Lee Hoiby was born in Madison, Wisconsin on February 17, 1926 and died on March 28, 2011. He was one of
America's most prominent composers of works for the lyric stage. He
was introduced to opera by his teacher at the Curtis Institute of
Music, Gian Carlo Menotti, who involved him closely in the famed
Broadway productions of The Consul and The Saint of Bleecker Street.
Hoiby's first opera, The Scarf, a chamber opera in one-act, was recognized by Time Magazine and the Italian press as the hit of the first Spoleto (Italy) Festival. His next opera, Natalia Petrovna (New York City Opera), now known in its revised version as A Month in the Country.
Two excerpts from Lee Hoiby's Summer and Smoke:
Among Hoiby’s operatic works are the one-act opera buffa Something New for the Zoo (1979), the musical monologue The Italian Lesson (1981, text by Ruth Draper) which was produced off-Broadway in 1989 with Jean Stapleton, and a one-act chamber opera, This Is the Rill Speaking
(1992, text by Lanford Wilson, adapted by Shulgasser). Hoiby was a
long-time collaborator with Brooklyn's American Opera Projects, having
held a chair as Mentor Composer on AOP’s Composer and the Voice program
for two seasons.
Listen to Benjamin Curtis perform Lee Hoiby's Private First Class Jesse Givens Lee Hoiby and Five poems of Walt Whitman at 22:35:
Hoiby's contribution to the art song repertoire includes over 100 songs, which are performed by many of the greatest singers worldwide. The great American soprano Leontyne
Price introduced many of his best known songs and arias to the public.
His musical idiom displayed a grateful acceptance of the rich legacy
of melodic homophony, embracing references from Monteverdi to American
blues without sounding eclectic or piecemeal. His best known works for baritone are "I Was There, 5 songs for Baritone and Orchestra, after Whitman (1995)" and "Last Letter Home," for men's chorus. The Whitman songs are set to Beginning My Studies, I Was There, A Clear Midnight, O Captain! My Captain! and Joy, Shipmate, Joy!. The latter is Hoiby's 2007 musical
setting of Pfc. Jesse Givens' note home to his family before perishing
in Iraq. It has become one of the most performed
contemporary works for baritone. The next performance of one of his operas will be Summer and Smoke at Florida State University on May 23 and 24.
Fire Island is known more for its circuit parties booming with house music, rather than presenting high culture, but that will all change this weekend. The annual Fire Island Opera Festival will be presented on August 23-25 at the famous gay resort and will feature Christoph Willibald Gluck's rarely performed L’arbre Enchanté (“The
Magic Tree”) and Lee Hoiby's Bon Appétit.
The festival kicks off with a VIP event on Friday,
August 23 featuring a special gala performance of Bon Appétit,
as well as a program of famous opera arias performed by the stars of
the Fire Island Opera Festival. Bon Appétit provides a witty take on one of chef Julia Childs, played by 2013 "BBC Cardiff Singer of the World" winner Jamie Barton. The
evening will be hosted at an exclusive private home on the bay.
The real treat for lovers of all think barihunky will be L'Arbre Enchanté, which features Matthew Morris, who created a huge sensation in the Barihunks Calendar eating a sandwich in his boxers[see above]. Morris was also recently featured in Buzzfeed's "33 Opera Hunks Who Need To Serenade You Right Now." Word is that Morris will be showing a lot of skin...A LOT OF SKIN! This is Fire Island, after all.
The opera, which was last
performed in 1775 for Marie-Antoinette at Versailles, with some equally lusty men we assume, also features David Pittsinger, David Garry, Will Ferguson, Amy Justman,
Yiselle Blum and Emmett O'Hanlon. L'Arbre Enchanté is the story of two men fighting for the love of a
beautiful young man. The young man must choose between a dashing, rich business man with a beach
mansion or a hot, penniless, pool boy.
Saturday evening's performance of L'Arbre Enchanté, August 24, will be followed by a late-night dance party in true Fire Island style. Click HERE to buy tickets.
Performances will be at the newly rebuilt Pavilion on Fire Island Pines, converted into a
beach opera house by Marfa-based installation artist Charles Mary
Kubricht using only repurposed wood and materials from trees and
structures destroyed during Hurricane Sandy. A portion of
the proceeds from the inaugural Fire Island Opera Festival will benefit
the Sea Shore Defense Fund.
In honor of Memorial Day, we feel it's only appropriate to post composer Lee Hoiby's poignant song "Private First Class Jesse Givens" based on the last letter sent home by soldier Jesse Givens. Givens of Springfield, Missouri was killed in Iraq on May 1, 2003 when
his tank crashed into the Euphrates River. Less than two weeks earlier
he had written a heartfelt letter to his pregnant wife, unborn son and
six-year-old stepson. It was to be opened only in the event of his
death.
Here is the entire text of the letter (the song starts in the second paragraph):
My family:
I never thought I would be writing a letter like this, I really don't
know where to start. I've been getting bad feelings though and well if
you are reading this....
I am forever in debt to you, Dakota, and the bean. I searched all my
life for a dream and I found it in you. I would like to think that I
made a positve difference in your lives. I will never be able to make up
for the bad. I am so sorry. The happiest moments in my life all deal
with my little family. I will always have with me the small moments we
all shared. The moments when you quit taking life so serious and smiled.
The sounds of a beautiful boys laughter or the simple nudge of a baby
unborn. You will never know how complete you have made me. Each and
every one of you. You saved me from lonliness and taught me how to think
beyond myself. You taught me how to live and to love. You opened my
eyes to a world I never dreamed existed. I am proud of you. Stay on the
path you chose. Never lose sight of what is important, you and our
babies.
Dakota you are more son then I could ever ask for. I can only hope I
was half the dad. I use to be your "danny" but no matter what it makes
me proud that you chose me. You taught me how to care until it hurts,
you taught me how to smile again. You taught me that life isn't so
serious and sometimes you have to play. You have a big beautiful heart.
Through life you need to keep it open and follow it. Never be afraid to
be yourself. I will always be there in our park when you dream so we can
still play. I hope someday you will have a son like mine. Make them
smile and shine just like you. I love you Toad I hope someday you will
understand why I didn't come home. Please be proud of me. Please don't
stop loving life. Take in every breath like it's your first. I love you
toad I will always be there with you. I'll be in the sun, shadows,
dreams, and joys of your life.
Bean, I never got to see you but I know in my heart you are
beautiful. I know you will be strong and big hearted just like your mom
and brother. I will always have with me the feel of the soft nudges on
your moms belly, and the joy I felt when we found out you were on your
way. I dream of you every night, I always will. Don't ever think that
since I wasn't around that I didn't love you. You were conceived of love
and I came to this terrible place for love. I love you as I do your mom
and brother with all my heart and soul. Please understand that I had to
be gone so that I could take care of my family. I love you Bean.
I have never been so blessed as the day I met Melissa. You are my
angel, soulmate, wife, lover, and best friend. I am sorry. I did not
want to have to write this letter. There is so much more I need to say,
so much more I need to share. A lifetime's worth. I married you for a
million lifetimes. That's how long I will be with you. Please keep our
babies safe. Please find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you
alone. Take care of yourself, believe in yourself, you are a strong, big
hearted woman. Teach our babies to live life to its fullest tell
yourself to do the same. Don't forget to take Toad to Disney World. I
will be there with you. Melissa I will always want you need you and love
you in my heart, mind, and soul. Do me a favor, after you tuck Toad and
Bean in, give them hugs and kisses from me. Go outside look at the
stars and count them. Don't forget to smile.
There's been a lot of attention given to Thomas Adès' "The Tempest" at the Metropolitan Opera with barihunk Simon Keenlyside. But on the opposite coast, the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music is producing a barihunk-laden performance of Lee Hoiby's "The Tempest."
Austin Thompson plays the major role of Prospero and Kevin Blickfeldt
plays Antonio. They are joined by a bevy of low voices, including David
Castillo as Ferdinand, Steve Pence as Alonso, Cole Cuomo as Sebastian,
Travis Sherwood as Trinculo and James Hayden as Stephano, and Abram
Poliakoff and Robin Wyatt Stone as courtiers.
There are two more performances Friday night and Sunday afternoon. You can get additional information on the USC website.
Austin Thompson
Shakespeare's story has inspired 50 operas including Fromental Halévy's La Tempesta, Zdeněk Fibich's Bouře, Frank Martin's Der Sturm and Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden. Incidental music based on The Tempest has been written by Arthur
Sullivan, Ernest Chausson, Jean Sibelius, Malcolm Arnold, Lennox
Berkeley, Arthur Bliss, Engelbert Humperdinck, Hector Berlioz, Willem
Pijper and Henry Purcell. You can see the second HD broadcast of Adès' "The Tempest" in theaters on November 28th.
Our 2013 Barihunks Charity Calendar is available by clicking below:
We can't think of a better way to pay tribute to the great Lee Hoiby than with his "The Last Letter Home from Iraq," which we previously posted with Andrew Garland. Here is Garland's wonderful version followed by the United States Army musicians performing the same piece.
If you have a favorite Lee Hoiby story, please leave it in the comments section.
Barihunk Andrew Garland was featured in New Jersey's Star-Ledger talking about his debut performing the title role in Don Giovanni. Here is Garland talking about how different he is from the rakish Don in real life.
“In real life, I am the polar opposite of Don Giovanni,” Garland says of the legendary seducer whose exploits Mozart set to music. “I think of myself as being considerate, sometimes to a fault. I’ve only dated one woman my whole life and now I’m married to her.”
You can read the entire article at the Star-Ledger website.
Readers may remember Garland from two popular posts on this site. The first a feature with barihunks showing some skin that featured Garland in the shower.
The other post was a more serious post with Garland singing Lee Hoiby's heartrending version of "Last Letter Home from Iraq." If you haven't watched this video click on the link, as it is one of the most popular music links that we've posted and for good reason.
