BWW Previews: Melissa Errico & Adam Gopnik Perform Online October 14th In New Concert Series

Melissa Errico was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the musical AMOUR, a play based on a short story titled Le Passe-muraille by Marcel Ayme . Out of her appearance in that play developed a muse/maestro relationship between she and the legendary composer Michel Legrand. So one might say Melissa Errico has a little association with the culture and artistry that comes from France and the French.

Tonight Ms. Errico will debut a streaming concert series presented by the French Institute Alliance Francaise (fi:af) that will showcase her new collaboration with acclaimed New Yorker essaying/lyricist Adam Gopnik. This trio of concerts titled LOVE, DESIRE, & MYSTERY will weave together music and conversation (Il Parle, Elle Chante) in an exploration of the French obsession l'amour fou - and while the direct translation of l'amour fou is simply "crazy love" the French understanding of the term goes deeper: crazy, overpowering, all-consuming love. Errico and Gopnick will investigate and illuminate the cycle that France first offered the world - how love becomes desire, how desire is cloaked in mystery, and how the mystery of desire reveals the madness of love again.

I mean, who can't relate to that, right?

October 14th begins concert number one: LOVE. Love is a special preoccupation in France, as all literature, music, and historical teachings tell us, and this concert will begin with the invention of the love song in the feminist medieval court of Eleanor of Aquitaine, then travel through the long history of the French culture of love. The love song that starts the evening will be the world premiere of Mr. Gopnik's own creation, composed with Academy Award recipient David Shire for their upcoming musical about the fabled French Queen, after which Ms. Errico will perform some of her favorite French love songs, and American songs that pay homage to the country and its tendency toward l'amour. Among the artists whose work will be sung, viewers can expect to hear some Cole Porter, a little Stephen Sondheim, and (naturally) the late, great Legrand, whose work on film was honored in 2019 in a Legrand Film Festival curated by Errico herself.

Melissa Errico was the only American invited to perform at the Legrand memorial at Paris's Le Grand Rex, and the French cultural consul in New York once wrote that "the amazing thing about Adam Gopnik is that he knows more about France than many French people."

The sixty minute program will include musical direction by Errico's longtime collaborator, acclaimed pianist/arranger Tedd Firth,

Part 2 of the series will focus on DESIRE and Part 3 is all about MYSTERY and will be announced later this fall.

Francophile Errico, on her thoughts about the concert series, had this to say: "I hope it takes us all through love stories and love music the way only the French know how!"

LOVE, DESIRE & MYSTERY Part 1: LOVE premiers Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 7 pm ET in a LIVE Steaming concert from FIAF Florence Gould Hall. For information and tickets visit the Eventbrite website HERE - viewers will be sent a link to the performance.

Please note that fi:af Members attend free of charge and enjoy enticing benefits including free tickets to other performances and talks, free weekly films, and more. For information on memberships, visit the fi:af website HERE

Studio photos of Melissa Errico and Adam Gopnik are by Brigitte Lacombe

To post a comment, you must register and login.