When she calls it up at will, soprano Twyla Robinson’s Baton Rouge accent is the slow and creamy-rich dialect of the South. When performing, on the other hand, she is praised for her dramatic sensibility and vocal beauty. “They train the accent out of you,” she said, in reference to her musical education, which she puts to use Sunday with the National Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony, conducted by maestro Christoph Eschenbach.
| On stage |
| National Symphony Orchestra |
| Where: Kennedy Center Concert Hall |
| When: 1:30 p.m. Sunday |
| Info: $20 to $85; 202-467-4600; 800-444-1324; kennedy-center.org |
The Lyric Symphony, however, is not an opera, but rather an intricate cycle of orchestral songs in which a man and woman alternate solo poems put to music. And, unlike opera, there are no duets.
Based on the Bengali poetry of Rabindranath Tagore, Zemlinsky has selected seven of the author’s 85 poems and woven them into a story of love and desire, followed by the fulfillment of that love and, finally, the anguish of parting.
“It does feel in the poetry that we are talking back and forth to each other,” Robinson continued. “But we are on either side of the conductor; we have our own music stands and we face out to the audience.”
It is for the audience, then, to picture the relationship between the two, by their outward expressions and the longing in their voices. Robinson, who says that Zemlinsky has done 98 percent of the work for her.
“The [lyrics] are sexy and transparent all at the same time,” she said. There are layers upon layers of music. It’s the kind of score where you keep digging and still find new details. I love a challenge; so that makes it very beloved to me.”
