A contralto and pianist will explore the joys, complications and heartbreak of a woman’s life through art song in an upcoming concert presented by the Binghamton University Music Department.
“Love, Loss and Dreams: A Woman’s Life in Song” features contralto Brenda Iglesias and pianist Curt Pajer in a program that includes music by Robert Schumann, Manuel de Falla and Mexican composer Gustavo Campa.
Schumann’s song cycle, written in 1840, follows a woman through falling in love, marriage and motherhood, before confronting the loss of her husband. Iglesias acknowledges that the work reflects the limited expectations placed on women in the 19th century, but says its musical richness makes it worth revisiting.
“Despite all that situation, I think it’s beautiful musically,” Iglesias said. She particularly admires the way Schumann’s piano writing complements the voice.
Pajer noted that the circumstances surrounding the composition offer another perspective on the work. Schumann wrote it while he and pianist Clara Schumann were struggling to marry, opposed by her father because of her successful concert career. Their dispute even led to a lawsuit.
For Pajer, the concert also presents an opportunity to perform a major Schumann song cycle he has not previously performed in public. The performers have chosen to transpose the cycle for Iglesias’s voice while preserving the relationships among the songs’ keys.
The program also includes de Falla’s well-known Spanish songs, which draw on traditional melodies and dances. Pajer, who has performed the set since his college days, enjoys the colorful writing, which often evokes instruments such as the guitar.
“It’s just so well written for the piano that they just sound fiendishly difficult, and they’re actually not,” Pajer said.
A particularly unusual feature of the concert will be music by Gustavo Campa, a 19th-century Mexican composer whose songs reflect the influence of French composers. Iglesias and Pajer will present a selection of his songs that, with one exception, have rarely been performed or recorded, according to Iglesias.
Pajer said the music has been fascinating to explore without many previous performances to use as a reference. Its orchestral textures and French-sounding harmonies have been especially striking.
Iglesias also sees the program as an opportunity to demonstrate the range of repertoire available to a contralto, a relatively rare voice type. Rather than being defined simply by high or low notes, she said, the voice is shaped by where it resonates best.
“You just have to explore and keep the diction as clear as possible and be true to the composer’s idea,” Iglesias said.
“Love, Loss and Dreams: A Woman’s Life in Song” takes place Saturday, October 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Chamber Hall of the Anderson Center on the Binghamton University campus. For more information, visit the Binghamton University event calendar.