Erwartung / Le Rossignol by Schoenberg, Stravinsky, From (2023/2023), Directed by Giselle Ty, Conductor Jonathan Khuner, Oakland Scottish Rite Center, Oakland, United States

Erwartung A woman, desperately seeking her lover in a dark forest, experiences disjointed but mounting emotions. We witness her stream of consciousness as random thoughts combine with murderous revelations to shred her sanity—all set to an ultra-expressionistic score that broke the path for 20th century modern music Le Rossignol Hans Christian Andersen’s uplifting fairytale is an early critical metaphor about art versus our modern fascination with technology. In ancient China, the emperor invites the greatest artist of the land­—a nightingale—to perform for him and he is delighted. But the arrival of a mechanical nightingale captures his attention and he abandons the real nightingale, nearly costing him his life.