From Rags to Riches
New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) releases From Rags to Riches: 100 Years of American Song on its new in-house label, NYFOS Records. The label’s debut album features the acclaimed voices of mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and tenor William Burden, together with Steven Blier, Artistic Director of the NYFOS who accompanies Blythe and Burden, on the piano in works spanning art song, musical theater, jazz, and opera. The album is taken from a live concert recording at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York on March 23, 2000: From Rags to Riches, a compendium of American songs celebrating the last century as the new century began.
From Rags to Riches: 100 Years of American Song Tracklist
1. Scott Joplin / Joe Snyder – Pineapple Rag* [3:45]
Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier
2. Will Marion Cook / Will Accooe – My Lady Frog* [4:08]
William Burden, Steven Blier
3. Charles Griffes / Sydney Lanier – Evening Song [2:59]
William Burden, Steven Blier
4. George Gershwin / P.G. Wodehouse – Oh Gee! Oh Joy! * [1:56)
The Company
5. Marc Blitzstein – Nickel Under the Foot [3:12]
The Company
6. Marc Blitzstein – Stay In My Arms* [3:47]
William Burden, Steven Blier
7. Eubie Blake / Andy Razaf – Hit the Road* [2:58]
Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier
8. Samuel Barber / Frederic Prokosch – Nocturne [2:30]
William Burden, Steven Blier
9. Kurt Weill / Maxwell Anderson – Thousands of Miles* [3:51]
Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier
10. Leonard Bernstein / Betty Comden / Adolph Green. – Wrong Note Rag* [1:52]
The Company
11. Richard Rodgers / Stephen Sondheim – Take the Moment* [2:57]
William Burden, Steven Blier
12. Thelonious Monk / Bernie Hanighen (arr. Ricky Ian Gordon) – ‘Round Midnight [3:45]
Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier
13. Stephen Sondheim – The Ballad of Booth [4:18]
William Burden, Steven Blier
14. Jonathan Larson – Hosing the Furniture [4:33]
Stephanie Blythe, Steven Blier
15. William Bolcom / Arnold Weinstein / Arthur Miller – New York Lights [3:46]
William Burden, Steven Blier
16. Chris de Blasio / Perry Brass – Walt Whitman in 1989 [3:53]
William Burden, Steven Blier
17. Robert Wadsworth Lowry / Pete Seeger (arr. David Krane) – How Can I Keep From Singing [4:47]
The Company
*Arranged by Steven Blier
Total Time: 58:57