Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

This past March the New World Symphony was to accompany Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, the American mezzo-soprano, in songs by Mahler. Lieberson had to cancel and another singer took her place, a fairly common occurence in the world of operatic performers. However, I was sad to learn that she had died this Monday of breast cancer at age 52. We've surely lost a beautiful voice and a great artist.

NPR's Performance Today features a recorded performance by Lorraine Hunt Lieberson today. She sings a setting by her husband Peter Lieberson of a poem by Pablo Neruda, which host Fred Child translated:
If your eyes were not the color of the moon
Oh my dearest, I would not love you so.
But when I hold you I hold everything that is,
Everything is alive so that I can be alive;
In your life I see everything that lives.
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1 comment:

LSL said...

I was stunned to hear this morning of LHL's death at age 52. I hadn't realized she was struggling with cancer, as she has been so active in the music world and received so many accolades in recent years. The Neruda song I heard on the radio was incomparably beautiful, and heart-breaking at the same time. I suppose she will be remembered with great respect and admiration in the future, though maybe not by Dr. Oscar Ramirez-Orbea. . .

11:37 AM

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