January] 1869) was a 19th-century Russian composer, best remembered for his setting of Pushkin's version of the Don Giovanni story, The Stone Guest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Pushkin Comes to Shove

His last opera, The Stone Guest, is his most famous work, known as a pioneering effort in melodic recitative, and is notable for having its text taken almost word-for-word from the literary stage work which inspired it. Consequently, the resulting musical drama consists almost entirely of solos given in turn by each character, as in a spoken play. -- adapted from Wikipedia, s.v. "The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)" and "Alexander Dargomyzhsky"

Alexander Dargomyzhsky,

Had a full resounding name,

Which didn't make his path less risky

When seeking operatic fame.

He hit upon a novel theory

Of opera as it then was heard,

And so, to make his theory clear, he

Set some Pushkin word for word.

 

 

 

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April 7 - Billie Holiday (The Musical Birthday Series, 3rd Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for April 7th may be found here: Charles Burney (2019) and Percy Faith (2020).

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Billie Holiday (7 April 1915 – 17 July 1959) was an enormously influential American jazz and swing singer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elegy

There is nothing droll to say

About the life of Lady Day.

There is nothing in her story.

In the humor category.

Alcohol and drug addiction,

Professional and private friction,

And the bitter extra flak

Of navigating life while Black.

A fresh gardenia in her hair

In spite of personal despair.

Finally dying, sick and shattered,

With a voice that life had tattered.

Jazz was shaken to its core

When she died at 44.

 

 

 

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February 14 - Aida Overton Walker (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Aida Overton Walker (14 February 1880 –11  October 1914) was an American vaudeville performer, actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer.
[This post is in celebration of Black History Month.]

[For last year's thoughts on Renée Fleming click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celeste Aida; or, Cake Walker

In 1903, Dahomey was presented as a command performance before Edward VII at Buckingham Palace, in the private quarters of the royal family. --- Constance Valis Hill, Tap Dancing America, A Cultural History (2010)] qtd. by Library of Congress

While on tour, British society women invited her to their homes for private Cakewalk lessons. --- Racing Nellie Bly

Aida Overton Walker had

  A hit with In Dahomey;

She also caused a major splash

  By dancing as Salóme.

She made a tour of England,

  Where everyone was smitten,

And she was summoned to amuse

  The King and Queen of Britain.

  

She raised the humble cakewalk

  To a thing of such propriety

That she was cakewalk tutor to

  To cream of high society.

 

 

 If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]