Joy in This Moment

A #360ofOpera interview with Angel Blue & Daniel Schlosberg, written by Yutong Yang.

Curator and pianist Daniel Schlosberg began envisioning The Townhouse Series for the Frederick R. Koch Foundation about a year after the initial lockdown. “I was trying to focus my energy on as many positive things as I could,” he told 360° of Opera®. For him, the lockdown offered a chance to slow down from the torrent of NYC gigs, and rediscover what it felt like to play piano just for fun, working on pieces for his own pleasure, rather than a specific goal or performance.

Yet all this time, he’s been concerned about his musician friends who were out of work. Not wanting to burden these artists with the task of coming up with overly thematic, intellectual, or weighty programs, he gave them a simple prompt instead: what music brings you joy in this moment? For soprano Angel Blue, the prompt struck a chord, and the program took shape naturally from there. Joy-filled music-making ensued, culminating in a concert filmed at the Foundation’s historic Upper East Side townhouse in New York.

In the informal “Vignette” artist profile, Blue mentions that music is a vessel and vehicle for her emotions. Listening to her sing “Vissi d’arte,” one is reminded of what makes these diva arias eternally thrilling: we hold our breath for the glorious notes and emotional catharsis that the singer has worked so hard to deliver.

Blue honors the memory of her father by choosing “There Came a Wind Like a Bugle” by Lee Hoiby. Together, they used to listen to Return to Carnegie Hall by the late Leontyne Price, whom Blue’s always looked up to. “My favorite song from that recital is this one. [Price] sings it differently than what is written in the music, but it is so special.” Another song that’s very close to her heart is “Our Love is Here to Stay,” which she dedicated to her husband, cheering her on in the front row.

The more I read the paper,

The less I comprehend

…

We’ve got something permanent,

I mean in the way we care

Photo Credit: Dario Acosta

As she gently croons the lyrics with an adorable blush, the audience is transported to the coziness of the home, where we’ve been spending more and more time with our loved ones, and growing closer and closer in the process. Throughout the concert and in all her work, Blue strives to let people know that they’re loved. “For me, love is synonymous with respect. In my world, I must respect you. I must love you. This does not mean that we’re going to be the best of friends and talk on the phone everyday all day. It simply means that I’m to be considerate of you.” She shares her love for the powerful quote, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” envisioning a world where this is the basis of our humanity. “Perhaps it would be easier to respect, empathize, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Whether they are my colleague or a stranger shopping at the same grocery store, my duty is to treat others how I want to be treated.”

The recital features predominantly vocal works spanning Strauss and Gershwin. “As a pianist, I am fortunate to have a fount of repertoire dedicated to my instrument, but I also tend to get a little jealous of vocal music, so I will take any opportunity to play a piece written for a singer.” The transition between worlds might not have been so smooth without Schlosberg’s solo piece, “The Man I Love.” “The song is one of my all-time favorite Gershwin songs, and not least because Sondheim cites it as inspiration for ‘Losing My Mind,’ one of my favorites from Sondheim.” Schlosberg, enamored by Earl Wild’s evocative arrangement of the tune, cites the latter as a major inspiration, as someone who also straddles multiple genres and feels “at home” wearing many hats.

Courtesy of Festival of Disruption, photography by @YeahFieldTrip

The recital presents different aspects of the artists’ musicianship and personality, yet one thing shines throughout: their shared gratitude. Schlosberg sees the pandemic as a chance to take a step back, and reconnect with why he’d dedicated his life to music.  This series allowed him to collaborate with some of his dearest friends and colleagues, in an honest and intimate setting, where the uniqueness of each one of their artistries can be appreciated.  “This program certainly reflects so many aspects of Angel's musicianship and personality and I couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out!”

Blue, on the other hand, is grateful for the fun experience of refining the program with Schlosberg, and getting to sing in front of a live audience at the Frederick R. Koch Estate. She tells 360° of Opera, “I’ve always been a grateful person, but I’ve learned more and more that being thankful is one of the most important aspects of my life.” They find joy in giving thanks for what they have, as well as uplifting others. 

Photo Credit: Dario Acosta

One thing that Schlosberg and James Saakvitne, the Foundation’s Director and Trustee, set out to do from the beginning with their Live from Elm Court series in 2020 was to provide a haven, a stage, and work for artists, continuing the Foundation’s efforts to support classical musicians during the pandemic. For Schlosberg, it’s been incredibly important to give each artist the freedom, space, and time to express what they really want to express. They ended up mounting nine concerts last year.

This year, they’ve shifted from a predominantly operatic approach to invite more instrumentalists and small chamber groups, to create a kind of potpourri and to balance out the series. The stars assembled range from longtime collaborators (Cantata Profana) and mentors (David Shifrin) to first-time collaborations (Anthony Roth Costanzo) and recent collaborative sparks (Angel Blue). Yet for Schlosberg, the threads that tie everything together are very much intact: community, exploration, and artist-driven work. He and Saakvitne hope that their series will reach audiences who don’t have access to concert halls, and introduce new audiences to this glorious music and the joy it can bring to listeners.

Watch & Listen to the full concert here:

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Bios

The Frederick R. Koch Foundation

The Frederick R. Koch Foundation's mission is to support and inspire the study and appreciation of classical music, theater and film, literature, fine art, photography, the decorative arts, architecture, garden design, cultural history, and the arts and humanities in general, including through the perpetuation of the commitment of Frederick R. Koch to the work of emerging scholars, performers, and other creative artists, the preservation of collections and historic properties that Mr. Koch acquired during his lifetime, and the use of those properties for performances and other activities that further the arts and humanities, civil discourse, and the common good.

Angel Blue

Angel Blue has firmly established herself as one of the most important sopranos before the public today. She opened the Metropolitan Opera's 2019/2020 season as Bess in a new production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess which she reprised at the Met in Fall 2021; this production immediately followed her triumphant role debut as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta in the Met’s historic 2021/22 season opener of Fire Shut Up In My Bones, the first production at the Metropolitan Opera by a Black composer. Additionally, she was the 2020 recipient of the Met’s prestigious Beverly Sills Award. 

This season includes a stunning range of repertoire which highlights her immense versatility and virtuosity on operatic and concert stages internationally. Ms. Blue will sing one of her signature roles, Mimí, in the Bayerische Staatsoper production of La Boheme, and later in the season, La Traviata plays a prominent role in Ms. Blue’s performance calendar with productions at Covent Garden and Arena di Verona. In Summer 2022, she sings the role of Marguerite in Faust at Paris Opera. Highlights of Ms. Blue’s recital and concert engagements include Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, including one night at Carnegie Hall; and, she appears with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fabio Luisi performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She also gives recitals in Gstaad, Washington University in St. Louis, Cal Performances in Berkeley, and further engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga, Edinburgh, and Hamburg.

Daniel Schlosberg

Brooklyn-based composer, pianist, and conductor Daniel Schlosberg’s music has been performed by the Dover Quartet, Minnesota Orchestra, Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Nashville Symphony, Albany Symphony, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and Lorelei Ensemble, at venues including Carnegie Hall, (le) poisson rouge, Royal Albert Hall, Beijing Modern Music Festival, and David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption, and has also been featured in the New York Times and WNYC’s Soundcheck. Daniel has received the Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. In May 2021, Daniel’s new opera, The Extinctionist, was presented at PS21 Chatham in advance of the world premiere by Heartbeat Opera in 2023. Current projects include composition and music direction for Jeremy O. Harris’s A Boy’s Company Presents, music direction and arrangements for Quando, a short operatic film co-produced by Long Beach Opera and Heartbeat Opera, and associate music direction and arrangements for Anthony Roth Costanzo and Justin Vivian Bond’s Only an Octave Apart at St. Ann’s Warehouse (he will also be performing with the New York Philharmonic when the show is revived in January 2022). Daniel is the Co-Music Director of Heartbeat Opera, for which his re-orchestrations of classic operas have garnered national acclaim; a core member of Cantata Profana; and rotating principal pianist of NOVUS NY. As a performer, Daniel has collaborated with such luminaries as Angel Blue, David Shifrin, Ani Kavafian, Yura Lee, and the Imani Winds, and he was also the pianist for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film West Side Story. Daniel’s work has been described as “richly detailed yet delicate” by the New York Times and “witty” and “ingenious” by the Wall Street Journal. Daniel received his DMA in Composition from the Yale School of Music in 2018.

- written by Yutong Yang