(Chinen) Frank Carlberg (Saturday) Literary themes often provide inspiration for Mr. Carlberg, a pianist and composer; here he presents a song cycle, "Word Circus," for an ensemble with the singer Christine Correa, the saxophonist John O'Gallagher, the bassist Pascal Niggenkemper and the drummer Michael Sarin.
But, both Orwell's book and those three oxymoronic terms seem even more relevant in the modern news cycle with words like "Peacekeeper Missile" and "War on Terror" becoming commonplace.
Britten's song cycle "Winter Words" is inexplicably neglected.
The play depicts them trapped in an endless cycle of words, always at cross-purposes.
Students should learn to explain the cycle in words and diagrams, including the definitions of key terms.
At Zankel, Bostridge sang Britten's five Canticles, based on various religious texts, together with the surging song cycle "Winter Words," a setting of Thomas Hardy poems.
It is interesting to compare these songs with Benjamin Britten's wonderful Hardy cycle, Winter Words, where the musical inventiveness is so powerful that it almost overwhelms the poetry.
Particularly notable is the first British performance for Michael Finnissy's reimagining of the song cycle using words by Hans Christian Andersen brought to life by Mark Knoop and Juliet Fraser.
Or take a piece like the song cycle "Winter Words," bleakly beautiful, sometimes satirical and stunning settings of eight poems by Thomas Hardy.
Next week the ardent tenor Paul Groves, best known from his work at the Metropolitan Opera, and the fine pianist Pedja Muzijevic perform Britten's great song cycle "Winter Words," musically intriguing settings of poems by Thomas Hardy.
