E. Carl Freeman Concert Series at River Road Church
Voice Recital—Rhonda AbouHana, soprano
Saturday, September 9, 2023
7:00 p.m., Sanctuary
Doors open at 6:15 p.m.
Program
Lyric soprano Rhonda AbouHana (Lucca, Italy) will present Robert Schumann’s beloved song cycle Frauen-Liebe und Leben and Richard Strauss’s songs Opus 10—masterpieces!
Reynaldo Hahn (1874-1947)
Selections from Venezia, 6 Songs in Venetian dialect
- Sopra l’acqua indormenzada (text: Pietro Pagello)
- La Barcheta (text: Pietro Buratti)
- L’avertimento (text: Pietro Buratti)
- La Primavera (text: Alvise Cigogna)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Frauenliebe und Leben (8 songs on poems by Adelbert von Chamisso)
- Seit ich in gesehen
- Er, der Herrlichste von allen
- Ich kann’s nicht fassen nicht glauben
- Du Ring an meinem Finger
- Helft mir, ihr Schwestern
- Süsser Freund
- An meinem Herzen
- Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Acht Gedichte aus ‘Letzte Blätter’, op. 10 (poems by Hermann von Gilm)
- Zueignung
- Nichts
- Die Nacht
- Die Georgine
- Geduld
- Die Verschwiegenen
- Die Zeitlose
- Allerseelen
Free parking across River Road and behind the church.
Free Tickets
A native of Richmond, Virginia, soprano Rhonda AbouHana pursued her musical studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she studied with world-renowned soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson. Having earned degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education, Rhonda’s career spans the music classroom, the private voice studio, and the concert stage. Before moving to her current home in Lucca, Italy, Rhonda lived in Rome, where she spent eleven years singing with top quality musical organizations, conductors, and orchestras, while teaching music and conducting choirs in several of Rome’s fine international schools. She maintains a private voice studio and is the founder of the Children’s Choir of Rome and the International Festival Choir of Rome. Comfortable singing in diverse musical styles, Rhonda has performed in opera, oratorio, musical theatre, cabaret, and choral ensembles. She has concertized in the U.S., Italy, England, and Germany. Notable solo concert work includes Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem and Great Mass in C minor, Handel’s Messiah and Dixit Dominus, Faure’s Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Cantata 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, and the role of Dido in the concert version of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Rhonda will premier two pieces written for her by Italian composer Giuseppe Natale during the upcoming concert season in Rome.