M E Z Z O - a compilation of excerpts
In this sampling of music from Mezzo, you will hear parts of:
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“I Dream of That Moment”
Young Liana describes her hopes to sing for all of the world, as she describes the wind, a force (spirit) she senses within her that seems to both inspire and compel her to sing.
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“Someday, They’ll Understand”
Against her mother’s wishes, Liana goes to New York to pursue a singing career immediately after college. She is motivated by a drive to make it big, yes, but also the wind – something “strange, holy,” leading her mysteriously onward.
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“Audition Sequence”
We get to hear Liana jump through the grueling (and often humiliating) hoops that nearly every singer and actor must endure. Her biting commentary (in recitative) gives the audience a glimpse into the audition process.
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“In the Moment”
Liana sings of her excitement after landing her first singing job in New York.
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“The Hummingbird Song”
Liana wrote this tender song as a little girl, and sings it several times throughout the musical. Here, it is a lullaby to her friend Pam’s daughter, Eliza – especially poignant because Liana has just found out that ovarian cancer will prevent her from ever having children.
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“Will This Work?”
Declining normative treatment for her cancer, Liana wonders whether her doctor’s alternative will be effective.
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"A Voice to Listen When I Call”
One of several sung prayers, Liana recalls an important Psalm from her childhood immediately after discovering that her mother is in hospital, and failing.
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“Hildegard, Be My Guide”
Over the course of the play, Liana has had profound encounters with the music of 12th-century mystic and saint Hildegard von Bingen, which both comfort her and provide an entirely new perspective on singing.
The singers are Satomi Hoffman and Catherine Anne Weber;
piano by music director Mark Evans.