This Day in UMS History: Kiri Te Kanawa and Martin Katz (Feb 10, 1987)

Martin Katz

February 10, 1987

Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano
Martin Katz, pianist
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor

Soprano legend Kiri Te Kanawa and U-M Professor of Piano Martin Katz gave a recital of Handel, Mozart, R. Strauss, and arrangements of folk songs by Canteloube and Gamley.  It was a linguistically eclectic program, with the Italian of Handel’s Giulio Cesare excerpts, the Latin of Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, German in Richard Strauss’ songs, English folksongs arranged by Gamley, and, most interestingly, the Occitan of Canteloube’s Five Songs of the Auvergne.  Occitan, also known informally as Languedoc or Provençal, is a Romance language.  In medieval times, it was the language of the troubadours; it is now spoken in southern France and a few areas of Italy and Spain.  These charming songs were collected and arranged by Canteloube as a way to preserve the linguistic legacy of Occitan.

Below Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings 4 songs from “Chants d’Auvergne” by Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957).

1. Lou Coucut
2. Lo Fiolaire
3. Lou Boussu
4. Malurous quo uno fenno

Piano / Roger Vignoles. Recorded from the recital “Chanson de la France” , 1986.

“This day in UMS History” is an occasional series of vignettes drawn from UMS’s historical archive.   If you have a personal story or particular memory from attending the performance featured here, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.