"Dreams," a song recital performed Saturday night at the Hope Club, proved to be an elegant end to this weekend's Fall Humanities Weekend, which brought international scholars to the University to examine the relationship between Freud and the humanities.
Sponsored by the Cogut Center for the Humanities to mark the 150th anniversary of Freud's birth, the recital featured Austrian music written while Freud was living in Vienna. Played to an intimate crowd of well-dressed students and community members, the performance showcased prominent pianist Thomas Bagwell and vocalists Meagan Miller and Richard Cox.
Bagwell, who has served as assistant conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, called the recital "a bit of a dialogue," mixing rare songs with more standard melodies. Bagwell said he had originally composed the recital for the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York for its three-part concert series on Freud. Favored composers included in the "Dreams" program were Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms and Alan Berg.
"Song recital was a prime form of entertainment around 1900," said Michael Steinberg, professor of history and music and director of the Cogut Center. "It usually took place in someone's home - an atmosphere we were fortunate enough to recreate in the Hope Club."
As the performance was sung completely in German, the organizers provided English translations to audience members. On a nearby screen, translated lyrics appeared alongside images of women in high-buttoned collars evoking the Victorian era.
Jumping from wistful to solemn, most of the songs dwelled on the capacity of dreams to reveal one's innermost desires. With somewhat sexually suggestive names like "Ah, Turn Away Your Gaze" and "Foreplay," Freud would have approved of Bagwell's efforts.
As for the singers, both Miller and Cox commanded their pieces with nuanced emotion and superior vocal skill. Miller, an experienced vocalist whose repertoire includes such roles as Verdi's Desdemona and Copland's Laurie, filled the room with her impassioned soprano notes.
Cox's rich tenor also carried a powerful punch. His haunting rendition of Korngold's "In My Inmost Night" was one of the show's most captivating moments.
Supported by Bagwell's masterful piano work, both performers managed to revive songs that could have sounded dusty and stilted to a contemporary audience. By linking music with the realm of the unconscious, "Dreams" was an appropriate addition to the humanities weekend.
"I believe Freud is so important because he shows us how to think of rich residues of meaning under the surface," said Steinberg. "You can spend a great deal of time analyzing the depths of important works of art, especially music."
