French composer Olivier Messiaen‘s haunting song cycle for solo female voice and piano comes to life Saturday performed by mezzo-soprano Leslie Ann Leytham and pianist Brendan Nguyen at St. James Episcopal Church.
Harawi: Song of Love and Death combines Messiaen’s symbolist poetry with the Quetcha language spoken by indigenous peoples throughout the Andes mountains, and weaves together the composer’s lifelong fascination with Wagner’s love-death in Tristan und Isolde and music from non-Western cultures.
In this Peruvian love-song, two lovers who desire one another know they cannot be together on this earth, so they eagerly rush to their deaths in the hope they find each other in the next life.
Considered one of the major composers of the 20th century, Messiaen wrote orchestral and vocal music, as well as for solo organ and piano pieces, and experimented with electronic instruments.
The performers of Saturday’s concert constitute Project [BLANK], a San Diego-based effort to produce immersive, interdisciplinary chamber music and operatic performances.
The concert is at 6 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 8, at the church in La Jolla. Tickets start at $20.
