Day 5: An art song with an animal in the title
"The Giraffes go to Hamburg" is one of my put away for the near future/cannot wait to sing pieces. We learned about this in Dr. Muckenfuss's British & American Song class at Peabody during my masters a few years ago and I've been secretly looking for a way to perform it. This is the best part about Modern Singer Magazine's 30 Day Art Song Challenge - rediscovering those pieces I had hidden away for a future time.
The recording below is of Renée Fleming singing André Previn's "The Giraffes go to Hamburg" with the composer at the piano and alto flutist Renée Siebert. The text is by Isak Dinesen and it's just so perfectly captured by Previn's music.
Enjoy and let me know if you'd like to hear me sing this piece in the comments ; )