BARNARD MUSIC DEPARTMENT LECTURER GAIL ARCHER'S
ORGAN RECITAL AT RIVERSIDE CHURCH AWARDED PRAISE
IN THE NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW, JULY 15
New
York, NY, July 16, 2002 Barnard Music
Department Lecturer Gail Archer was commended
in The New York Times for her July 9th
opening performance of the annual summer series
of Tuesday evening organ recitals at Riverside
Church. Music critic Allan Kozinn described
Archer's performance as "powerful"
and "carefully considered" in his
July 15, 2002 review.
Opening
the recital series with "Les Corps Glorieux,"
a 1939 Messiaen work subtitled "seven short
visions of the life everlasting," Archer
skillfully expressed the piece's themes of vitality
and resurrection, according to Kozinn. The music's
"heavenly" references and the central
movement's "battle of life and death"
imagery required careful attention to detail.
In
commenting on the quality of her performance,
Kozinn wrote, "Perhaps most important,
she played with an agility that met the music's
coloristic and rhythmic demands without calling
attention to itself."
Please
click
here to read the full review.
While
players and instruments are generally hidden
from view during organ recitals, Riverside Church
creates a unique listening experience in that
it allows the audience a bird's-eye view of
the organist through a projected video image.
The
recital series will run through August 6.
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Contact:
Petra Tuomi, Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
Rebecca Eckstein, Public Affairs 212-854-2037