The Shakespeare Concerts Series, Vol. 8: Who is Sylvia Ulysses String Quartet, Thea Lobo, Vera Savage, Andy Papas, Ryu-Kyung Kim and others

• Joseph Summer (b. 1956):
• 1 Invisible Women: Sycorax 05:27
• 2 Who Is Silvia? (1) 03:32
• Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941):
• 3 Who Is Silvia? (2) 09:08
• Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956):
• 4 Let Us Garlands Bring, Op. 18: No. 2, Who Is Silvia? 01:44
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934):
• 5 12 Humbert Wolfe Songs, Op. 48, H. 174: No. 6, The Floral Bandit 02:04
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828):
• 6 An Silvia, Op. 106 No. 4, D. 891 02:38
• Joseph Summer:
• 7 Come Thou Monarch of the Vine and Hearing Transcript (After Schubert's D. 888) 02:23
• Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856): 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet):
• 8 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 1, Herzeleid 01:38
• 9 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 2, Die Fensterscheibe 02:04
• 10 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 3, Der Gärtner 01:25
• 11 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 4, Die Spinnerin 01:10
• 12 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 5, Im Wald 02:15
• 13 6 Gesänge, Op. 107 (Arr. A. Reimann for Voice & String Quartet): No. 6, Abendlied 02:30
• Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953):
• 14 Songs, Op. 25: No. 4, Arab Love Song 01:28
• Gerald Finzi:
• 15 Let Us Garlands Bring, Op. 18: No. 4, O Mistress Mine 01:45
• Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963):
• 16 Fancy, FP 174 01:24
• Joseph Summer:
• 17 The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strained 05:52
• 18 Hath Not a Jew Eyes 07:22
• 19 The Dumbshow 17:43
• Total Runtime 01:13:32

Info zu The Shakespeare Concerts Series, Vol. 8: Who is Sylvia

Joseph Summer’s WHO IS SYLVIA, new from Navona Records, is a collection of Shakespeare’s works set to music that will make you question everything you thought you learned in high school English. Summer believes that the famous playwright’s true identity is not William Shakespeare but rather Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Many of the songs found on WHO IS SYLVIA come from Summer’s aptly-named The Oxford Songs, a collection of scenes, sonnets, songs, and Summer’s original opera version of Hamlet. These are paired with music from the likes of Schubert and Schumann to create a dynamic and colorful musical experience worthy of the Bard himself.

The sharp, aggressive cello attacks of “Sycorax” opens the album, peppered with edgy dissonances. This piece by Summer is one of many world premieres on this record, recorded at Worcester’s legendary Mechanics Hall. Next comes three settings of Shakespeare’s song “Who is Silvia?” from The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Each one extracts a new layer of meaning from the tender, heartsick lyrics, the first employing mezzo-soprano and harp, the second featuring a downright bluesy violin and sung in German as composed by Adolphus Hailstork, and a third with music by Gerald Finzi. Just as Shakespeare was known for addressing the social and political situations of his day, Summer’s world premier piece “Come Thou Monarch of the Vine and Hearing Transcript” pairs Schubert’s setting from Antony and Cleopatra with words taken from the 2019 Brett Kavanaugh hearings. After a song cycle by Schumann and several other pieces from other composers, the album concludes with three Shakespeare settings by Summer.

Much like Shakespeare, Summer keeps his audience engaged by constantly exploding their expectations. From one track to the next, the listener can never be quite sure what they are going to hear, and this keeps the ear at rapt attention. Surely, this album offers something for every listener.

This release features the award-winning Ulysses Quartet, in residence at the Juilliard School of Music.

Ulysses String Quartet
Thea Lobo, mezzo-soprano
Andrea Chenoweth, soprano
Vera Savage, mezzo-soprano
Omar Najmi, tenor
Andrea Chenoweth, soprano
Ethan Bremner, tenor
Andy Papas, baritone
Julia Cavallaro, mezzo-soprano
Ryu-Kyung Kim, mezzo-soprano

Ulysses String Quartet
has been praised for their “textural versatility,” “grave beauty,” and “gentle blanket of colour,” (The Strad) as well as “avid enthusiasm ... [with] chops to back up their passion” and a “vibrant sonority” (San Diego Story).

Founded in the summer of 2015, the group won first prize in the 2018 Schoenfeld International String Competition and the grand prize and gold medal in the senior string division of the 2016 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Ulysses also finished first in the American Prize and won second prize at the Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in 2017. The quartet garnered a career development grant in the 2016 Banff International String Quartet Competition and were winners of the Vietnam International Music Competition this past August.

Consisting of Christina Bouey and Rhiannon Banerdt on violin, Colin Brookes on viola, and Grace Ho on cello, the Ulysses Quartet were appointed the Graduate Quartet in Residence at the Juilliard School in 2019.

Hailing from Canada, the United States, and Taiwan, the Ulysses String Quartet has performed in such prestigious halls such as the Harbin Grand Theatre, Carnegie Hall, and the Taiwan National Concert Hall. Performance highlights have included appearances at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Bargemusic, and Premiere Performances Hong Kong, debuts at Jordan Hall and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, and the Vietnam Connection Festival. As a special project, the group will record the quartets of composer Joseph Summer at Mechanics Hall in Worcester MA over the next several years.

The members of Ulysses hold degrees from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Yale University. The musicians perform on instruments and bows graciously on loan from the Canada Council of the Arts Instrument Bank and the Maestro Foundation.

Vera Savage
has earned praise from critics for her “thrilling power” and “rich, mellifluous, mezzo voice.” Savage’s singing has been described as “a dream; supple and powerful with a deep velvet shimmer” and “heart-stoppingly gorgeous.”

Savage’s past season included a “cold and gleaming” (Opera News) portrayal of handmaid New Ofglen in Boston Lyric Opera’s highly acclaimed production of The Handmaid’s Tale, Salieri’s Requiem and the Kuhnau Magnificat with the Commonwealth Chorale, Leonard Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony and Arias and Barcarolles with the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra, and the Verdi Requiem with the Metropolitan Chorale.

Savage recently made her debut at the Spoleto Festival USA as Bice in Donizetti’s rarely performed opera Pia de’ Tolomei, a revival of Amy Beach’s Grand Mass with the New England Philharmonic and Commonwealth Chorale, Mercédès in Bizet’s Carmen with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff with Opera Saratoga and Opera on the James, Madame Larina in Eugene Onegin with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Tisbe in La Cenerentola at Opera Saratoga, Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito at Opera in the Heights, and a “thoroughly intimidating” Mrs. Baines in Elmer Gantry with Florentine Opera in Milwaukee WI.

Andy Papas
leaves operatic and theatrical audiences in stitches from coast to coast. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel called him “delightfully ridiculous” as Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola) for Skylight Music Theatre, and The Albany Times-Union praised his “irresistible hijinks” as Baron Zeta (The Merry Widow) for Opera Saratoga. 2019 saw Papas in Alaska and Oklahoma as the hapless Doctor Bartolo (The Barber of Seville), in Vermont as Cinderella’s helpless father Pandolfe (Cendrillon), and in Washington State as the hardhearted dwarf Alberich (Der Ring am Eine Abend). He returned to the Boston Equity theater scene as Mr. Bumble in Oliver! with The New Repertory Theater in December 2019, and he rejoined Pacific Northwest Opera as the title role in Don Pasquale in Spring 2020. The first commercial recording of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, released in 2018 on Bridge Records, features Papas as the gangster “Bugs” in a live performance from Opera Saratoga, where he also covered the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff. St. Louis audiences have heard Papas twist his tongue as The Major General (The Pirates of Penzance), the heartbroken jester Jack Point (Yeoman of the Guard), and Ko-Ko in The Mikado. Other Pacific Northwest performances include Magnifico (La Cenerentola) and Spalanzani/Crespel (The Tales of Hoffmann) for PNO, Benoit/Alcindoro (La Bohème) for Vashon Opera, and the Baritone Soloist (Beethoven No. 9) with The Mid-Columbia Symphony. Recent hometown credits include The Threepenny Opera (Walt Dreary) for Boston Lyric Opera, My Fair Lady (George/Ensemble) with The Lyric Stage of Boston, The Little Mermaid (Chef Louis) at Fiddlehead Theater, Sir John in Love (Peter Simple) for Odyssey Opera, and La Bohème/Eugene Onegin with The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Every one of Papas’s performances are dedicated to his family and his husband Chris.

Ryu-Kyung Kim
Praised for her superb technique, innate musicality and powerful stage presence, Korean-American mezzo-soprano RYU-KYUNG KIM performs a wide range of music from Handel to Schöberg and has so far appeared in nine premier operas. She has highlighted her recent seasons in the title role as Queen Lili'uokalani in Little Opera Theater of NY’s Better Gods, as featured artist in the Korea Now concert in Cairo, Egypt, in The Shakespeare Concert at Jordan Hall and Jewett Arts Center, and as Alto Solo in Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Kim’s stage successes include her portrait of the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, the title role in La Cenerentola, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Carmen in Carmen, Malika in Lakmé, Idamante in Idomeneo, Adalgisa in Norma, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Emilia in Otello, and Carilda in Handel’s Arianna in Creta with Santa Fe Opera, Baltimore Opera, Cleveland Opera, Dayton Opera, El Paso Opera, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Beheme Opera New Jersey, Opera Orchestra of New York, Virginia Opera, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Gotham Chamber Opera, and Caramoor Music Festival. As a demanded concert artist, Kim has appeared in numerous concerts in Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall and in both Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and collaborated with internationally claimed orchestras such as Korean Symphony Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea, Sapporo Symphony Orchestra in Japan, and Staatskapelle Halle and Frankfurter Sinfoniker in Germany. Kim earned her D.M.A. in Voice from State University of New York at Stony Brook and received her Artist’s Diploma in Opera from the Academy of Vocal Arts. She also received both M.M. and B.M. in Voice from Manhattan School of Music. She has been on the Voice faculty at the University of Dayton since 2013.

Thea Lobo
Hailed as "excellent", "impeccable", "limpidly beautiful", "impressive", "stunning", and "Boston's best", Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano Thea Lobo's recent appearances include concerts with The Peregrine Consort, The Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, The Spectrum Singers, Great Music in a Great Space Series, MassOpera, USF New Music Festival, True Concord, The Sarasota-Manatee Bach Festival, Classical Revolution St. Petersburg, EnsembleNewSrq, and many more. Lobo has performed under conductors Gunther Schuller, Harry Christophers, Stephen Stubbs, Joshua Rifkin, Martin Pearlman, and Andris Nelsons, and has been featured by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Firebird Ensemble, Boston Baroque, Naples Philharmonic, Handel + Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Artist Series of Sarasota, and Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart. Her dedication to new music, art song, and early music has seen her featured on True Concord's 2016 GRAMMY-winning recording of Stephen Paulus's Prayers & Remembrances, invited to the Carmel Bach Festival as an Adams Fellow, and become a prizewinner at the Bach Vocal Competition for American Singers and a grant recipient of the Julian Autrey Song Foundation. She has won the St. Botolph Club Emerging Artist Award, premiere-recorded new roles with Guerilla Opera, created the duo “Songeaters” and initiative “Indictus Project” with pianist Eunmi Ko, and performed as a soloist under the direction of composers Steve Reich, Vinko Globokar, Fred Lerdahl, Nicholas Vines, Christian Wolff, and Louis Andriessen. Lobo is a graduate of New England Conservatory and Boston University, and represented by Vocal Artists Management.

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