An Amercian Sampler: Featuring Dr. Michael Oriatti and Dr. Sarah Weston

An American Sampler On March 16th, 2016, College of the Ozarks hosted a guest recital titled, An American Sampler, featuring Dr. Michael Oriatti, tenor and assistant professor of music at Lyon College and Dr. Sarah Weston, pianist and adjunct professor of music at Lyon College. The concert opened with a slow piece called “Sure On This Shining Night” by Samuel Barber. Then Dr. Oriatti sang a set of songs focused on love. The first was “Outside This House” from Vanessa and was a sad song about a lover who does not win his true love. He cries out, “How happy we could be together”. The next song is a happier love song titled “With You”. The last two in the set of love songs are by Leonard Bernstein that sounded like it was in a minor key. The first one titled, “Extinguish My Eyes”, was a song about how the lover could still love this person no matter what happened to them. One line from the song went, “Break off my arms and I can embrace you.”

He described the next song as a song “after love, or after life”. It was called, “In That Morning”, and was about going home to heaven. He sang repeatedly of “hearing the sounding trumpets” and how you could bury him in the west or east, but he would still end up in heaven. Then there was a short break from the vocal pieces as Dr. Weston played a piece by herself called “Summerland” by Willian Grant Still. The piece was very pleasing to the ear and a nice change.

The next set was focused on nature. Dr. Oriatti came back on stage and sang a song called “Rain” which was a more light-hearted piece. The piano introduction sounded like rain as it consisted of high notes cascading down in a merry way. The lyrics and music matched each other, painting a picture of rain. He sang “Sometimes rain is fast and sometimes rain is slow” and the tempo matched the words. The next song was called, “My Master Hath a Garden”. It described many aspects of nature such as flowers and everglades and sunlight, but it also incorporated faith as he sang, “Make my heart a garden plot.”

Dr. Weston played a fun ragtime by Scott Joplin and then Dr. Oriatti did a set of songs by Stephen Foster. The first, “Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway!”, spoke of the longing for the beautiful things to last forever. It spoke, “Why should the beautiful die?” and “Long may the daisies dance in the field”. The most lively song was next titled, “Some Folks” and repeated “some folks fret and some folks scold” and so on and the chorus was a rousing, “Long live the merry, merry heart!” He did a song called “Hard Times Come Again No More” and did something unique at the end of the song. He invited the audience to sing along on the last chorus of the song. He ended the set by Stephen Foster by singing “Laura Lee,” proclaiming the world was like a desert without the smile of his sweet Laura Lee.

The precursor to the final piece was another piano solo by Dr. Weston and it was titled “The Banjo”, Op. 15 and it was very fun and lively. It sounded like a song you might hear at a country-dance. At the end of the piece, it appeared as if her fingers were flying as she played a very fast part that seemed very difficult. Lastly, Oriatti and Weston finished the concert with a song fitting for the end titled, “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You”. It was a soothing slow song that one could not help being lulled in a peace. The lyrics, “May your troubles all be small ones” and “May you walk in sunlight” put a lovely feeling in your soul and ended in applause from the audience.