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Mother, daughter share the stage at Opera House on Mother's Day
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| Andrew Amelinckx/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers Eugenia Zuckerman, left, and her daughter Natalia, performed a special Mother's Day concert Sunday at the Ancram Opera House in Ancram. This was the first time the two women, one a well-known flutist and the other an up-and-coming singer songwriter, had performed together. "This was the best Mother's Day ever," proclaimed the elder Zuckerman after the concert. |
By Andrew Amelinckx
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
ANCRAM - "This was the best Mother's Day," proclaimed Eugenia Zuckerman, renowned flutist, after her and her daughter Natalia's musical performance at the Ancram Opera House in Ancram Sunday.
"It's so fun to be in this wonderful place," she said, "as the opening act for my daughter."
Eugenia Zuckerman and Natalia Zuckerman, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter, had never performed together before a live audience until Sunday's event.
"This is so cool," said the younger performer, "I get to share the stage with my mother."
Around 50 people came to the performance, including famed stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author Gene Wilder and his wife Karen Boyer.
This is the first event of the Opera House's fifth year of performances.
"We are so honored to have music of this caliber," said Joan Arnold, founder and executive director of the Opera House.
The event began with a selection of solo flute pieces performed by the elder Zuckerman along with a brief history of the flute.
"It's the oldest of all the wind instruments ," she said, adding that the flute was a "mysterious, magical, exciting instrument."
The first piece was the haunting "Syrinx," by Claude Debussy, a late 19th century French composer. "Syrinx" is a piece of music for solo flute which Debussy wrote in 1913 for the uncompleted play "Psych/" by Gabriel Mourey.
In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a nymph who was pursued by the Greek god Pan and in order to protect her chastity was transformed into a clump of reeds at a river's edge.
Eugenia Zuckerman called metamorphoses the ancient answer to sexual harassment.
"Pan's disappointed sigh blowing across the reeds is the sound of the flute," she said.
The flutist's performance included selections from "Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing-birds" by English composer Richard Rodney Bennett, including "For the canary-bird," "For the garden bull-finch," "For the East India nightingale," and "For the starling."
Through different playing techniques, the characteristics of the various birds seemed to come to life on the stage in what she called the "Ancram aviary."
The flutist finished with a Klezmer-inspired piece.
"As a Jewish mother I love Klezmer music," she gushed.
According to her, Klezmer began life as Eastern European Jewish music that became filtered through the "Jews of the Diaspora" performing on any instrument they could find.
Natalia Zuckerman was next to take the stage. She performed a number of original songs including one that referenced Ancram, "Only Trees" and seemed to be an ode to all things rural.
She said she grew up in Manhattan but had a "Little House on the Prairie fetish."
"I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder," she quipped.
She also performed the title track from her new album "Brand New Frame" commenting that it was a song about shaking oneself out of a rut.
"Turn your tape over because you are boring somebody," she said with a laugh.
The show ended with the mother and daughter performing two of the younger Zuckerman's original songs, both jazz inflected, an old ballad "The Wayfaring Stranger" and a Russian folk song, both of which were chosen by the elder Zuckerman.
"You rock," shouted the younger Zuckerman during their performance together. "Word to my mother."
Eugenia Zuckerman commented that their styles were very different but still worked well together and that their stage banter came easily.
"We've always got along very well," she said, adding, "except when she was in high school. But on the rebellion scale she was about a three."
"I guess this is my rebellion," said the younger Zuckerman of her career as a singer-songwriter.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
ANCRAM - "This was the best Mother's Day," proclaimed Eugenia Zuckerman, renowned flutist, after her and her daughter Natalia's musical performance at the Ancram Opera House in Ancram Sunday.
"It's so fun to be in this wonderful place," she said, "as the opening act for my daughter."
Eugenia Zuckerman and Natalia Zuckerman, an up-and-coming singer-songwriter, had never performed together before a live audience until Sunday's event.
"This is so cool," said the younger performer, "I get to share the stage with my mother."
Around 50 people came to the performance, including famed stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author Gene Wilder and his wife Karen Boyer.
This is the first event of the Opera House's fifth year of performances.
"We are so honored to have music of this caliber," said Joan Arnold, founder and executive director of the Opera House.
The event began with a selection of solo flute pieces performed by the elder Zuckerman along with a brief history of the flute.
"It's the oldest of all the wind instruments ," she said, adding that the flute was a "mysterious, magical, exciting instrument."
The first piece was the haunting "Syrinx," by Claude Debussy, a late 19th century French composer. "Syrinx" is a piece of music for solo flute which Debussy wrote in 1913 for the uncompleted play "Psych/" by Gabriel Mourey.
In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a nymph who was pursued by the Greek god Pan and in order to protect her chastity was transformed into a clump of reeds at a river's edge.
Eugenia Zuckerman called metamorphoses the ancient answer to sexual harassment.
"Pan's disappointed sigh blowing across the reeds is the sound of the flute," she said.
The flutist's performance included selections from "Six Tunes for the Instruction of Singing-birds" by English composer Richard Rodney Bennett, including "For the canary-bird," "For the garden bull-finch," "For the East India nightingale," and "For the starling."
Through different playing techniques, the characteristics of the various birds seemed to come to life on the stage in what she called the "Ancram aviary."
The flutist finished with a Klezmer-inspired piece.
"As a Jewish mother I love Klezmer music," she gushed.
According to her, Klezmer began life as Eastern European Jewish music that became filtered through the "Jews of the Diaspora" performing on any instrument they could find.
Natalia Zuckerman was next to take the stage. She performed a number of original songs including one that referenced Ancram, "Only Trees" and seemed to be an ode to all things rural.
She said she grew up in Manhattan but had a "Little House on the Prairie fetish."
"I wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder," she quipped.
She also performed the title track from her new album "Brand New Frame" commenting that it was a song about shaking oneself out of a rut.
"Turn your tape over because you are boring somebody," she said with a laugh.
The show ended with the mother and daughter performing two of the younger Zuckerman's original songs, both jazz inflected, an old ballad "The Wayfaring Stranger" and a Russian folk song, both of which were chosen by the elder Zuckerman.
"You rock," shouted the younger Zuckerman during their performance together. "Word to my mother."
Eugenia Zuckerman commented that their styles were very different but still worked well together and that their stage banter came easily.
"We've always got along very well," she said, adding, "except when she was in high school. But on the rebellion scale she was about a three."
"I guess this is my rebellion," said the younger Zuckerman of her career as a singer-songwriter.
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx please call (518) 828-1616, ext. 2267, or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com.
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