A WORLD OF EMOTIONS

Onassis Cultural Center New York Partnership with Carnegie Hall

Listen to A World of Emotions playlist on Spotify.

Just as emotions are manifested in myth, literature, and visual art, music is also a medium rich in emotional power. Music utilizes pitch, rhythm, texture and tempo in its innate manipulation of basic sound. Music is perhaps the most visceral of the aforementioned mediums, rendering immediate reactions from its listener. Composers in every genre have striven to evoke human emotion using these tools for millennia.   In particular, the human voice conveys the depth and power of emotion through song. Not only does song possess the evocative strength of the added layer of text, but the human voice itself presents infinite possibilities in inflection, color and tone.

Encompassing diverse genres, instrumentation, and time periods, these musical selections facilitate our understanding of human emotions, as represented in the exhibition, A World of Emotions. Each piece was chosen in that it elicits an immediate and specific emotional response. The works presented in this exhibition and the accompanying musical tracks showcase a wide array of artists’ renderings of love, desire, wrath, fear, grief, and joy. Roughly ordered to represent the fullest range of emotions at any moment, the playlist is designed to lead the listener through a variety before entering the exhibition.

Cherubini: Medea, Act 3: “E che? lo son Medea!” (Medea, Chorus, Giasone, Neris) – Luigi Cherubini, Maria Callas, Coro del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Mirto Picchi, Miriam Pirazzini, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Tullio Serafin, Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala, Milano, Tullio Serafin, Mirto Picchi, Miriam Pirazzini, Coro Del Teatro Alla Scala Di Milano

Excerpt from Byzantine Funeral Mass – Petros Tabouris

Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques: I. Le réveil de la mariée – Maurice Ravel, Bernarda Fink, Kent Nagano, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Stella splendens – Jordi Savall

Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques: IV. Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques – Maurice Ravel, Bernarda Fink, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano

Tribute to Caesar – Arvo Pärt, Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava

Rinaldo / Act 1: Aria: Sibilar gli angui d’Aletto – George Frideric Handel, Gerald Finley, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood

Funeral Canticle – John Tavener, Academy of Ancient Music, George Mosley, Paul Goodwin, Andrew Manze, The Choir of the AAM

Handel: Rinaldo, HWV 7, Act 2: “Lascia ch’io pianga” (Almirena) – George Frideric Handel, Joyce DiDonato, Maxim Emelyanychev, Il Pomo D’oro

Kanon pokajanen: Ikos – Arvo Pärt, Cappella Amsterdam, Daniel Reuss

Song for Athene – John Tavener, Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Graham Ross

Un cavalier di Spagna – Anonymous – The Anonymous, Jordi Savall, La Capella Reial De Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI

Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra: Lúa Descolorida – Osvaldo Golijov, Dawn Upshaw, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Spano

Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Air, “Oh! that I on wings could rise” (Theodora) – George Frideric Handel, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan

Hymne de la Catalogne – Traditionnel, La Capella Reial De Catalunya, Le Concert Des Nations, Jordi Savall

Dido and Aeneas Z. 626: Act III, Thy hand, Belinda / When I am laid in earth (Dido) – Henry Purcell, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Orfeo ed Euridice, Act 3: “Che farò senza Euridice?” – Christoph Willibald Gluck, Dame Janet Baker, Raymond Leppard, English Chamber Orchestra

Catalunya comptat gran – Traditionnel, La Capella Reial De Catalunya, Le Concert Des Nations, Jordi Savall

Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Air, “With Darkness” (Theodora) – George Frideric Handel, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Pavane pour la petite « guaire » (guerre), fait pour les Cornetz en 1601 – Philidor l’Asiné, Le Concert Des Nations, Jordi Savall

Semele, HWV 58 / Act 1: Endless Pleasure… – George Frideric Handel, Kathleen Battle, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, English Chamber Orchestra, John Nelson

Iphigénie en Tauride: Air: Je t’implore et je tremble (Carol Vaness) – Voice – Christoph Willibald Gluck, Orchestra Del Teatro Alla Scala, Milano

Recercadas Sobre la Cancion “Doulce Memoire”: Recercada Primera – Jordi Savall, Ton Koopman, Rolf Lislevand

Lachrimae Antiquae – Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall

Berenice: Cadrò, ma qual si mira – Francesco Araia, Cecilia Bartoli, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini

String Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor, Op.131: 7. Allegro – Ludwig van Beethoven, Takács Quartet

Alleluia / Posui adiutorium – Pérotin, Musica Ficta, Bo Holten

Lament and Elegy: Death Hath Deprived Me – Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins, Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier

Two Studies on Ancient Greek Scales: 1) Olympos’ Pentatonic 2) Archytas’ Enharmonic – Harry Partch, Kronos Quartet

L’incoronazione di Poppea: Act III, scene 8. Duo Poppea/Nerone “Pur ti miro” – Claudio Monteverdi, René Jacobs, Danielle Borst, Guillemette Laurens, Concerto Vocale

Lachrimae Tristes – Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall

Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), Violin Concerto in F Major Op. 8 No. 3, RV 293, “Autumn”: I. Allegro (Ballo e canto de” Villanelli) – Antonio Vivaldi, Itzhak Perlman, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Idomeneo: Atto III, sc.10. No.29 Aria Elettra “D’Oreste, d’Aiace” – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs

Rachell’s Weepinge – Christopher Tye, Kronos Quartet

Vivaldi: Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), Violin Concerto in E Major Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269, “Spring”: I. Allegro – Antonio Vivaldi, Itzhak Perlman, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Collected Songs Where Every Verse is Filled with Grief – Alfred Schnittke, Kronos Quartet

L’Oracolo in Messenia, Atto Secondo, Scena 7: Aria: Son qual nave (Trasimede) – Antonio Vivaldi, Julia Lezhneva/Europa Galante/Fabio Biondi, Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante

Leo: Andromaca, Act 1: “Prendi quel ferro, o barbaro!” (Andromaca) – Leonardo Leo, Joyce DiDonato, Maxim Emelyanychev, Il Pomo D’oro

String Quartet No.14 in C sharp minor, Op.131: 6. Adagio quasi un poco andante – Ludwig van Beethoven, Takács Quartet