LIV REDPATH & HARRY RYLANCE
Recital Series
May 28 & 30, 2026
WELCOME
Park Avenue Armory’s Recital Series strives to engage audiences with world-class artists in the most personal of settings, and has become a “locus for important chamber music concerts” (The New Yorker). Set in the intimate and lush surroundings of our historic period rooms, the Armory provides “a space for chamber music, which marries excellent acoustics and an austerely elegant Gilded Age interiors” (The New York Times). This year’s lineup offers up-close experiences of thoughtfully curated programs of lieder, art song, and contemporary works by some of today’s most exciting musical interpreters, and thrilling performances that explore signal works and take the art form in bold new directions.
We are proud to host the highly anticipated recital debuts of three exciting new voices in the Board of Officers Room: leading soprano leggero Liv Redpath in her New York solo recital debut; Italian countertenor Carlo Vistoli in his North American recital debut; and Omani-born mezzo soprano Deepa Johnny in her North American recital debut. Returning following their work on Monochromatic Light (Afterlife) at the Armory in 2023, celebrated percussionist Steven Schick and composer Tyshawn Sorey team up in the Veterans Room for the world premiere of a new evening-length percussion piece commissioned by the Armory that explores legacy through cross-generational collaboration as a mirror of the past and an illuminated path to the future. We also welcome Turkish pianist and composer Fazıl Say to the Board of Officers Room for a program blending Western and folk music influences, including J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations alongside several of Say’s own innovative compositions. And finally, master Mozartean tenor Ben Bliss gives an intimate evening of arias and art song with pianist Christopher Allen. Since the start of the Recital Series at the Armory, we are proud to have held more than 150 intimate performances by 250 internationally renowned musicians, including 18 important North American, US, and New York debuts of dynamic artists including tenors Allan Clayton and Pene Pati, soprano Barbara Hannigan, and pianist Igor Levit. We have also been proud to serve as the locale for 20 premieres by contemporary composers, including works by Michael Hersch, Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, John Zorn, Dai Fujikura, Michael Gordon, Jake Heggie, Chris Cerrone, Viet Cuong, Jasmine Barnes, David Lang, and others.
This year’s lineup offers audiences even more chances to enjoy the intimacy of a beautiful range of chamber music experiences performed by artists with a highly distinctive international profile, in “an invaluable place to hear unconventional singers and programs” (The Wall Street Journal)—the Armory’s historic period rooms. We hope you join in our excitement for witnessing these magical moments in music.
Rebecca Robertson
Adam R. Flatto Founding President and Executive Producer
Deborah Warner
Anita K. Hersch Artistic Director
This concert is being recorded by WQXR for future broadcast on 105.9 FM and streaming on wqxr.org.
SEASON SPONSOR
The Recital Series is supported, in part, by the Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation. Bloomberg Philanthropies is Park Avenue Armory’s 2026 Season Sponsor. Leadership support for the Armory’s artistic programming has been generously provided by the Anita K. Hersh Philanthropic Fund, Charina Endowment Fund, Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, Pinkerton Foundation, the Starr Foundation, the Thompson Family Foundation, and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Major support was also provided by the the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Marc Haas Foundation, the Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Shubert Foundation, the SHS Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and Wescustogo Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the Armory’s Artistic Council. Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council under the leadership of Speaker Julie Menin.
PROGRAM
Liv Redpath, soprano
Harry Rylance, piano
thursday, may 28, 2026 at 7:30pm
saturday, may 30, 2026 at 8:00pm
board of officers room
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
Olivier Messiaen
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
Trois mélodies (1930)
Pourquoi?
Le sourire
La fiancée perdue
Ariettes oubliées L. 60 (1885-87)
C’est l’extase
Il pleure dans mon coeur
L’ombre des arbres
Chevaux de bois
Green
Spleen
Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus, XI. Première communion de la Vierge (1944)
Fiançailles pour rire FP 101 (1939)
La dame d’André
Dans l’herbe
Il vole
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant
Violon
Fleurs
Intermission
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc
La bonne chanson Op. 64 (1892-94)
Une sainte en son auréole
Puisque l’aube grandit
La lune blanche luit dans les bois
J’allais par des chemins perfides
J’ai presque peur en vérité
Avant que tu ne t’en ailles
Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été
N’est-ce pas?
L’hiver a cessé
Trois poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin FP 91 (1937)
Le garçon de Liège
Au-delà
Aux officiers de la garde blanche
La dame de Monte-Carlo FP 180 (1961)
This program runs approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.
ILLUSION ET LA DÉSILLUSION
Love is a drug: this we know. It transfigures our perception of the world around and within us, and we form narratives so powerful they can overcome reason or reality with their force of belief – at least for a time. It has been said that love requires this: a giving over to the illusion painted by passion. In turn, more familial enduring love requires a bull-headed stubborn belief borne of the realization that the ego is, in fact, not all.
Tonight’s poets engaged (or tried not to engage) with love in myriad ways.
The sensitive, emotional, and later violent Paul Verlaine writes of almost celestial dreams of marital bliss with his young wife-to be in La bonne chanson. He casts Mathilde as a saint, reminiscent of Carolingian royalty, in Fauré’s first setting, “Une saint en son aureole”; as the voice that guides him from dangerous paths and lights his way with her gaze of morning in “J’allais par des chemins perfides”; and vows to walk the “modest way” without concern for the outside world in “N’est ce pas?”. Hélas…
Only a few years later, Verlaine took up with an equally young Arthur Rimbaud for a romance that ended in attempted murder, during which he penned his melancholic Romances sans paroles, from which Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées are drawn. In these, there is a deeper confusion: in “Il pleure dans mon coeur” a halting interruption clarifies that this grief is “sans raison”, and in “L’ombre des arbres” the abstraction of self, staring into the mirrored depths of water with “drowned hopes” (esperances noyées), weeps from tree branches with the turtledoves. The cycle crashes to a halt in “Spleen”, ending not with a bang but a whimper in Debussy’s setting of “hélas!”, after Verlaine’s rejection and avoidance of beauties previously relied upon by the Romantic movement for personification of love.
A bird of a very different feather, the sardonic, conversational Louise de Vilmorin vacillates with a delicate wit between joke, judgement, admission, and pangs of acute loss in poems set to music by her friend, Francis Poulenc. Vilmorin refuses to engage in the present with enduring, romantic love, choosing instead to speak of unexpected “engagements”: with one’s own corpse, holding a life and memories within its landscape in “Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant”; or with “La dame d’André,” as she watches her brother’s marriage to a woman he “doesn’t know.” She will always choose “the one who makes her laugh” to the end and beyond in “Au-dela,” and appeals to the “Officiers de la garde blanche” that they hold her above love’s attachments. One of Vilmorin’s great gifts is to both create and subsequently destroy conversational formality, as the listener feels privy to a surprising and vulnerable admission on the nature of closeness and varied functions of love. Messiaen’s Trois mélodies reflect a different side of love and its loss. Dedicated to his mother, Cécile Sauvage, these songs feature her poem “Le sourire” between texts written by the composer himself. Only nineteen at his mother’s passing, Messiaen’s outer songs delicately decry the displacement of the world at his loss in “Pourquoi?” and ask that Jesus protect this “angel of goodness” (l’ange de la bonté) from “la souffrance, les larmes” in “La fiancée perdue”. The space that Messiaen gives to his mother’s words in “Le sourire” suggests a deep reverence and understanding of her expression.
I close my program with La dame de Monte-Carlo, who I cannot help but love, myself. She is beloved for her love of the game, her acknowledgement of the game: a love of life. I leave you this evening with a portrait of a woman who perhaps wishes for one last act, one chance to win the “course que les années gagne”, as Louise de Vilmorin would say.
– Liv Redpath
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LIV REDPATH
American soprano Liv Redpath is one of the most promising of her generation, earning international acclaim across operatic and symphonic repertoire. A graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School, Ms. Redpath was a Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera.
Favorite projects of recent seasons include Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at Bayerische Staatsoper, La Monnaie/De Munt, and Santa Fe Opera; Agnès in Written on Skin with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Manfred Honeck and Danish National Symphony; Mahler’s 4th Symphony with Gustavo Dudamel and LA Phil and with Daniel Harding and Cleveland Orchestra; recitals and collaborations with Wigmore Hall and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival; Lucia di Lammermoor with LA Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Mahler’s 8th Symphony with Kirill Petrenko and Berliner Philharmoniker and Fabio Luisi and Danish National Symphony; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Santa Fe Opera; Abrahamson’s Let me tell you with Thomas Dausgaard and Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI; recording and performing L’enfant et les sortilèges with Ludovic Morlot and Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya; Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne Festival and Teatro Real; Debussy’s La damoiselle élue with Esa-Pekka Salonen and LA Phil; Boulez’ Le soleil des eaux and Grieg’s Peer Gynt with Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, conducted by Karina Kanelakis and Stephan Denève, respectively; and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera at The Metropolitan Opera.
The coming season holds role debuts as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Glyndebourne Festival, the Tsaritsa of Shemakha in The Golden Cockerel at Theater an der Wien, and Norina in Don Pasquale at Opernhaus Zürich, as well as returns as Lucia di Lammermoor with Staatsoper Hamburg and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Bayerische Staatsoper. She will sing Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Daniel Harding and Orchestre de Paris; Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge with Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G with Christophe Rousset and Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and Poulenc’s Gloria with Ludovic Morlot and New Jersey Symphony.
HARRY RYLANCE
Harry Rylance is a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, and répétiteur who has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Teatro alla Scala, the Seoul Arts Centre, the Grand Hall of Budapest, and the Royal Concertgebouw. He has also performed live on BBC Radio and on NPR’s From the Top. Recent highlights have included recitals at Wigmore Hall, winning the Kathleen Ferrier Accompanist Prize, touring with his horn trio, Trio Arisonto, and becoming a Samling Artist. He also recently went on tour with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano and has since been performing regularly as part of their keyboard section. Rylance has released an album titled Obscurus with trumpeter Lucy Humphris under the Rubicon Classics label, and also accompanied for soprano Cassandro Wright’s debut album In The Twilight under the Linn Records Label. This summer he is on Glyndebourne’s music staff and will perform in their new production of Ariadne auf Naxos by Laurent Pelly, conducted by Robin Ticciati.
Rylance studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Joanna MacGregor CBE and graduated in with a DipRAM for the highest mark in his year before being appointed as a Chamber Music and Répétiteur Fellow. He was also awarded the RAM Silver Medal and was elected an Associate of RAM. Previously, he studied at the Liszt Academy under Péter Nagy and the late Zoltán Kocsis. Since 2022, Harry Rylance has worked regularly on the music staff for Glyndebourne Opera House and for the International Meistersinger Akademie in Germany.
TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS
OLIVIER MESSAIEN (1908–1992)
Trois mélodies (1930)
Pourquoi?
Text by Olivier Messaien
Pourquoi les oiseaux de l’air, Pourquoi les reflets de l’eau, Pourquoi les nuages du ciel, Pourquoi?
Pourquoi les feuilles de l’Automne, Pourquoi les roses de l’Été, Pourquoi les chansons du Printemps, Pourquoi?
Pourquoi n’ont-ils pour moi de charmes, Pourquoi?
Pourquoi, Ah! Pourquoi?
Le sourire
Text by Cécile Sauvage
Certain mot murmuré
Par vous est un baiser
Intime et prolongé
Comme un baiser sur l’âme.
La fiancée perdue
Text by Olivier Messiaen
C’est la douce fiancée,
C’est l’ange de la bonté, C’est un après-midi ensoleillé,
C’est le vent sur les fleurs.
C’est un sourire pur comme un cœur d’enfant, C’est un grand lys blanc comme une aile, Très haut dans une coupe d’or!
O Jésus, bénissez-la!
Elle! Donnez-lui votre Grâce puissante!
Qu’elle ignore la souffrance, les larmes!
Donnez-lui le repos Jésus!
Three songs
Why?
English translation by Liv Redpath
Why do the birds of the air, Why do the reflections of the water, Why do the clouds of sky, Why?
Why do the leaves of autumn, Why do the roses of the summer, Why do the songs of the spring, Why?
Why don’t they hold for me any charm, Why?
Why? Ah, why?
The smile
English translation by Liv Redpath
A certain word murmured By you is a kiss, Intimate and prolonged Like a kiss on the soul.
The lost fiancée
English translation by Liv Redpath
She is the sweet fiancée, She is the angel of kindness, She is a sundrenched afternoon, She is the wind in the flowers.
She is a pure smile like the heart of a child, She is a tall white lily, like a wing, So high in a golden vase!
O Jesus, bless her!
Her: give her your strong grace!
May she never know suffering, tears! Give her peace, Jesus!
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918)
Ariette oublieées (1885–1887)
Texts by Paul Verlaine (1844–1896)
C’est l’extase langoureuse
C’est l’extase langoureuse,
C’est la fatigue amoureuse,
C’est tous les frissons des bois
Parmi l’étreinte des brises,
C’est, vers les ramures grises,
Le chœur des petites voix.
Ô le frêle et frais murmure!
Cela gazouille et susurre,
Cela ressemble au cri doux
Que l’herbe agitée expire …
Tu dirais, sous l’eau qui vire,
Le roulis sourd des cailloux.
Cette âme qui se lamente
En cette plainte dormante
C’est la nôtre, n’est-ce pas?
La mienne, dis, et la tienne,
Dont s’exhale l’humble antienne
Par ce tiède soir, tout bas?
Il pleure dans mon cœur
Il pleure dans mon cœur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon cœur?
Ô bruit doux de la pluie
Par terre et sur les toits!
Pour un cœur qui s’ennuie
Ô le bruit de la pluie!
Il pleure sans raison
Dans ce cœur qui s’écœure.
Quoi! nulle trahison? …
Ce deuil est sans raison.
C’est bien la pire peine
De ne savoir pourquoi
Sans amour et sans haine,
Mon cœur a tant de peine.
L’ombre des arbres
L’ombre des arbres dans la rivière embrumée
Meurt comme de la fumée
Tandis qu’en l’air, parmi les ramures réelles,
Se plaignent les tourterelles.
Combien, ô voyageur, ce paysage blême
Te mira blême toi-même,
Et que tristes pleuraient dans les hautes feuillées
Tes espérances noyées!
Forgotten ariettes
English translations by Liv Redpath
It is ecstasy
It’s languorous ecstasy, It’s the fatigue of love, It’s all the shivers of the woods
Among the embraces of the breezes, It is, by the grey branches, The chorus of little voices.
O, the frail and fresh murmur, Those chirps and whispers,
That resemble the sweet cry
That waving grass exhales...
You might say, under the water that flows,
The dull roll of pebbles.
This soul that laments
In this dormant sob –
It’s ours, is it not?
Mine, say, and yours,
That exhales the humble anthem
On this warm eve, so quietly.
It weeps in my heart
It weeps in my heart
As it rains over the town; What is this languor
That penetrates my heart?
O sweet sound of the rain,
Over the fields and over the rooftops!
For a heart who grows weary,
O the sound of the rain!
It weeps without reason
In this heart that sickens.
What! No betrayal?
This grief is without reason.
It’s truly the worst pain,
To not know why,
Without love and without hatred,
My heart is in such pain.
In the shadow of the trees
The shadow of the trees in the misty river
Dies like smoke,
While in the air, among the solid branches, The turtledoves lament.
In how much, traveller, of this pale landscape
Do you see, pale, your selfsame.
And how, sadly weeping in the high leaves
Your hopes drowned.
Chevaux de bois
Tournez, tournez, bons chevaux de bois,
Tournez cent tours, tournez mille tours, Tournez souvent et tournez toujours,
Tournez, tournez au son des hautbois.
L’enfant tout rouge et la mère blanche,
Le gars en noir et la fille en rose,
L’une à la chose et l’autre à la pose,
Chacun se paie un sou de dimanche.
Tournez, tournez, chevaux de leur cœur,
Tandis qu’autour de tous vos tournois
Clignote l’œil du filou sournois,
Tournez au son du piston vainqueur!
C’est étonnant comme ça vous soûle
D’aller ainsi dans ce cirque bête:
Rien dans le ventre et mal dans la tête,
Du mal en masse et du bien en foule.
Tournez, dadas, sans qu’il soit besoin
D’user jamais de nuls éperons
Pour commander à vos galops ronds:
Tournez, tournez, sans espoir de foin.
Et dépêchez, chevaux de leur âme,
Déjà voici que sonne à la soupe
La nuit qui tombe et chasse la troupe
De gais buveurs que leur soif affame.
Tournez, tournez! Le ciel en velours
D’astres en or se vêt lentement.
L’église tinte un glas tristement.
Tournez au son joyeux des tambours!
Green
Voici des fruits, des fleurs, des feuilles et des branches
Et puis voici mon cœur qui ne bat que pour vous.
Ne le déchirez pas avec vos deux mains blanches
Et qu’à vos yeux si beaux l’humble présent soit doux.
J’arrive tout couvert encore de rosée
Que le vent du matin vient glacer à mon front.
Souffrez que ma fatigue à vos pieds reposée
Rêve des chers instants qui la délasseront.
Sur votre jeune sein laissez rouler ma tête
Toute sonore encore de vos derniers baisers;
Laissez-la s’apaiser de la bonne tempête, Et que je dorme un peu puisque vous reposez.
Spleen
Les roses étaient toutes rouges
Et les lierres étaient tout noirs.
Chère, pour peu que tu te bouges,
Renaissent tous mes désespoirs.
Le ciel était trop bleu, trop tendre,
La mer trop verte et l’air trop doux.
Je crains toujours,—ce qu’est d’attendre!—
Quelque fuite atroce de vous.
Du houx à la feuille vernie
Et du luisant buis je suis las, Et de la campagne infinie
Et de tout, fors de vous, hélas!
Horses of wood
Turn, turn, good horses of wood,
Turn a hundred times, turn a thousand times,
Turn often and turn always,
Turn, turn to the sound of the oboe.
The child blushing and the mother pale
The lad in black and the girl in pink,
One to the task and the other to the pose, Each paying their Sunday penny.
Turn, turn, horses of their hearts, While around each turn
Flashes the eye of a sneaky trickster, Turn to the sound of the conquering cornet!
It’s astonishing how it intoxicates you
To go thus to this beastly circus:
Nothing in your stomach and sick in the head, Fully uncomfortable and happy in full.
Turn, hobby horses, with no need
To use spurs
To command your gallops around:
Turn, turn, without hope of hay.
And hurry, horses of their souls, Already, here is the dinner bell.
The night that falls and chases the troupe
Of gay drinkers with their famished thirst.
Turn, turn! The sky in velvet
With golden stars is slowly dressed.
The church rings a sad knell.
Turn to the sound of joyous drums!
Green
Here are fruit, flowers, leaves and branches
And then, here, my heart that beats only for you.
Do not tear it with your two white hands,
And, to your beautiful eyes, may it be a humbly sweet gift.
I arrive still covered with dew, With the morning breeze frozen on my forehead.
Suffer my fatigue, as I lay at your feet, Dreaming of dear moments that will refresh me.
On your young breast let me rest my head
Still ringing of your last kisses; Let it calm itself after this sweet tempest, And let me sleep a little, since you are resting.
Spleen
All the roses were red
And the ivy was all black.
Dear, a little movement from you
Revives all my despairs.
The sky was too blue, too tender, The sea too green, and the air too sweet.
I fear always – awaiting
Some terrible flight from you.
Of the holly with its varnished leaves
And of the shining boxwood – I am wary –And of the infinite countryside
And of everything but you, alas!
FRANCIS POULENC (1899–1963)
Fiançailles pour rire FP 101 (1939)
Texts by Louise de Vilmorin (1902–1969)
La dame d’André
André ne connaît pas la dame
Qu’il prend aujourd’hui par la main.
A-t-elle un coeur à lendemains,
Et pour le soir a-t-elle une âme?
Au retour d’un bal campagnard
S’en allait-elle en robe vague
Chercher dans les meules la bague
Des fiancailles du hasard?
A-t-elle eu peur, la nuit venue, Guettée par les ombres d’hier,
Dans son jardin, lorsque l’hiver
Entrait par la grande avenue?
Il l’a aimée pour sa couleur,
Pour sa bonne humeur de Dimanche.
Pâlira-t-elle aux feuilles blanches
De son album des temps meilleurs?
Dans l’herbe
Je ne peux plus rien dire
Ni rien faire pour lui.
Il est mort de sa belle
Il est mort de sa mort belle
Dehors, sous l’arbre de la Loi
En plein silence
En plein paysage
Dans l’herbe.
Il est mort inaperçu
En criant son passage
En appelant, en m’appelant
Mais comme j’étais loin de lui
Et que sa voix ne portait plus Il est mort seul dans la bois
Sous son arbre d’enfance.
Et je ne peux plus rien dire
Ni rien faire pour lui.
Il vole
En allant se coucher le soleil
Se reflète au vernis de ma table :
C’est le fromage rond de la fable
Au bec de mes ciseaux de vermeil. –
Mais où est le corbeau ? – Il vole.
Je voudrais coudre mais un aimant
Attire à lui toutes mes aiguilles.
Sur la place les joueurs de quilles
De belle en belle passent le temps. –
Mais où est mon amant ? – Il vole.
C’est un voleur que j’ai pour amant,
Le corbeau vole et mon amant vole,
Voleur de cœur manque à sa parole
Et voleur de fromage est absent. –
Mais où est le bonheur ? – Il vole.
Engagements for laughing
English translations by Liv Redpath
André’s lady
André does not know the woman
Whose hand he takes today.
Has she a heart for the future
And for the evening, has she a soul?
Returning from a country dance
Did she go, in her loose dress, Searching in the haystacks
For a chance engagement?
Was she afraid upon nightfall, Ambushed by those shadows of yesterday
In her garden, when winter
Entered from the grand avenue?
He loved her for her color,
For her good humor on Sundays. Will she fade on the white pages
Of her album of better times?
In the grass
I can say no more,
Do no more for him.
He died in his beauty
He died a natural death.
Outside, beneath the tree of the Law
In full silence
In open country
In the grass.
He died unnoticed
Shouting his passing
Calling, calling me
But since I was far from him
And since his voice no longer carried He died alone in the woods
Under his tree of childhood
And I can say no more, Do no more for him.
Stealing away
As it sets, the sun
Is reflected in the polish of my table: It is the round cheese of the fable
In the beak of my vermillion scissors –But where is the crow? – stealing away.
I want to sew but a magnet
Draws all my needles.
In the square the bowlers
With game after game pass the time –But where is my love? – stealing away.
It is a thief that I have for a lover, The crow steals and my love steals, The thief of my heart breaks his word, And the cheese thief is absent. –
But where is happiness? – stealing away.
Je pleure sous le saule pleureur
Je mêle mes larmes à ses feuilles
Je pleure car je veux qu’on me veuille
Et je ne plais pas à mon voleur. –
Mais où donc est l’amour ? – Il vole.
Trouvez la rime à ma déraison
Et par les routes du paysage
Ramenez-moi mon amant volage
Qui prend les cœurs et perd ma raison.
Je veux que mon voleur me vole.
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant
Doux comme un gant de peau glacée
Et mes prunelles effacées
Font de mes yeux des cailloux blancs.
Deux cailloux blancs dans mon visage
Dans le silence deux muets
Ombrés encore d’un secret
Et lourds du poids mort des images.
Mes doigts tant de fois égarés
Sont joints en attitude sainte
Appuyés au creux de mes plaintes
Au noeud de mon coeur arrêté.
Et mes deux pieds sont des montagnes,
Les deux derniers monts que j’ai vus
À la minute où j’ai perdu
La course que les années gagnent.
Mon souvenir est ressemblant,
Enfants emportez-le bien vite,
Allez, allez, ma vie est dite.
Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant.
Violon
Couple amoureux aux accents méconnus
Le violon et son joueur me plaisent.
Ah! j’aime ces gémissements tendus
Sur la corde des malaises.
Aux accords sur les cordes des pendus
À l’heure où les Lois se taisent
Le coeur en forme de fraise
S’offre à l’amour comme un fruit inconnu.
Fleurs
Fleurs promises, fleurs tenues dans tes bras, Fleurs sorties des parenthèses d’un pas, Qui t’apportait ces fleurs l’hiver
Saupoudrées du sable des mers ?
Sable de tes baisers, fleurs des amours fanées
Les beaux yeux sont de cendre et dans la cheminée
Un coeur en rubanné de plaintes
Brûle avec ses images saintes.
I cry under the weeping willow
I mix my tears with its leaves
I cry because I want to be wanted
And am no longer enjoyed by my thief. –
But where, then, is love? – stealing away.
Find the rhyme in my nonsense
And by the country roads
Bring me back my flighty lover
Who takes hearts and loses my reason.
I want my thief to steal me.
My corpse is soft like a glove
My corpse is soft like a glove, Soft like a glove of icy skin
And my retiring pupils
Make of my eyes white pebbles.
Two white pebbles in my visage, In the silence, two mutes, Shadowed still by a secret
And heavy with the dead weight of images.
My fingers that so many times strayed
Are joined in a saintly pose
Resting on the crux of my plaints
To the north of my arrested heart.
And my two feet are the mountains,
The last two hills that I saw
At the minute when I lost
The race that the years always win.
My memory is life-like.
Children, take it away quickly, Go, go, my life is said.
My corpse is soft like a glove.
Violin
Loving couple of unknown sounds
The violin and its player please me.
Ah! I love these long moans
On the cord of discomfort.
In agreement with the chords of hanging
At the hour when Justice is silent
The heart, in the shape of a strawberry, Offers itself to love like an unknown fruit
Flowers
Promised flowers, flowers held in your arms, Flowers left in the parenthesis of a footprint, Who brought you these flowers in winter
Sprinkled with sea sand?
Sand of your kisses, flowers of loves faded
Your beautiful eyes are ash
And in the hearth
A heart beribboned in lament
Burns with these holy images.
GABRIEL FAURÉ (1845–1924)
La bonne chanson, op. 60 (1892-1894)
Texts by Paul Verlaine (1844–1896)
1. Une sainte en son auréole
Une Sainte en son auréole,
Une Châtelaine en sa tour,
Tout ce que contient la parole
Humaine de grâce et d’amour;
La note d’or que fait entendre
Un cor dans le lointain des bois, Mariée à la fierté tendre
Des nobles Dames d’autrefois;
Avec cela le charme insigne
D’un frais sourire triomphant
Éclos dans des candeurs de cygne
Et des rougeurs de femme-enfant;
Des aspects nacrés, blancs et roses,
Un doux accord patricien:
Je vois, j’entends toutes ces choses
Dans son nom Carlovingien.
2. Puisque l’aube grandit
Puisque l’aube grandit, puisque voici l’aurore, Puisque, après m’avoir fui longtemps, l’espoir veut bien
Revoler devers moi qui l’appelle et l’implore, Puisque tout ce bonheur veut bien être le mien,
Je veux, guidé par vous, beaux yeux aux flammes douces,
Par toi conduit, ô main où tremblera ma main,
Marcher droit, que ce soit par des sentiers de mousses
Ou que rocs et cailloux encombrent le chemin;
Et comme, pour bercer les lenteurs de la route,
Je chanterai des airs ingénus, je me dis
Qu’elle m’écoutera sans déplaisir sans doute;
Et vraiment je ne veux pas d’autre Paradis.
3. La lune blanche
La lune blanche
Luit dans les bois;
De chaque branche
Part une voix
Sous la ramée...
Ô bien aimée.
L’étang reflète, Profond miroir, La silhouette
Du saule noir
Où le vent pleure...
Rêvons, c’est l’heure.
Un vaste et tendre
Apaisement
Semble descendre
Du firmament
Que l’astre irise...
C’est l’heure exquise.
The good song English translations by Richard Stokes
1. A Saint in her halo
A Saint in her halo, A Châtelaine in her tower, All that human words contain Of grace and love;
The golden note of a horn In forests far away, Blended with the tender pride Of noble Ladies of long ago; And then – the rare charm Of fresh, triumphant smile, Flowering in swan-like innocence And the blushes of a child-bride;
A nacreous sheen of white and pink, A sweet patrician harmonyAll these things I see and hear In her Carolingian name.
2. Since day is breaking
Since day is breaking, since dawn is here, Since hope, having long eluded me, would now Return to me and my imploring, Since all this happiness will truly be mine.
I shall, guided by your fair eyes’ gentle glow, Led by your hand in which I place my trembling hand, Walk straight ahead, on mossy paths Or boulder-strewn and stony tracks.
And while, to ease the journey’s languid pace, I shall sing some simple airs, I tell myself That she will surely hear me without displeasure; And truly I crave no other paradise.
3. The white moon
The white moon Gleams in the woods; From every branch There comes a voice Beneath the boughs...
O my beloved.
The pool reflects, Deep mirror, The silhouette Of the black willow
Where the wind is weeping...
Let us dream, it is the hour.
A vast and tender Consolation Seems to fall From the sky
The moon illumines... Exquisite hour.
4. J’allais par des chemins perfides
J’allais par les chemins perfides, Douloureusement incertain.
Vos chères mains furent mes guides.
Si pâle à l’horizon lointain
Luisait un faible espoir d’aurore;
Votre regard fut le matin.
Nul bruit, sinon son pas sonore, N’encourageait le voyageur.
Votre voix me dit: “Marche encore!”
Mon coeur craintif, mon sombre coeur
Pleurait, seul, sur la triste voie; L’amour, délicieux vainqueur,
Nous a réunis dans la joie.
5. J’ai presque peur, en vérité
J’ai presque peur, en vérité
Tant je sens ma vie enlacée
A la radieuse pensée
Qui m’a pris l’âme l’autre été,
Tant votre image, à jamais chère, Habite en ce coeur tout à vous,
Ce coeur uniquement jaloux
De vous aimer et de vous plaire ;
Et je tremble, pardonnez-moi
D’aussi franchement vous le dire, À penser qu’un mot, qu’un sourire
De vous est désormais ma loi,
Et qu’il vous suffirait d’un geste,
D’une parole ou d’un clin d’oeil, Pour mettre tout mon être en deuil
De son illusion céleste.
Mais plutôt je ne veux vous voir, L’avenir dût-il m’être sombre
Et fécond en peines sans nombre, Qu’à travers un immense espoir,
Plongé dans ce bonheur suprême
De me dire encore et toujours,
En dépit des mornes retours,
Que je vous aime, que je t’aime!
6. Avant que tu ne t’en ailles
Avant que tu ne t’en ailles,
Pâle étoile du matin
– Mille cailles
Chantent, chantent dans le thym. –
Tourne devers le poète
Dont les yeux sont pleins d’amour;
– L’alouette
Monte au ciel avec le jour. –
Tourne ton regard que noie
L’aurore dans son azur;
– Quelle joie
Parmi les champs de blé mûr! –
Puis fais luire ma pensée
Là-bas - bien loin, oh, bien loin !
– La rosée
4. I walked along treacherous ways
I walked along treacherous ways, Painfully uncertain. Your dear hands guided me.
So pale on the far horizon
A faint hope of dawn was gleaming; Your gaze was the morning. No sound, save his own footfall, Encouraged the traveller. Your voice said: ‘Walk on!’
My fearful heart, my heavy heart, Wept, lonely along the sad road; Love, that charming conqueror, Has united us in joy.
5. In truth, I am almost afraid
In truth, I am almost afraid, So much do I feel my life bound up
With the radiant thoughts
That captured my soul last summer, So deeply does your ever-dear image Inhabit this heart that is wholly yours, This heart, whose sole desire Is to love you and please you.
And I tremble, forgive me For telling you so frankly, To think that one word, one smile From you is henceforth law to me,
And that one gesture would suffice, One word, one single glance, To plunge my whole being in mourning From its heavenly illusion.
But I would sooner not see youHowever dark the future might be And full of untold griefCould I not, through an immense hope, Immersed in this supreme happiness, Repeat to myself again and again, Despite bleak reversals, That I love you, I love thee!
6. Before you fade
Before you fade, Pale morning star, – A thousand quail
Are singing, singing in the thyme. –
Turn to the poet
Whose eyes are full of love, – The lark
Soars heavenward with the day. –
Turn your gaze drowned In the blue of dawn; – What delight
Among the fields of ripened corn! –And make my thoughts gleam Yonder, far, ah far away!
– The dew
Gaîment brille sur le foin. –
Dans le doux rêve où s’agite
Ma mie endormie encor...
– Vite, vite, Car voici le soleil d’or. –
7. Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été
Donc, ce sera par un clair jour d’été
Le grand soleil, complice de ma joie, Fera, parmi le satin et la soie, Plus belle encor votre chère beauté;
Le ciel tout bleu, comme une haute tente, Frissonnera somptueux à longs plis
Sur nos deux fronts qu’auront pâlis
L’émotion du bonheur et l’attente;
Et quand le soir viendra, l’air sera doux Qui se jouera, caressant, dans vos voiles, Et les regards paisibles des étoiles
Bienveillamment souriront aux époux.
8. N’est-ce pas?
N’est-ce pas? nous irons gais et lents, dans la voie
Modeste que nous montre en souriant l’Espoir,
Peu soucieux qu’on nous ignore ou qu’on nous voie.
Isolés dans l’amour ainsi qu’en un bois noir, Nos deux cœurs, exhalant leur tendresse paisible, Seront deux rossignols qui chantent dans le soir.
Sans nous préoccuper de ce que nous destine
Le Sort, nous marcherons pourtant du même pas, Et la main dans la main, avec l’âme enfantine.
De ceux qui s’aiment sans mélange, n’est-ce pas?
9. L’hiver a cessé
L’hiver a cessé : la lumière est tiède
Et danse, du sol au firmament clair.
Il faut que le coeur le plus triste cède À l’immense joie éparse dans l’air.
J’ai depuis un an le printemps dans l’âme
Et le vert retour du doux floréal,
Ainsi qu’une flamme entoure une flamme, Met de l’idéal sur mon idéal.
Le ciel bleu prolonge, exhausse et couronne
L’immuable azur où rit mon amour
La saison est belle et ma part est bonne
Et tous mes espoirs ont enfin leur tour.
Que vienne l’été ! Que viennent encore
L’automne et l’hiver ! Et chaque saison
Me sera charmante, ô Toi que décore
Cette fantaisie et cette raison !
Glints brightly on the hay. –
Into the sweet dream where still asleep
My love is stirring...
– Make haste, make haste, For here’s the golden sun. –
7. So, on a bright summer day it shall be
So, on a bright summer day it shall be:
The great sun, my partner in joy, Shall make, amid the satin and the silk, Your dear beauty lovelier still;
The sky, all blue, like a tall canopy, Shall quiver sumptuously in the long folds
Above our two happy brows, grown pale With pleasure and expectancy;
And when evening comes, the breeze shall be soft And play caressingly about your veils, And the peaceful stars looking down Shall smile benevolently on man and wife.
8. Is it not so?
Is it not so? Happy and unhurried we’ll follow The modest path where Hope directs us with a smile, Little caring if we are neither known nor seen.
Isolated in love as in a dark wood, Our two hearts, breathing gentle love, Shall be two nightingales singing at evening.
With no though of what Destiny
Has in store, we shall walk along together, Hand in hand our souls like those of children Whose love is unalloyed, is that not so?
9. Winter is over
Winter is over, the light is soft And dances up from the earth to the clear sky. The saddest heart must surrender To the great joy that fills the air.
For a year I have had spring in my soul, And the green return of sweet May, Like flame encircling flame, Adds an ideal to my ideal.
The blue sky prolongs, heightens, and crowns the steadfast azure where my love smiles. The season is fair and my lot is happy And all my hopes are at last fulfilled.
Let summer come! Let autumn And winter come too! Each season Will delight me, O you graced with Imagination and good sense!
FRANCIS POULENC (1899–1963)
Trois poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin FP 91 (1937)
Texts by Louise de Vilmorin (1902–1969)
1. Le garçon de Liège
Un garçon de conte de fée
M’a fait un grand salut bourgeois, En plein vent, au bord d’une allée, Debout, sous l’arbre de la Loi.
Les oiseaux d’arrière saison
Faisaient des leurs, malgré la pluie, Et prise par ma déraison, J’osai lui dir: Je m’ennuie.
Sans dire un doux mot de menteur, Le soir, dans ma chambre à tristesse, Il vint consoler ma pâleur. Son ombre me fit des promesses.
Mais c’était un garçon de Liège, Léger, léger comme le vent, Qui ne se prend à aucun piège
Et court les plaines du beau temps.
Et dans ma chemise de nuit,
Depuis lors, quand je voudrais rire
Ah! Beau jeune homme, je m’ennuie, Ah! Dans ma chemise à mourir.
2. Au-delà
Eau-de-vie! Au-delà! à l’heure du plaisir,
Choisir n’est pas trahir, Je choisis celui-là.
Je choisis celui-là
Qui sait me faire rire,
D’un doigt de-ci, de-là, Comme on fait pour écrire. Comme on fait pour écrire
Il va par-ci, par-là, Sans que j’ose lui dire, J’aime bien ce jeu-là.
J’aime bien ce jeu-là, Qu’un souffle fait finir, Jusqu’au dernier soupir, Je choisis ce jeu-là.
Eau-de-vie! Au-delà! à l’heure du plaisir, Choisir n’est pas trahir, Je choisis celui-là.
Three poems from Louise de Vilmorin English translations by Liv Redpath
1. The boy from Liège
A fairytale boy
Gave me a grand bourgeois bow In the open air, at the edge of an alley, Standing under the tree of Justice.
The late autumn birds
Kept busy, despite the rain, And, seized by my foolishness, I said to him: I am bored.
Without a word of deceit
In the evening, in my room of sadness, He came to console my pallor. His shadow made promises. But he was a boy of Liège, Light, light as the wind, Who would be caught in no trap And roams the plains in good weather.
And in my nightshirt, After that, when I wish to laugh, Ah! Lovely man, I am bored, Ah! In my shirt, to death.
2. Beyond
Water of life! Beyond! At the hour of pleasure, To choose is not to betray, I choose that one.
I choose that one Who knows how to make me laugh, With a finger here, there, As one writes.
As when one writes It goes here, there, Without me daring to say: I love this game.
I love this game
That a single breath ends, Until the last sigh I choose this game.
Water of life! Beyond! At the hour of pleasure, To choose is not to betray, I choose that one.
3. Aux officiers de la garde blanche
Officiers de la garde blanche,
Gardez-moi de certaines pensées, la nuit.
Gardez-moi des corps à corps et de l’appui
D’une main sur ma hanche.
Gardez-moi surtout de lui
Qui par la manche m’entraîne
Vers le hasard des mains pleines
Et les ailleurs d’eau qui luit.
Epargnez-moi les tourments en tourmente
De l’aimer un jour plus qu’aujourd’hui
Et la froide moiteur des attentes
Qui presseront aux vitres et aux portes
Mon profil de dame déjà morte.
Officiers de la garde blanche,
Je ne veux pas pleurer pour lui sur terre.
Je veux pleurer en pluie,
Sur sa terre sur son astre orné de buis
Lorsque plus tard je planerai, transparente,
Au-dessus des cent pas d’ennui.
Officiers des consciences pures,
Vous qui faites les visages beaux,
Confiez dans l’espace, au vol des oiseaux, Un message pour les chercheurs de mesures
Et forgez pour nous des chaînes sans anneaux.
3. To the Officers of the White Guard
Officers of the white guard
Protect me from certain thoughts at night.
Protect me from sparring matches and the pressl
Of a hand on my hip.
Protect me above all from he
Who pulls me by the sleeve
Towards the chance of full hands
And elsewheres of shining water.
Spare me the torments on torment
Of loving, one day, more than today
And the cold damp of awaiting,
Which will press into the windows and doors
My profile of a woman already dead.
Officers of the white guard
I do not wish to cry for him on earth, I wish to cry in the rain
On his land over his star ornamented with boxwood
When later I will soar, transparent,
Above the hundred steps of ennui.
Officers of pure conscience
You who make faces beautiful, Entrust to the space where birds fly
A message for the seekers of measurement,
And forge for us chains without links.
La dame de Monte Carlo FP 180 (1961)
Text by Jean Cocteau (1899–1963)
Quand on est morte entre les mortes,
Qu’on se traîne chez les vivants
Lorsque tout vous flanque à la porte
Et la ferme d’un coup de vent,
Ne plus être jeune et aimée …
Derrière une porte fermée,
Il reste de se fiche à l’eau
Ou d’acheter un rigolo.
Oui, messieurs, voilà ce qui reste
Pour les lâches et les salauds.
Mais si la frousse de ce geste
S’attache à vous comme un grelot –
Si l’on craint de s’ouvrir les veines,
On peut toujours risquer la veine
D’un voyage à Monte-Carlo.
Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo.
J’ai fini ma journée.
Je veux dormir au fond de l’eau de la Mediterranée.
Après avoir vendu à votre âme
Et mis en gage des bijoux
Que jamais plus on ne réclame,
La roulette est un beau joujou.
C’est joli de dire: “je joue”.
Cela vous met le feu aux joues
Et cela vous allume l’œil.
The lady of Monte-Carlo English translation by Liv Redpath
When one is dead among the dead,
And when one drags among the living –When everything kicks you out the door, And shuts it with a gust of wind, No longer young and loved…
Behind a closed door,
Nothing remains but to throw oneself in the water
Or buy a pistol.
Yes, sirs, that’s what’s left
For the cowards and the bastards.
But if the dread of this act, Clings to you like a bell –If one fears to open their veins, One can always risk their luck
On a trip to Monte Carlo.
Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo.
I’ve finished my journey.
I want to sleep on the bottom of the Mediterranean.
Having sold your soul
And pawned the jewels
That one will never reclaim,
Roulette is a pretty toy.
It’s lovely to say: “I gamble.”
It sets your cheeks ablaze
And that sets your eyes twinkling.
Sous les jolis voiles de deuil
On porte un joli nom de veuve. Un titre donne de l’orgueil!
Et folie, et prête, et toute neuve,
On prend sa carte au casino.
Voyez mes plumes et mes voiles, Contemplez les strass de l’étoile
Qui mène à Monte-Carlo.
La chance est femme.
Elle est jalouse
De ces veuvages solennels.
Sans doute ell’ m’a cru l’épouse
D’un véritable colonel.
J’ai gagné, gagné sur le douze.
Et puis les robes se décousent, La fourrure perd des cheveux.
On a beau répéter: “Je veux”, Dès que la chance vous déteste,
Dès que votre cœur est nerveux, Vous ne pouvez plus faire un geste, Pousser un sou sur le tableau
Sans que la chance qui s’écarte
Change les chiffres et les cartes
Des tables de Monte-Carlo.
Les voyous, le buses, les gales !
Ils m’ont mise dehors … dehors …
Et ils m’accusent d’être sale,
De porter malheur dans leurs salles,
Dans leurs sales salles en stuc.
Moi qui aurais donné mon truc
À l’œil, au prince, à la princesse,
Au Duc de Westminster,
Au Duc, Parfaitement.
Faut que ça cesse,
Qu’ils me criaient, votre boulot ! Votre boulot ? ...
Ma découverte.
J’en priverai les tables vertes.
C’est bien fait pour Monte-Carlo.
Monte-Carlo.
Et maintenant, moi qui vous parle,
Je n’avouerai pas les kilos que j’ai perdus à Monte-Carle, Monte-Carle, ou Monte-Carlo.
Je suis une ombre de moi-même ...
Les martingales, les systèmes
Et les croupiers qui ont le droit
De taper de loin sur vos doigts
Quand on peut faucher une mise.
Et la pension où l’on doit
Et toujours la même chemise
Que l’angoisse trempe dans l’eau.
Ils peuvent courir. Pas si bête.
Cette nuit je pique une tête
Dans la mer de Monte-Carlo.
Monte-Carlo.
Under the pretty veils of mourning
One takes a fine widow’s name. A title gives you pride! And crazed, and ready, and entirely new, One takes out their casino card.
See my feathers and veils, Gaze upon the sequins in the star That leads me to Monte Carlo.
Chance is a woman.
She is jealous
Of this solemn widowhood.
No doubt she believed me the wife Of a veritable colonel.
I have won – won on the twelve!
And then the dresses come unstitched, The fur loses its hair.
As much as one repeats: “I want,” As soon as luck hates you, As soon as your heart is nervous, You can’t make another move – push a coin onto the table –Without chance who turns aside, Changing the numbers and the cards On the tables of Monte Carlo.
The thugs, the idiots, the scabs! They threw me out – out –And accused me of being dirty, Of bringing misfortune on their halls, On their dirty halls of stucco.
Me, who would have given my trick Of eye to the prince, to the princess, To the Duke of Westminster, To the Duke, absolutely.
This has to stop, They yelled at me, your business! Your business…!
My discovery.
I’ll deprive the green tables of it. It’ll serve Monte Carlo right. Monte Carlo.
And now, I who speak to you, I won’t confess the kilos I’ve lost in Monte Carle, Monte Carle or Monte Carlo.
I am a shadow of myself … The martingales, the systems, And the croupiers who have the right To rap your knuckles
When you’re about to pinch the stake. And the boarding house where you owe And always the same shirt
That anxiety drenches in water.
They can chase. I’m not so stupid. Tonight I will dive head first Into the sea of Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo.
ABOUT THE RECITAL SERIES
Park Avenue Armory presents more intimate performances and programs in its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe in an intimate salon setting. Founded in 2013, the series has held the debuts of many world-class artists, including: the North American recital debuts of pianist Igor Levit, soprano Sabine Devieilhe, tenors Ilker Arcayürek and Allan Clayton, baritones Benjamin Appl, Roderick Williams, and Konstantin Krimmel, clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer, and cellist István Várdai; the North American solo recital debuts of tenors Michael Spyres and Pene Pati and mezzo soprano Emily D’Angelo; the US Recital debuts of sopranos Barbara Hannigan and Anna Lucia Richter and baritone Thomas Oliemans; and the New York debuts of pianist Severin von Eckardstein and the Dudok Quartet Amsterdam
The Recital Series has programmed the world premieres of: Roger Reynolds’ FLiGHT, performed by the JACK Quartet; Michael Hersch’s “…das Rückgrat berstend,” performed by violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and cellist Jay Campbell; and Chris Cerrone’s Ode to Joy, performed by Sandbox Percussion and commissioned by the Armory. Actor Charlotte Rampling and cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton gave the US premiere of The Night Dances on the series in 2015, which brought together Benjamin Britten’s suites for solo cello and poetry by Sylvia Plath; Wieder-Atherton returned to the Armory in 2017 for the North American premiere of Little Girl Blue, a program that reimagined the music of Nina Simone. New York premieres include: Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s In the Light of Air and Shades of Silence performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble; Dai Kujikura’s Minina, John Zorn’s Baudelaires, and a new arrangement of Messiaen’s Chants de terre et de ciel, also performed by ICE; Michael Gordon’s Rushes performed by the Rushes Ensemble; Michael Harrison’s Just Constellations performed by Roomful of Teeth; David Lang’s depart, Gabriel Jackson’s Our flags are wafting in hope and grief and Rigwreck, Kile Smith’s “Conversation in the Mountains” from Where Flames A Word, Louis Andriessen’s Ahania Weeping, Suzanne Giraud’s Johannisbaum, David Shapiro’s Sumptuous Planet, Benjamin CS Boyle’s Empire of Crystal, and Ted Hearne’s Animals (commis-
NEXT IN THE SERIES
CARLO VISTOLI & GIULIO ZAPPA
SEPTEMBER 10 & 12
NORTH AMERICAN RECITAL DEBUT
Since his early days in William Christie’s Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants, Italian singer Carlo Vistoli has carved out a place for himself in the small world of countertenors. Get to know the powerful projection and careful phrasing of this star on the rise when he makes his North American recital debut with a program of arias, art songs, and lieder in the most personal of settings—the Board of Officers Room.
sioned by Park Avenue Armory), all performed by The Crossing under conductor Donald Nally; John Zorn’s Jumalattaret sung by soprano Barbara Hannigan with pianist Stephen Gosling; Viet Cuong’s Next Week’s Trees, performed by Sandbox Percussion; and the Armory-commissioned work daisy by David Lang, performed by the Attacca Quartet.
Additional notable programs include performances by: baritone Christian Gerhaher with pianist Gerold Huber; the Flux Quartet; tenor Ian Bostridge with pianist Wenwen Du; pianist David Fray; soprano Lisette Oropesa with pianist John Churchwell; countertenor Andreas Scholl with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin; soprano Kate Royal with pianist Joseph Middleton; pipa player Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet; tenor Lawrence Brownlee with pianists Myra Huang and Jason Moran; mezzo soprano Isabel Leonard with pianist Ted Sperling; soprano Nadine Sierra with pianist Brian Wagorn; soprano Rosa Feola with pianist Iain Burnside; cellist Nicolas Altstaedt; tenor Paul Appleby with pianist Conor Hanick; baritone Will Liverman with pianist Myra Huang; mezzo soprano Jamie Barton with pianist and composer Jake Heggie; new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound; French period choir and chamber orchestra Ensemble Correspondances under the direction of harpsichordist and organist Sébastien Daucé; baritone Justin Austin and pianist Howard Watkins; soprano Ying Fang with pianist Ken Noda; baritone Stéphane Degout with pianist Cédric Tiberghien; pianist Pavel Kolesnikov in a two-night residency featuring Bach’s Goldberg Variations and a program entitles Celestial Navigation, inspired by Joseph Cornell’s orrery of the same name; soprano Julia Bullock with pianist John Arida; mezzo soprano Kate Lindsey with pianist Justina Lee; soprano Jeanine de Bique with pianist Warren Jones; tenor Matthew Polenzani with pianist Ken Noda; soprano Leah Hawkins with pianist Kevin Miller; tenor Karim Sulayman with guitarist Sean Shibe; soprano Barbara Hannigan with pianist Bertrand Chamayou; soprano Erin Morley and pianist Gerald Martin Moore; pianist Jeremy Denk; and mezzo soprano Sasha Cooke and pianist Myra Huang
BEN BLISS & CHRISTOPHER ALLEN
OCTOBER 9 & 11
Master Mozartean Ben Bliss has conquered stages from the Metropolitan Opera to Vienna, Barcelona, and Paris—not to mention being the recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Beverly Sills Award as well as other accolades. He comes to the Board of Officers Room to showcase his honeyed, lyric voice and warm, luminous timbre in an intimate evening of arias and art songs.
NEXT AT THE ARMORY
CLINAMEN
JUNE 10 – AUGUST 2
Acclaimed artist, musician, and composer Céleste Boursier-Mougenot presents the largest iteration to date of his ongoing aquatic and musical installation, featuring a series of circular basins filled with water in which ordinary ceramic bowls float and gently collide to produce melodious chiming sounds. These physical and sonic configurations are constantly changing, creating a bespoke auditory experience that invites audiences to contemplate time and sound as both individual and collective experiences.
NORTH
AMERICAN PREMIERE THE CHERRY ORCHARD
SEPTEMBER 14 – 25
The award-winning director and dramatist Simon Stone returns to the Armory with his radical adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s final play about a family in crisis. Reimagined in modern-day South Korea and brought to life in a transparent glass house by an all-Korean cast including Haesoo Park, this tragicomedy offers audiences a voyeuristic view into the characters’ private lives as they navigate change and domestic conflict.
MUSIC FOR 18 MUSICIANS: STAGED VARIATIONS
OCTOBER 14 – 18
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its premiere and the 90th birthday of composer Steve Reich, this masterpiece is staged in a durational cycle by enveloping audiences to reveal the intricate structure of the composition, performed by three generations of musicians including the Steve Reich Ensemble and Alarm Will Sound under the baton of Alan Pierson with connective interludes by special guests to hear the iconic composition anew and from within.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE A PARK AVENUE ARMORY COMMISSION
BALKAN EROTIC EPIC
DECEMBER 8 – 20
Visionary performance artist Marina Abramović returns to the Armory to realize her largest-scale performance work to date, combining dance, song, and ritual to experience dramatic adaptations of Balkan mythology and folklore enacted by a cast of 50 performers. The durational work merges traditional elements of performance with sensuality and eroticism, removing modern taboos to reclaim the body as a site of power, mystery, and transformation.
ARTISTS STUDIO
JOY
GUIDRY
JUNE 3 & 4
Joy Guidry is a celebrated artist in the experimental and avant-garde music spaces, representing a convergence of sound, spirit, and radical self-expression. This multifaceted artist comes to the Veterans Room to create a ruminative performance in the spirit of a Southern church revival and based on her ambient album Five Prayers, reimagining it into movements based on different themes of Black American spirituality and artistic expression ranging from jazz and minimalism to opera, ballet, blues, and gospel.
RAVEN CHACON
OCTOBER 7 & 8
Raven Chacon is a composer, performer, and visual artist who has developed a practice that connects Diné (Navajo) worldviews and relationship models with Western classical, avant-garde, and art-music traditions. This MacArthur Fellow and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music showcases his unique artistry when he comes to the Veterans Room to create a new work that cuts across boundaries of visual art and performance in his ongoing illumination of landscapes, their inhabitants, and histories.
IONE
OCTOBER 20
& 21
An author, playwright, director, and dream specialist, IONE is also a noted sound artist who with her late partner Pauline Oliveros redefined the boundaries of music making in the development of experimental and electronic art music. She returns to the Veterans Room to lead a deep listening exercise—Listening with Dreams with artistic collaborators to explore the difference between the involuntary and voluntary natures of hearing and the selective nature of listening through movement, and interactive sonic meditations.
MAKING SPACE AT THE ARMORY
UNSCRIPTED: LIVE FROM THE ARMORY JUNE 6
The Fall of the City by Archibald MacLeish was the first American verse play for radio and was broadcast live from the Armory in 1937, featuring a then unknown Orson Welles. Inspired by the premiere of the radio play new art form, this meetup gathers podcasters before an Armory audience to record episodes for their series on topics related to science and credulity, confidence and conspiracy, and the power of storytelling. Participants include Randy Cohen (Person, Place, Thing), Ramzi Fawaz (Nerd from the Future), and Karen Tongson (The Art of Grief).
VOICES RISING: KOREAN DIASPORA VOICES IN PERFORMANCE SEPTEMBER 24
This convening of company members from The Cherry Orchard and others reflects on Korean and Korean-American diasporas that have shaped the evolution of Asian American theater and performance. The conversation considers how Korean artists are influencing US culture—from the global reach of K-pop and K-drama to the vitality of the contemporary stage—while carrying forward deep artistic traditions. Presented in partnership with the Serica Initiative
NOW IS THE TIME: ARTISTS GO TO WORK – PART II OCTOBER 3 & 4
Following the public discussion in Part I earlier in the season, this two-day gathering in the year-long reckoning showcases the fruits of collaborative work on what remains unfinished in American democracy. Audiences are invited to attend keynote conversations, artist salons, open studios, intimate performances, and interactive workshops held in the Armory’s historic rooms. Presented in partnership with the Toni Morrison Foundation | National Arts Atelier
ABOUT PARK AVENUE ARMORY
Part palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory supports unconventional works in the performing and visual arts that cannot be fully realized in a traditional proscenium theater, concert hall, or white wall gallery. With its soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall—reminiscent of 19th-century European train stations—and an array of exuberant period rooms, the Armory provides a platform for artists to push the boundaries of their practice, collaborate across disciplines, and create new work in dialogue with the historic building. Across its grand and intimate spaces, the Armory enables a diverse range of artists to create, students to explore, and audiences to experience epic, adventurous, relevant work that cannot be done elsewhere in New York.
The Armory both commissions and presents performances and installations in the grand Drill Hall and offers more intimate programming through its acclaimed Recital Series, which showcases musical talent from across the globe within the salon setting of the Board of Officers Room; its Artists Studio series curated by Jason Moran in the restored Veterans Room; Making Space at the Armory, a public programming series that brings together a discipline-spanning group of artists and cultural thought-leaders around the important issues of our time; and the Malkin Lecture
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chairman Emeritus
Series that features presentations by scholars and writers on topics related to the Armory and its history. In addition, the Armory also has a year-round Artists-in-Residence program, providing space and support for artists to create new work and expand their practices.
The Armory’s creativity-based arts education programs provide access to the arts to thousands of students from underserved New York City public schools, engaging them with the institution’s artistic programming and outside-the-box creative processes. Through its education initiatives, the Armory provides access to all Drill Hall performances, workshops taught by Master Teaching Artists, and in-depth residencies that support the schools’ curriculum. Youth Corps, the Armory’s year-round paid internship program, begins in high school and continues into the critical post-high school years, providing interns with mentored employment, job training, and skill development, as well as a network of peers and mentors to support their individual college and career goals.
The Armory is undergoing a multi-phase renovation and restoration of its historic building led by architects Herzog & de Meuron, with Platt Byard Dovell White as Executive Architects.
Edward G. Klein, Brigadier General
(Ret.)
Avant-Garde Chair
Adrienne Katz
Directors Emeriti
M. Bains Angela E. Thompson*
Wade F.B. Thompson* Founding Chairman, 2000-2009
Deborah Warner
Anita K. Hersh Artistic Director *In memoriam
PARK AVENUE ARMORY STAFF
Rebecca Robertson Adam R. Flatto Founding President and Executive Producer
Deborah Warner Anita K. Hersh Artistic Director
ARTISTIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING
Michael Lonergan Senior Vice President and Chief Artistic Producer
Chris Greiner General Manager
Rachel Rosado Producer
Samantha Cortez Producer
Darian Suggs Associate Director, Public Programming
Kanako Morita Company Manager/Associate Producer
Oscar Peña Programming Coordinator
ARTISTIC PRODUCTION
Paul E. King Director of Production
Claire Marberg Deputy Director of Production
Nicholas Lazzaro Technical Director
Lars Nelson Technical Director
Maciej Lewandowski Technical Director
Rachel Baumann Assistant Production Manager ARTS EDUCATION
Cassidy L. Jones Anita K. Hersh Chief Education Officer
Monica Weigel McCarthy Director of Education
Naima Warden Associate Director of School Programs
Biviana Sanchez School Programs Manager
Nadia Parfait Education Programs Manager
Ciara Ward Associate Director of Youth Corps
Bev Vega Youth Corps Manager
Milen Yimer Youth Corps Coordinator
Drew Petersen Education Special Projects Manager
Emily Bruner, Donna Costello, Alberto Denis, Alexander Davis, Asma Feyijinmi, Shar Galarza, Hawley Hussey, Larry Jackson, Drew Petersen, Leigh Poulos, Neil Tyrone Pritchard, Bairon Reyes Luna, Vickie Tanner, Jono Waldman Teaching Artists
Daniel Gomez, Nancy K. Gomez, Maxim Ibadov, sunyoung kim, Amo Ortiz Teaching Associates
Arabia Elliot Currence, Sebastian Harris, Oscar Montenegro, Adriana Taboada Teaching Assistants
Felipe Aguirre, Eden Battice, Terry Beaupierre, Zeinebou Dia, Azrael Hernandez, Nephthali Mathieu, Elijah Tejeda, AJ Volkov Youth Corps Advisory Board
Andrew Duer, Annalisa Fortune, Lolo Iberle, Alan Munoz, Elijah Tejeda, Brianna Trivino Post High School Advanced Interns
Justin Amesquita, Medina Anthony, Joaquin Berrio, Julia Childress, Viviana Collado, Noel Conde, Mya Diaz, Alix Francois, John Guzman, Tatiana Hayes, Jahrye Jalloh, AJ Mayorquin, Jacelyn Melendez, Aldahir Morales, Cheyenne Orr, Ayden Rivera, Dante Serpa, Ousmane Tirera High School Youth Corps
BUILDING OPERATIONS
Marc Von Braunsberg Chief of Building Operations
Samuel Denitz Director of Facilities
Xavier Everett Security/Operations Manager
Williams Say Superintendent
Olga Cruz, Leandro Dasso, Mayra DeLeon, Jeferson Avila, Felipe Calle, Edwin Fell, Jonathan Mays, Tyrell Shannon Castillo Maintenance Staff
Jason Moran Curator, Artists Studio
Tavia Nyong’o Curator, Public Programming and Scholar-in-Residence
DEVELOPMENT
Patrick Galvin Chief Development Officer
Caity Miret Executive Assistant to the Chief Development Officer
Jessica Pomeroy Rocca Director of Individual Giving
Georgia Catechis Individual Giving Coordinator
Hans Rasch Manager of Institutional Giving
Margaret Breed Director of Special Events
Séverine Kaufman Manager of Special Events
Michael Buffer Director of Database and Development Operations
Maeghan Suzik Manager of Development Operations
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Lori Nelson Executive Assistant to the President
Nathalie Etienne Administrative Assistant, President’s Office
Simone Elhart Rentals and Project Manager
FINANCE, HR, AND IT
Philip Lee Controller
Khemraj Dat Accounting Manager
Zeinebou Dia Junior Accountant
Neil Acharya Human Resources Manager
MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS, AND AUDIENCE SERVICES
Tom Trayer Chief Marketing Officer
Nick Yarbrough Associate Director of Digital Marketing
Dileiny Cruz Digital Marketing Coordinator
Allison Abbott Senior Press and Editorial Manager
Mark Ho-Kane Graphic Designer
Joe Petrowski Director of Ticketing and Customer Relations
Monica Diaz Box Office Manager
John Alden Hooper Assistant Box Office Manager
Ester Teixeira Vianna Box Office Lead
Victor Daniel Ayala, Fiona Garner, Sylvie Goodblatt, Sarah Jack, Matthew Kamen, Emma Komisar, Michelle Meged, Caleb Moreno, Arriah Ratanapan, Annie Sauerburger, Dylin Taylor, Isabel Velasquez
Box Office Associates
Caitlin O’Keefe, Anne Wolff Tour Guides
Natasha Michele Norton Director of House Management
Clayton McInerney, Kimberly Chatterjee, Nancy Gill Sanchez, Rachel Carmona House Managers
Becky Ho, Cody Castro, Kyle McClellan, Neda Yeganeh Assistant House Managers
Adonai Fletcher-Jones, Aerika Gabbin, Aiyana Greene, Alaysia Duncan, Beth Miller, Billie Martineau, Blue Price, Carolyn Best, Christina Johns, Christine Lemme, Daniela Mendoza-Diaz, Denise Williams, Eboni Greene, Edwin Adkins, Eileen Rourke, Elijah Tejeda, Eliza Goldsteen, Emmett Pryor, Felipe Aguirre, Grace Mannenbach, Glori Ortiz, Hector Rivera, Hillary Ramirez Perez, John Summers, Kathleen Rodriguez, Kathleen White, Kin Tam, Lana Hankinson, Mae Cote, Maria Inkateshta, Mariel Mercedes, Mathew Tom, Melina Jorge, MJ Ryerson, Myren Mandap, Naomi Santos, Nico Raimont, Regina Pearsall, Sandra Kitt, Sarah Gallick, Shannon Wallace, Tess Kondratiev, Yao Adja, Zulay Calamari Ushers
Resnicow + Associates Press Representatives
PRODUCTION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Sarah Billinghurst Solomon, Matthew Epstein Consultants for Vocal Recitals Steinway & Sons
JOIN THE ARMORY
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE STARTING AT $2,500
Chairman’s Circle members provide vital support for the Armory’s immersive arts and education programming and the restoration of our landmark building, and receive unparalleled access to the Armory, including exclusive experiences and intimate engagements with our world-class artists.
AVANT GARDE STARTING AT $350
The Avant Garde is a dynamic group for adventurous art enthusiasts in their 20s to early 40s. Members enjoy an intimate look at Armory productions, as well as exclusive invitations to forward-thinking art events around New York City.
Become a Park Avenue Armory member and join us in our mission to present unconventional works that cannot be fully realized elsewhere in New York City. Members play an important role in helping us push the boundaries of creativity and expression and enjoy the following exclusive benefits. For
ARTISTIC COUNCIL
The Artistic Council is a leadership group that champions and supports groundbreaking “only at the Armory” productions.
Chair
Lisa Miller
Abigail and Joseph Baratta
Blavatnik Family Foundation ♦
Jeanne-Marie Champagne
John Chao and Leah Ogawa
Sasha Cutter and Aaron Hsu
Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort
Caroline and Paul Cronson
Jessie Ding and Ning Jin
Misook Doolittle ♦
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
The Lehoczky Escobar Family
Adam and Abigail Flatto
Ella Foshay
Robin Fowler ♦
Roberta Garza and Roberto Mendoza
Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy
Barbara and Peter Georgescu
Joan Granlund ♦
LEGACY CIRCLE
Kim and Jeff Greenberg Lawrence and Sharon Hite
Samhita and Ignacio Jayanti
Wendy Keys
Irene Kohn
Fernand Lamesch
Almudena and Pablo Legorreta
Christina and Alan MacDonald
Andrew Martin-Weber and Beejan Land ♦
John N. and Lisa S. Miller ♦
Emmanuel and Kathryn Morlet
Steven Neckman and Larry Rivero
Valerie Pels
Susan Pernick
Slobodan Randjelović and Jon Stryker ♦
Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel
Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas
Thomas Rom
Susan and Elihu Rose
Janet C. Ross
Caryn Schacht and David Fox
Stephanie and Matthew Sharp
Brian S. Snyder
Sarah Billinghurst Solomon
Joan and Michael Steinberg
Emanuel Stern Christine van Itallie
Saundra Whitney
Maria Wirth
Ku-Ling Yurman
Ying Zhou and Run Ye
Anonymous (2)
♦ Artistic Council Luminary Member. Recognizes individuals whose generous philanthropic support helps underwrite a specific Drill Hall production in this or future seasons.
The Armory’s Legacy Circle is a group of individuals who support Park Avenue Armory through a vitally important source of future funding, a planned gift. These gifts will help support the Armory’s out-the-box artistic programming, Arts Education Programs, and historic preservation into the future.
Founding Members
Angela and Wade F.B. Thompson*
Co-Chairs
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Members
The Estate of Ginette Becker
Wendy Belzberg and Strauss Zelnick
Emme and Jonathan Deland
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Adam R. Flatto
Roberta Garza
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Anita K. Hersh*
Ken Kuchin
Heidi McWilliams
Gwendolyn and Peter Norton
Michelle Perr
Amanda J.T. Riegel
Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief
Susan and Elihu Rose
Francesca Schwartz
Joan and Michael Steinberg
Angela and Wade F.B. Thompson*
Park Avenue Armory expresses its deep appreciation to the individuals and organizations listed here for their generous support for its annual and capital campaigns.
$1,000,000 +
Empire State Local Development Corporation
Adam and Abigail Flatto
Anita K. Hersh Philanthropic Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Malkin and The Malkin Fund, Inc.
Richard* and Ronay Menschel
New York City Council and Council Member
Daniel R. Garodnick
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
New York State Assemblymember Dan Quart and the New York State Assembly
Susan and Elihu Rose
The Arthur Ross Foundation and J & AR Foundation
Joan Smilow and Joel Smilow*
Sanford L. Smith*
Starr Foundation
The Thompson Family Foundation
Wade F.B. Thompson*
Anonymous (3)
$500,000 to $999,999
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Lisa and Sanford B. Ehrenkranz
Almudena and Pablo Legorreta
Adam R. Rose and Peter R. McQuillan
Marvin and Donna K. Schwartz
Emanuel Stern
$250,000 to $499,999
American Express
Abigail and Joseph Baratta
Michael Field and Doug Hamilton
Kim and Jeff Greenberg
Ken Kuchin and Tyler Morgan
Julia Ledda
Marshall Rose Family Foundation
$100,000 to $249,999
R. Mark and Wendy Adams
Linda and Earle Altman
Blavatnik Family Foundation
Hélène and Stuyvesant Comfort
Caroline and Paul Cronson
Jessie Ding and Ning Jin
Misook Doolittle
Caryn Schacht and David Fox
Roberta Garza
Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
Joan Granlund
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
The Hearst Foundations
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Andrew Martin-Weber and Beejan Land
Mr. and Mrs.* Lester S. Morse, Jr.
New York State Assembly
Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust
The Pinkerton Foundation
Slobodan Randjelović and Jon Stryker
Amanda J.T. and Richard E. Riegel
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Daniel and Joanna S. Rose
Mrs. Janet C. Ross
Matthew and Stephanie Sharp
Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Jane Toll
Mr. William C. Tomson
Van Cleef & Arpels
Wescustogo Foundation
Ku-Ling Yurman
Ying Zhou and Run Ye
Anonymous (3)
$25,000 to $99,999
Arthur R. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation
Sarah Arison
Jody and John Arnhold
Anne-Victoire Auriault / Goldman Sachs Gives
The Avenue Association
Susan and Jeff Campbell
The Cowles Charitable Trust
Sasha Cutter and Aaron Hsu
Robin Fowler
Lorraine Gallard and Richard H. Levy
Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation
Mrs. Heather Hoyt Georges
Barbara and Peter Georgescu
Howard Gilman Foundation
Janet Halvorson
Janine and J. Tomilson Hill
Carola Jain
The Keith Haring Foundation
The Lehoczky Escobar Family
Christina and Alan MacDonald
John and Paula Mahoney
Marc Haas Foundation
John N. and Lisa S. Miller
Steven Neckman and Larry Rivero
New York State Council on the Arts
Kate and Bradford Peck
Rhodebeck Charitable Trust
Genie and Donald Rice
Rebecca Robertson and Byron Knief
Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson
The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
The SHS Foundation
The Shubert Foundation
Sydney* and Stanley S. Shuman
Amy and Jeffrey Silverman
The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering
Joan and Michael Steinberg
TEFAF NY
The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
Susan Unterberg
Doris Valle Risso
Saundra Whitney Anonymous (3)
$10,000 to $24,999
The Achelis and Bodman Foundations
AECOM Tishman
Barbara Goldstein Amster
Judith Hart Angelo
Kenneth Ashley
Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation
Harrison and Leslie Bains
Nelia Barletta
Susan Bram
Amanda M. Burden
Alexandra Cahill
David and Peri Clark
Ania Coffey
Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation
David L. Klein, Jr. Foundation
Rick Feldman and Susan Horowitz
Jeanne Donovan Fisher
Ella M. Foshay and Michael B. Rothfeld
Jill and Michael J. Franco
Elliot Friman
Elaine Golin
John R. and Kiendl Dauphinot Gordon
Agnes Gund* Lawrence and Sharon Hite
Mark Kingdon and Anla Cheng
Suzie and Bruce Kovner
Fernand Lamesch
Judy and Leonard* Lauder
Leon Levy Foundation
James C. Marlas
Dr. Nancy Maruyama
Mary W. Harriman Foundation
Ryan McNaughton and Anastasia Antoniev
Danny and Audrey Meyer
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Stéphanie and Jesse Newhouse
Sanjay and Leslie Patel
Suzanne Peck and Brian Friedman
Susan Pernick
Michael Peterson
Susan Porter
The Prospect Hill Foundation
Katharine Rayner
Thomas Rom
Marjorie P. Rosenthal
Valerie Rubsamen and Cedomir Crnkovic
Fiona and Eric Rudin
Mrs. William H. Sandholm
Cynthia and Tom Sculco
Brian S. Snyder
Howard & Sarah D. Solomon Foundation
The Kovner Foundation
Tishman Speyer
Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Coralie Toevs
Dabie Tsai
Michael Tuch Foundation
Wendy vanden Heuvel
Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, GRoW @ Annenberg
Maria Wirth
Toni Young Anonymous (5)
$5,000 to $9,999
Carolina Abed Gaona
Amy and David Abrams
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Candace and Rick Beinecke
John and Gaily Beinecke
Lee Bell and Fotios Pantazis
Stephanie Bernheim
Jill and Darius Bikoff
The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Foundation
Nicholas Brawer
Dr. Joyce F. Brown and Mr. H. Carl McCall
Matthew Brown
Mary and Brad Burnham Canard, Inc.
Nancy Coles and Jeffrey Goldstein
Judith-Ann Corrente
Joshua Dachs / Fisher Dachs Associates
Courtney and Jonathan Davis
Anna Day
Richard K. DeScherer* and Jennie L. DeScherer
Therme US
Sharon Dorram Krause and Damian Krause
Eleanor Edelman
Deborah and Ronald Eisenberg Foundation
Dr. Nancy Eppler-Wolff and Mr. John Wolff
The Felicia Fund
Andrew and Theresa Fenster
Amandine Freidheim
Bart Friedman and Wendy A. Stein
Buzzy Geduld
The Georgetown Company
Kurt Gilman and Paul Phillips
Carrie and Laurence Goldberg Mira Goldberg
Suzanne and John Golden
and Paul Gray
Great Performances
Holly and Robert Gregory Harkness Foundation for Dance
Darren Henault
Mr. Joseph C. Hoopes, Jr.
Gregg Hymowitz and Marcella Guarino Hymowitz
Shujaat Islam and Fay Sardjono
Elizabeth L. Johnson
Adrienne Katz
Amelia Kaymen
Claire King
Wyatt Koch
Kameron Kordestani
Chad A. Leat
Sherry Lee
Gail and Alan Levenstein
Jonathan Levin and Vicki Gross
Charles and Georgette Mallory
Miss Charlotte Martin-Weber
Ellen Michelson
Linda Mirels and Gerard Mossé
Pericles and Neda Navab
Mark and Lorry Newhouse
Elyse and Michael Newhouse
Katie O’Boyle
Olympic Plumbing and Heating Services, Inc.
Orentreich Family Foundation / Dr. Catherine Orentreich
Peter and Beverly Orthwein
Robert Ouimette and Lee Hirsch
Marnie Pillsbury
Preserve New York, a grant program of Preservation League of New York
The Reed Foundation
Richenthal Foundation
David and Susan Rockefeller
Rosenberg & Estis, P.C.
Ida and William Rosenthal Foundation
Chuck and Stacy Rosenzweig
Jane Fearer Safer
Ami Sagy
Susan Small Savitsky
Sara Lee and Axel Schupf Baroness Lulu Dalkanat Sezercan and Derin Sezercan
Stephanie and Fred Shuman
Beth Williams
Frances Wilson Wonder
Cynthia Young and George Eberstadt Anonymous (6)
$2,500 to $4,999
Benigno Aguilar and Gerald Erickson Ashwyn Balani
Alexandra Ballard
Rick Berndt
Imelda
Jillian Zrebiec
Zubatkin Owner Representation, LLC
Anonymous (11)
List as of May 1, 2026
* In memoriam
ABOUT THE BOARD OF OFFICERS ROOM
“The
restoration of the Park Avenue Armory seems destined to set a new standard, not so much for its scale, but for its level of respect and imagination.”
— The New York Times
The Board of Officers Room is one of the most important historic rooms in America and one of the few remaining interiors by Herter Brothers. After decades of progressive damage and neglect, the room completed a revitalization in 2013 by the architecture team at Herzog & de Meuron and executive architects Platt Byard Dovell White Architects to transform the space into a state-of-the-art salon for intimate performances and other contemporary art programming. The Board of Officers Room is the third period room at the Armory completed (out of 18) and represents the full range of design tools utilized by the team including the removal of accumulated layers on the surfaces, the addition of contemporary lighting to the 1897 chandeliers, new interpretations of the stencil patterns on areas of loss, the addition of metallic finishes on new materials, new programming infrastructure, and custom-designed furniture. The room’s restoration is part of an ongoing $215-million transformation, which is guided by the understanding that the Armory’s rich history and the patina of time are essential to its character. A defining component of the design process for the period rooms is the close collaboration between architect and artisan. Highly skilled craftspeople working in wood, paint, plaster, and metals were employed in the creation of the building’s original interiors and the expertise—and hand—of similar artisans has been drawn upon for the renovation work throughout.
The renovation of the Board of Officers Room was made possible through the generosity of The Thompson Family Foundation.