MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) announces the release of the world premiere recording of Kurt Weill and Franz Werfel's The Road of Promise on Navona Records. The recording captures the energy and vibrancy of MasterVoices' live performances of The Road of Promise at Carnegie Hall on May 6 & 7, 2015, featuring soloists Anthony Dean Griffey, Mark Delavan, Ron Rifkin, Eli Tokash, AJ Glueckert, Lauren Michelle, Megan Marino, Justin Hopkins, Philip Cutlip, Michael Slattery, Sean Fallen, and Jose Pietri-Coimbre, MasterVoices, and Orchestra of St. Luke's, led by Artistic Director Ted Sperling.
"We at MasterVoices are passionate fans of Kurt Weill's music, and have been for a long time," said Ted Sperling, Artistic Director of MasterVoices. "We have produced concerts of Knickerbocker
Holiday and The Firebrand of Florence, and in 2011 we made a commercial recording of Knickerbocker Holiday, starring Kelli O'Hara and Victor Garber (Ghostlight/Sh-K-Boom Records). When the critical edition of The Road of
Promise was finished, we felt it would be of great value to make the first recording of this work so that audiences around the globe, not just those in attendance at Carnegie Hall, will be able to hear it for years to come."
The Road of
Promise represents a concert adaptation of Kurt Weill's 1937 opera-oratorio The Eternal Road, which premiered in New York City in 1937, and ran for 153 performances. Performed by MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), under the baton of conductor Ted Sperling, this pseudo-allegorical work was conceived by European Jewish emigrants in the US as an attempt to inform the American public about Adolf Hitler's persecution of German Jews. The storyline is set in a synagogue on a night of fearful waiting during the "timeless night of Israel's persecution." The Rabbi comforts his congregation by recounting for them iconic stories from Jewish scripture. These biblical scenes unfold through spoken dialogue, arias, ensemble pieces, and a chorus, and bounces between the Rabbi's 'present day' conversations with his congregants and dramatizations of different Torahic stories.
A particularly interesting aesthetic facet of The Road of
Promise is the use of references to popular music in the dramatizations of these stories. Modern rhythms in "At the Mountain" from Act 1 and "Ruth the Moabite" from Act II, demonstrate the seemingly motivated choice by Weill to draw clear parallels between the plight suffered by Jews in biblical times to that endured in Nazi Germany. The work represents one of the few positive, sympathetic portrayals of Jews in opera or oratorio, from the seventeenth century to the present.
For more information and to preview the album, visit: http://navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6059/
To purchase the digital album, visit iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-road-of-promise-live/id1168768511
To purchase the CD, visit Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M687SES
ALBUM CREDITS
MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale)
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Ted Sperling, conductor
Ed Harsh, concert adaptation
Ludwig Lewisohn, William A. Drake, Charles Alan, and Kelley Rourke, English translations
Noam Sheriff, additional orchestrations
Anthony Dean Griffey, the Rabbi; Mark Delavan, Abraham/Moses; Ron Rifkin, the Adversary; Eli Tokash, the Thirteen-Year-Old Boy; AJ Glueckert, Jacob/Boaz/David/Isaiah/Hananiah; Lauren Michelle, Rachel/Soul of Moses/Naomi; Megan Marino, Miriam/Ruth; Justin Hopkins, the Dark Angel; Philip Cutlip, Joseph/Solomon/Jeremiah; Michael Slattery, the Voice; Sean Fallen, Angel #1; Jose Pietri-Coimbre, Angel #2
The recording of The Road of
Promise was made possible by financial support from the Kurt Weill
Foundation for Music. Additional funding was made possible by
The National Endowment for the Arts, NYC
Department of Cultural Affairs, The Kaplen Foundation, The Nash
Family Foundation, the David Berg Foundation, and the Eugene and Emily Grant
Family Foundation.
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