The Cape Symphony presents New Year’s Day Party on Sunday, January 1 at 3:00 PM at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center. Please note that there is no intermission for this performance.
Guest Artists
Kristen Watson, Vocals
Matthew Anderson, Vocals
Download a printable version of the Show Notes.
Table of Contents
Program
TRITSCH-TRATSCH POLKA
Johann Strauss, Jr.
LAUGHING SONG from DIE FLEDERMAUS
Johann Strauss, Jr.
VAINEMENT, MA BIEN AIMEE (IN VAIN, MY BELOVED) from LE ROI D'YS (THE KING OF YS)
Édouard Lalo
LES CHEMIN DE L’AMOUR (THE PATHWAYS OF LOVE)
Francis Poulenc
MORGEN! (TOMORROW!) from FOUR SONGS
Richard Strauss
ALLELUJA from EXSULTATE, JUBILATE (EXULT, REJOICE)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
THOUGHTS OF LOVE
Arthur Pryor
ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE from MY FAIR LADY
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
MY FAVORITE THINGS from THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
I'M BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Harry James, lyrics by Don George
ANYTHING YOU CAN DO from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
Irving Berlin
ON THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE
Johann Strauss, Jr.
FIRE AND RAIN
James Taylor
GRAVITY
Sara Bareilles
CON TE PARTIRO (TIME TO SAY GOODBYE)
Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto
RADETZKY MARCH
Johann Strauss, Sr.
About Today’s Program
The party begins with “Tritsch-Tratsch Polka” by Johann Strauss Jr. "Tritsch-Tratsch" means chit-chat in German, and refers to the Viennese love of gossip. Johann Strauss, Jr. wrote this lively, high-spirited polka in 1858.
The aria “Laughing Song” (also known as “Adele’s Laughing Song” or “Mein Herr Marquis”) is from Johann Strauss, Jr.’s operetta Die Fledermaus. Adele is a chambermaid who dresses up in her mistress’s clothes and goes to a party, where she runs into the master. To bluff her way through the situation, she laughs at the idea that someone so glamorous could be a chambermaid.
“Vainement, ma bien aimee (In vain, my beloved)” is from the opera Le Roi D'Ys (The King of Ys). The title, The King of Ys, refers to a legend in the French region of Brittany about a drowned city called Ys. In this aria for tenor, Mylio is waiting outside his bride’s door on their wedding day, but her friends won’t let him see her before the ceremony. This was Édouard Lalo’s most successful work for the stage, although he’s most well-known today for his Symphonie espagnole (Spanish Symphony).
“Les Chemin de l’amour (The pathways of love)” was composed by Francis Poulenc in 1940 for the play Leocadia and dedicated to the comedian and singer Yvonne Printemps, who sang it at the premiere of the play. Printemps was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally. She appeared on Broadway and London’s West End, where she performed in Noel Coward’s Conversation Piece. Coward wrote the part for her, which she had to learn phonetically because she didn’t speak English!
The text of “Morgen! (Tomorrow!)” came from a poem by John Henry Mackay, who was born in Scotland and raised in Germany. Richard Strauss met Mackay in Berlin and in 1894, composed the piece as one of four songs he wrote as a wedding present to his wife. Strauss recorded “Morgen!” with a tenor singer twice, once in 1919 and once in 1941. The German words translate to:
Tomorrow!
Tomorrow again will shine the sun
And on my sunlit path of earth
Unite us again, as it has done,
And give our bliss another birth...
The spacious beach under wave-blue skies
We'll reach by descending soft and slow,
And mutely gaze in each other's eyes,
As over us rapture's great hush will flow.
At the age of 17, Mozart composed the piece of sacred choral music Exsultate, Jubilate in Milan during the production of his opera Lucio Silla. “Alleluja” is the fourth movement of Exsultate, Jubilate, performed at a fast and lively tempo with the single word, “Alleluja,” repeated. Originally written for the Italian soprano castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, who was performing in Mozart’s opera, today it’s a favorite of sopranos everywhere!
Robert Hoveland, the Cape Symphony’s principal trombone, will step into the spotlight. Robert performs all over New England; not only is he our principal trombone, he’s also the principal in the Plymouth Philharmonic, assistant principal in the Hartford Symphony, and second chair in the New Bedford and Vermont Symphonies! Originally from Plano, Texas, Robert has an impressive educational background, receiving his undergraduate degree at the Eastman School of Music, master’s degree from the Butler School of Music, University of Texas at Austin, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University. We’re fortunate to have him as an instructor on our faculty. Robert will perform “Thoughts of Love” by Arthur Pryor, a charming concert waltz for trombone.
“On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe has to be one of the most romantic songs in musical theater history. But did you know that singer Vic Damone recprded the most popular version? It’s true! In 1956, Damone’s single reached number 4 on the U.S. Billboard chart and was a number one hit in the U.K.! Eddie Fisher also had a hit with the song, as did Andy Williams. Meanwhile, of course, My Fair Lady won six Tony Awards in 1956, the Oscar for Best Picture in 1964. The 2018 revival received ten Tony nominations! That production is coming to Boston’s Opera House in spring 2023.
One of the many iconic songs from The Sound of Music by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II is “My Favorite Things.” We all remember that scene from the 1965 movie when the von Trapp children climb onto Julie Andrew’s bed during a thunderstorm as she sings “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens…” In 2004, the song finished at number 64 on the American Film Institute’s “100 Years…100 Songs” list of the top 100 songs in 20th century American cinema (FYI, “Over the Rainbow” was number one).
“I'm Beginning to See the Light,” written by Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Harry James with lyrics by Don George was a big hit three times in 1945, performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Harry James and his Orchestra. Michael Bublé put his contemporary spin on the song on his 2010 album Special Delivery. The song has also been recorded by a wide range of artists, from Frank Sinatra to Seal, Peggy Lee to Kelly Rowland, and Mel Tormé to Joe Jackson.
“Anything You Can Do” was written by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun starring Ethel Merman. The musical fictionalizes the life of Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter who performs in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. Annie has a competitive relationship with Frank Butler, and in this song, she and Frank argue about who is better at various things, including singing high and holding a note. The song has appeared many times in pop culture, including Merman’s duet with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show in 1976!
Austrian composer Johann Strauss Jr. composed the quintessential Viennese waltz, “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” in 1866. Originally it was written for a chorale, and then Strauss adapted an orchestral version, which was performed at the 1867 Paris World’s Fair and then premiered in New York later that year. Considered by many to be the most popular waltz of all time, “The Beautiful Blue Danube” was prominently featured in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 1968 film, exposing the song to a whole new audience.
One of James Taylor's greatest hits is "Fire and Rain." According to an interview he gave to NPR, each verse of the 1970 hit, which was Taylor's breakthrough, refers to a different adversity in Taylor's life: the first, about finding out that a friend had died while he was in London recording with the Beatles; the second, about the heroin addiction he had when he returned to America; and the third, about his time in a Stockbridge, MA mental hospital. "Fire and Rain" is on multiple "best songs of the 20th century" lists and Rolling Stone ranked it #227 on their list of 500 best songs of all time.
Multi-talented Sara Bareilles is a singer, songwriter and actress with Grammy and Tony wins to her name. After starting her career as a recording artist, she wrote the music and lyrics to the Broadway smash Waitress (and later starred in it on Broadway and the West End), and in 2022 she starred as The Baker’s Wife in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. “Gravity” is her two-times certified platinum hit from her 2007 album Little Voice.
“Con Te Partiro (Time to Say Goodbye),” was written by Italian composers Francesco Sartori and Lucio Quarantotto and released as a single from Andrea Bocelli’s second studio album, Bocelli, in 1995. A year later, the version with Bocelli and British soprano Sarah Brightman was released and became a huge hit. “Con Te Partiro” is one of the best-selling singles worldwide of all time.
We always round out the New Year’s Day Party with the celebratory “Radetzky March” by Johann Strauss, Sr., the unofficial Austrian anthem. Austrian officers began the tradition of clapping along with the march, quietly at first and then thunderously! Please join in!
Enjoy “New Year's Day Party”
Join the Cape Symphony for New Year’s Day Party on Sunday, January 1 at 3:00 PM at the Barnstable Performing Arts Center, 744 West Main Street, Hyannis MA 02601. To purchase tickets for New Year’s Day Party, visit capesymphony.org, call the Box Office at 508-362-1111, email
With thanks to Wikipedia.
