Originally aired March 13, 2021.
Springfield newcomer Logan Campbell joins Community Voices to discuss his love of music and share his bass and baritone recital -- An Evening of Song: From Schubert to Verdi.
From the program:
An Evening of Song: From Schubert to Verdi
- Logan Campbell, bass-baritone
- Deb Watts Elliott, piano
UIS Faculty SeriesIllinois Symphony Orchestra Guild Event
Program Order
- “La Vendetta” from Le Nozze di Figaro - Mozart (1756-1791)
- “Bois épais” from Amadis - Lully (1632-1687)
- “Quia fecit mihi magna” from Magnificat - Bach (1785-1750)
- “Der Doppelgänger” from Schwanengesang - Schubert (1797-1828)
- “Romans” from 3 Songs for Bass Voice - Sjögren (1853-1918)
- “Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific - Rodgers and Hammerstein (1902-1979) (1895-1960)
- “Il lacerato spirito” from Simon Boccanegra - Verdi (1813-1901)
- Old American Song Set #1 - Copland (1900-1990)
- The Dodger
- Long Time Ago
- Simple Gifts
- I Bought Me A Cat
Logan Campbell , bass-baritone, is a recent addition to the faculty at the University of Illinois - Springfield as Music Director and Conductor of the UIS Orchestra. Campbell enjoys a budding career as a conductor, equally at home with Symphonic repertoire, Pops, Opera, and Musical Theatre. He is presently in his first season as Assistant Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Illinois Symphony Youth Orchestras.Logan has worked as a guest conductor, rehearsal conductor, or cover conductor with area orchestras like the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Scruffy City Orchestra, Morristown Community Orchestra, and Brevard Philharmonic. As a student at UT, he worked with the UT Symphony Orchestra, UT Opera Orchestra, UT Chamber Orchestra, VolOpera, and UT Opera Theatre.
Logan performed with the UT Opera Theatre from 2018-2020 in productions of La Finta Giardiniera and Carmen , with the Knoxville Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor , the Furman Lyric Opera in Die Zauberflöte , and the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Le Nozze di Figaro and Bastien und Bastienne in. He was the Bass soloist with the UT Chamber Singers in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony , performed at the Tennessee Theatre in February 2020, and Handel’s Messiah , performed in December 2019. Logan has also performed internationally, mostly in Germany. Selected as an ambassador for the State Department funded program, The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals, he lived in Leipzig, Germany for a year and studied German language, politics, and music.
He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Furman University, and holds a double Masters of Music degree in Voice Performance and Orchestral Conducting from the University of Tennessee. Logan is the recipient of the Thomas Fulton Career Development Award for his outstanding work as a conducting and voice student at UT. His primary conducting teachers were James Fellenbaum, Dr. Leslie Hicken, Dr. Hugh Floyd, and Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel with the Greenville Symphony.
Deb Watts Elliott, piano, is pianist, organist, and music coordinator at Laurel United Methodist Church and leads the Westminster Presbyterian Church Jazz Trio for the Saturday evening service there. She has participated as a vocal director and pit musician for many area musical theatre productions, and also works as a legal assistant at Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran, Ltd. Deb enjoys spending time with her husband, John, and her children and grandchildren, as well as travel.
Program Notes & Translations
“La Vendetta” from Le Nozze di Figaro - Mozart (1756-1791)
Composed in 1786, Le Nozze di Figaro has remained a classic in the operatic repertoire. The libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, librettist for 28 operas including Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte , tells the story of two servants, Susanna and Figaro, who through love wish to marry. This is a problem for Count Almaviva who aims to foil these plans through seduction despite his marriage with the Countess. Nevertheless, through scheming and careful planning, the Count is exposed and taught the lesson of fidelity. This day of madness serves as the setting for numerous dramatic circumstances to unfold. One of the first
is the entrance scene of Dr. Bartolo and Marcellina, Bartolo’s old housekeeper. Through this unique introduction, we are revealed to Bartolo’s vengeance for Figaro, hence the title “La Vendetta.” Figaro had previously borrowed money from Marcellina and agreed to marry her should he be unable to repay her at the appointed time. Having failed to fulfill his side of the bargain, she plans on enforcing the promise by suing him. This conveniently aligns with Bartolo’s frustration with Figaro for thwarting his attempt at marrying Countess Rosina who is now married to Count Almaviva. Bartolo agrees to represent Marcellina in her legal action for free so he can also get his revenge, too.
“Bois épais” from Amadis - Lully (1632-1687)
A century earlier than the work you previously heard, Amadis was first performed in 1684. Jean-Baptiste Lully collaborated with Phillippe Quinault to produce this five act tragédie en musique based on the original text, Amadís de Gaula . This complex plot depicts love and chivalry through the faithful love of Amadis and Oriane. It is opposed by the sorcerer family of Arcabonne and Arcalaus, and still other subplot circumstances add to the action. This particular aria is found in the second act where the main character, Amadis, is alone. It is a prime example of an air de cour , or “court air.” This forest pastoral scene is where he sings of his suffering.
“Quia fecit mihi magna” from Magnificat - Bach (1785-1750)
A Magnificat is a presentation depicting the story of Mary, mother of Jesus, as she responds to Elizabeth. In this passage of Luke 1:46-55 we hear the words of Mary to her cousin, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary is rejoicing with the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah and glorifying God for His power, holiness and mercy. In this particular verse, Luke 1:49, she exclaims His power and His compassion for her. The entire Magnificat is unique in the way Bach divides the verses into each movement. He makes movements 3 and 4 out of only one verse, Luke 1:48, and separates the doxology into two sections of the 12th movement.
“Der Doppelgänger” from Schwanengesang - Schubert (1797-1828)
Schubert’s Schwanengesang , or Swan Song, is a collection of 14 songs composed at the end of his life and published posthumously. It was intended to serve as Schubert’s final testament, as it was titled by its first publisher, Tobis Haslinger. Unlike previous song cycles, three poets are used for Schwanengesang, which may or may not have been Schubert’s desire. Nevertheless, all 14 songs were composed in 1828 during the final year of Schubert’s life.
Der Doppelgänger is the tenth song in the cycle and the text was written by Heinrich Heine. In Heine’s Buch der Lieder , or Book of Poems, we find this text. Divided into five sections, Schubert selects only poems found in the third; a section entitled Die Heimkehr (The Homecoming). The order of Heine texts is rearranged for Schubert’s cycle and many argue it should remain in the same order for dramatic intent. Through-composed, each stanza is unique to the text, with an overarching passacaglia established by the piano accompaniment in the first four bars. Schubert paints the text with chords and growing anguish as the narrator reveals his awareness of his own form in the moonlight.
“Romans” from 3 Songs for Bass Voice - Sjögren (1853-1918)
Best known for his lieder and piano works, Emil Sjögren was a Swedish composer from the romantic period. 3 Songs for Bass Voice , op. 2, was composed early in his life in 1877. The librettist for each song in the cycle is different and the languages used include Danish and Swedish. The middle song, “Romans,” is the only Swedish text. The librettist was Hugo Montgomery-Cederhielm, a Swedish attaché at the Embassy in Rome. He composed one work of poems during his philosophy studies in Stockholm and from that text, Sjögren uses his poetry for three different cycles.
“Some Enchanted Evening” from South Pacific - Rodgers and Hammerstein (1902-1979) (1895-1960)
“Some Enchanted Evening” has been described as “the single biggest popular hit to come out on any Rodgers and Hammerstein show” and was deemed the “greatest song ever written for a musical” by the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber. In South Pacific , the leading male character, Emile, describes the first moment he saw Nellie. Only having known each other a few weeks, they each worry that the other may not feel the same in return. It is through this song, which appears in the first act of the show, that Emile aims to prove his affection. Sung by both Ezio Pinza and Giorgio Tozzi, Metropolitan basses, the song has remained a classic in the musical theatre repertoire for the lower male fach.
Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger, you may see a stranger across a crowded room, And somehow you know, you know even then, that somehow you'll see here again and again. Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing, you may hear her laughing across a crowded room, And night after night, as strange as it seems, the sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams. Who can explain it, who can tell you why? Fools give you reasons, wise men never try. Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love, when you hear her call you across a crowded room, Then fly to her side and make her your own, or all through your life you may dream all alone. Once you have found her, never let her go, Once you have found her, never let her go.
“Il lacerato spirito” from Simon Boccanegra - Verdi (1813-1901)
Simon Boccanegra was not originally well-received by opera lovers in the mid-19th century. Complications of the original plot led to this lack of approval, but with revisions made by Verdi 23 years later, the opera began to be recognized more as a standard in the operatic repertory. This particular aria appears in the prologue, although it was part of Act 1 in the original 1857 version. At any rate, the opening of this production establishes the relationship between Boccanegra and Fiesco, the father of Boccanegra’s lover, Maria. Through a series of events, Maria dies early on and Fiesco is heartbroken and sings this
aria as a sad father.
Old American Song Set #1 - Copland (1900-1990)
Composed in 1950, the old American Song Set #1 was commissioned by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears for Britten’sMusic and Arts Festival in Aldeburgh, England. Despite its original premiere, William Warfield gave the set its firstAmerican performance in January of 1951 with Copland at the piano. Later in1954, Copland arranged the set for chamberorchestra and voice. Each individual tune has a fascinating background, but the set covers topics like politics, children’s songs, and religious texts. “The Dodger” was a campaign song associated with the 1884 election of Grover Cleveland. “Long Time Ago” is a nostalgic poetic ballad that was discovered by Copland in the Harris Collection at Brown University, a unique collection with approximately 250,000 volumes of American and Canadian poetry, plays, and vocal music dating back to 1609. “Simple Gifts” may sound a bit familiar if you are a fan of Copland’s works as this tune also appears in his ballet, Appalachian Spring . This Shaker melody is set in a recitative-style where the accompaniment shifts tonality on weak beats to give a sense of no real rhythmic pulse. Lastly, “I Bought Me A Cat” is simply a children’s nonsense song that would have been sung for fun.
