First Fridays at First!
2900 W Carson St
Torrance, CA 90503
USA
First Fridays at First!
Richard Strauss’s ENOCH ARDEN
A Melodrama for Narrator and Piano
on the 1864 Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson ~ performed by ~
Pianist DAVID KAPLAN and Actor SHERMAN HOWARD
Friday, February 2, 2018 at 12:15 p.m.
Complimentary reception follows
First Lutheran Church and School
2900 W. Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90503
(On the south side Carson Street just east of Maple Ave.
Park in the Church lot or on the surface streets
in the surrounding neighborhood.)
Free Admission, Donations Appreciated
Classical Crossroads’ “First Fridays at First! ~ fff “ recital series presents Richard Strauss’s “Enoch Arden” – a melodrama for narrator and piano on the 1864 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson – performed by pianist David Kaplan and actor Sherman Howard. Friday, February 2, 2018 at 12:15 p.m. at First Lutheran Church & School, 2900 W. Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90503. Admission is free. Reception follows.
The Artists
Reprise of Their Performance on New York City’s Bargemusic
David Kaplan- Pianist
Sherman Howard – Actor
American actor Sherman Howard enjoys an esteemed and wide-ranging career in theater, films, and television. In addition, he has a passion for classical music. He has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Rachmaninoff’s The Bells (inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem) and in the role of Prospero in the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Sibelius’ suite of incidental music to Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
New York-based pianist David Kaplan is well known to aficionados in Southern California, where he grew up and attended UCLA. New York Times chief music critic Anthony Tommasini picked David’s performance at Manhattan’s (Le) Poisson Rouge of Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, interspersed with commissioned compositions, as one of the Best Classical Music Performances of 2015. David was recently awarded the Doctorate of Musical Arts at Yale, where he studied with Claude Frank.
The Program
Richard Strauss’s Enoch Arden
A Melodrama for Narrator and Piano on the
1864 Poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Enoch Arden” watercolor by George Goodwin Kilburne (1839-1924)
Richard Strauss composed the melodrama Enoch Arden in 1897 for his colleague Ernst von Possart. Together they toured with it. The melodrama has been recorded by the renowned actors and pianists — Claude Rains and Glenn Gould, and more recently Patrick Stewart and Emanuel Ax, among other notable duos.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s 1864 poem is a story of the lives of three childhood friends in a seaside village – Enoch Arden, Philip Ray, and Annie Lee. Annie and Enoch fell in love, married, and had a daughter and a son. All was blissful for seven years, until Enoch was lost at sea. Annie loses all hope of ever seeing Enoch again. She eventually consents to marry Philip, a good man who had always secretly loved her, for the sake of the children. Enoch, who hadn’t perished, finds his way home. Observing his beloved Annie and her family from afar, he painfully decides out of love not to reveal himself, so he wouldn’t destroy the family’s happiness. Drained of his health, Enoch dies. The villagers honored Enoch at his funeral, when the truth became apparent.
The Concert
The First Fridays at First! ~ fff recitals carries on in Torrance the tradition of the popular Bach’s Lunch Recitals, formerly held for over 20 years in Manhattan Beach. The finest Southland and international professional artists perform half-hour recitals on first Fridays at First Lutheran Church & School from September through June. Receptions with the artists follows with complimentary coffee, a freshly baked treat, and a seasonal fruit selection.