A song recital about the haunted heart

Details

Abagael Cheng full profile / Soprano and Piano / 2 musicians

Other players: Michele Wong (piano)

Full program notes

Unfinished Business is a classical song recital centered around that which haunts us in this life and beyond. Regret, yearning, and loss all represent incomplete journeys and potential futures that we carry with us, even past their expiration. Combining French, German, and American songs from the last 200 years, this performance evokes the curiosity and pain of unrealized possibilities from the voices of artists past and present. By acknowledging these suppressed dreams, can we step closer to accepting the grief that comes with them?

The program, presented by soprano Abagael Cheng and pianist Michele Wong, features works by Undine Smith Moore, Clara Schumann, Eve Beglarian, William Grant Still, Hector Berlioz, Claude Debussy, Francis Poulenc, and more.

FULL PROGRAM:
Colloque Sentimental by Claude Debussy
Sie liebten sich beide by Clara Schumann
Once upon a time by Charles Strouse & Lee Adams
Moulin de mon coeur by Michel Lengrad
I am in doubt by Undine Smith Moore
L'accordeoniste by Michel Emer

INTERMISSION

Farther from the heart by Eve Beglarian
La mort d'Ophélie by Hector Berlioz
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant by Francis Poulenc
Vocalise on Mayn Yingele by Marti Epstein
If you should go by William Grant Still

Historical context

Unfinished Business ties together histories from across the world, unified around the shared human experience of hope and desire. The program draws from traditions of German Lied and French Mélodie, highlighting the French fascination with ghosts and the mysteries of the afterlife. Additionally, the two French cabaret songs contribute the cold, cynical viewpoint from a time of endless war. There is even an excerpt of Ophelia's iconic death scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet, translated into French and set to music by Berlioz. In terms of American music, the recital includes works by Black, Jewish, and women composers, for each of which singing is an essential tool for coming together with their communities.

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