Richard Lalli

Music by Jay Gorney, Lyrics by E.Y. Harburg; from Americana, 1931. Une Rhapsodie Américaine at the Salle Cortot Paris on April 23, 2008. Richard Lalli, baritone; Gary Chapman, piano and arrangements. Recording engineer: Eric Ferrand N'Kaoua.

From Carnival Evening, W.W. Norton & Company 1998. Music by Richard Lalli, Poetry of Linda Pastan from Carnival Evening, W.W. Norton & Company 1998. Scott Murphree tenor, Alan Darling piano. Recording engineer: Mike Burke.

Emily Dickinson by Linda Pastan

We think of her hidden in a white dress
among the folded linens and sachets
of well-kept cupboards, or just out of sight
sending jellies and notes with no address
to all the wondering Amherst neighbors.
Eccentric as New England weather
the stiff wind of her mind, stinging or gentle,
blew two half-imagined lovers off.
Yet legend won’t explain the sheer sanity
of vision, the serious mischief
of language, the economy of pain.

Music by George Gershwin, Lyrics by Ira Gershwin; from Treasure Girl, 1928. Une Rhapsodie Américaine at the Salle Cortot Paris on April 23, 2008. Richard Lalli, baritone; Gary Chapman, piano and arrangements. Recording engineer: Eric Ferrand N'Kaoua.

Music and lyrics by Noël Coward from Sigh No More, 1945. Une Rhapsodie Américaine at the Salle Cortot Paris on April 23, 2008. Richard Lalli, baritone; Gary Chapman, piano and arrangements. Recording engineer: Eric Ferrand N'Kaoua.

Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Lorenz Hart; from Babes in Arms, 1937. Une Rhapsodie Américaine at the Salle Cortot Paris on April 23, 2008. Richard Lalli, baritone; Gary Chapman, piano and arrangements. Recording engineer: Eric Ferrand N'Kaoua.

Poetry by Jeffrey Greene from American Spirituals, Northeastern University Press 1998. Presence from Three Greene Songs. Music by Richard Lalli, soprano Tobé Malawista, baritone Richard Lalli, flute Sara Andon. Recording engineer: Mike Burke.

Presence

All afternoon the shadows
lengthened and shook.
Now they settle back
into the black mass
of trees under stars.
Because night comes slowly,
the children are unafraid.
They don’t consider the beauty
in what still remains,
common flowers equal to the dark.
I need to know the geography
of the park as I start
to see things in the trees,
myself alone or the face
of someone I loved.
If I knew like the bat,
turn left, turn left,
I’d stay clear of the trees
and the sadness I thought
was the end of sadness.
The trees are harmless.
The children now equal
to the dark give off
small cries of presence.

Music by Richard Lalli, Words by William Shakespeare; from The Tempest act V, scene i. Trio: Tobé Malawista soprano, Scott Murphree tenor, Richard Lalli baritone. Recording engineer: Mike Burke.

Music by Jerome Kern, Lyrics by B.G. DeSylva; from Sally 1921. Une Rhapsodie Américaine at the Salle Cortot Paris on April 23, 2008. Richard Lalli, baritone; Gary Chapman, piano and arrangements. Recording engineer: Eric Ferrand N'Kaoua.