Valentine’s Day countdown: Baritone Nathan Gunn’s favorite love song
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From now through Valentine’s Day we’re sharing the favorite love song from eight musicians who are about to perform in the Los Angeles area. The baritone Nathan Gunn selects “Die Neugierige” from Schubert’s song cycle ‘Die Schöne Müllerin” (sung here by Peter Pears, accompanied by his life partner, composer Benjamin Britten).
’ ‘Die Neugierige’ is my favorite because I love beautiful tunes, but I also love the context of the words. In this song, there’s a young man who loves a girl who but doesn’t know if she loves him. He’s walking along a brook to the mill where the girl lives and he asks the brook if she loves him too. It’s beautiful because the end of the story is that it turns out she doesn’t love him and he kills himself, but in this song he isn’t quite there yet. It’s an innocent type of love song.
‘There won’t be any Schubert [at the cabaret show], but there will be another favorite, ‘All The Things You Are.’ ‘
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The baritone performs his cabaret show with his wife, Julie, March 24-27 at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
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Check back with Culture Monster every day through Feb. 14 for a new selection.
— Marcia Adair