cosÌ fAn tutte - Manhattan School of Music

A SEASON OFSPECTACLEILLUMINATIONEVOCATIONIt is almost a commonplace to say that ours is a visualage. More and more of our activities are mediated by thevisual, even the act of listening to music itself: witness thestatus of YouTube as a go-to source of all forms of music,in homes and in music classrooms.Of course music and imagery have a long, intimaterelationship. A visual element lies at the root of the musicwe present, and one can wonder whether music’s graphicrepresentation in the glorious universal language ofnotation has been a spur for composers to think visuallythrough the ages. Or perhaps our experience of sacredsettings tells us that music, architecture, and visualiconography emerged from the same source of awe—andsought to recapture it, each in its own way.This is a season of spectacle, illumination, and evocation:Among the profusion of images and works that we presentare an iconic film of the 20th century, Sergei Eisenstein’sAlexander Nevsky, with a score by Prokofiev; JohnCorigliano’s opera The Ghosts of Versailles; the LimonDance Company performing Anna Sokolow’s Rooms;and a collaboration between brass and percussion, withprojections, showcasing Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre.Among the great luminaries on the concert calendarthis year are Thomas Hampson, Kurt Masur, PhilippeEntremont, and Robert Mann. We also celebrate thegreat Stan Kenton’s centennial with a rare opportunityto hear the breadth of his work, both for full orchestraand jazz big band.We hope this focus on the visual will free your imaginationwhen attending MSM events this season and illuminateand enliven your concertgoing in years to come.Robert Sirota, President1