Renée Fleming
With a career spanning seven decades, Georgia O’Keeffe revolutionized the American art world with her vibrant floral studies and evocative desert landscapes. Often called the “mother of American Modernism,” she came to view abstraction as a way to express elusive feelings and ideas.
“I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words for,” O’Keeffe once said.
And yet it is the painter’s own words that enliven The Brightness of Light, a powerful concert work from Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy-winning composer Kevin Puts, whose well-known compositions include Silent Night and The Hours. Inspired by the deeply personal correspondence between O’Keeffe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz, The Brightness of Light reveals a passionate if often turbulent relationship between two of the 20th century’s most influential figures.
A new book chronicles one of the most influential exchanges in Southern art history
That relationship has a special connection to Nashville: Fisk University is one of the institutions to which O’Keeffe donated a portion of Stieglitz’s extensive art collection after his death in 1946. The group of 101 pieces — ranging from paintings and photographs to drawings, prints, sculptures and African artifacts — is now owned in part by the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Ark., and will next be on display there in June per the terms of a sharing agreement.
Best known for his work in the opera world, Puts created The Brightness of Light specifically for internationally acclaimed soprano Renée Fleming as part of a 2015 commission from his alma mater, the Eastman School of Music. Fleming — who’s also an Eastman alumna — helped shape the piece from the very beginning, at one point suggesting that Puts should expand the initial work to include a role for Stieglitz, which was then written for esteemed baritone Rod Gilfry.
The result is a rather dazzling orchestral song cycle, made up of 12 movements connected by musical ideas that move between instrumental passages as well as vocal solos and duets. Covering roughly 30 years, it follows the relationship between O’Keeffe and Stieglitz from their earliest meetings to Stieglitz’s passing — and even beyond. In its final moments, the piece imagines O’Keeffe reflecting on her life, and the loss of her great love.
After a two-year absence, the Alfred Stieglitz Collection has returned to Nashville's Fisk University, marking the collection's first homecomi…
Puts’ music effectively defines and reflects his characters’ distinctive personalities, all within a phenomenally rich harmonic environment. The Brightness of Light also incorporates striking visuals — vivid projections that depict the couple’s art, photos and letters — delivering a wholly engaging multimedia experience.
It’s a fascinating work. And local audiences can look forward to seeing both Fleming and Gilfry in their original roles as they join the Nashville Symphony on May 20 for a special one-night-only performance, with music director laureate Giancarlo Guerrero conducting. The second half of the evening offers a lovely selection of Broadway standards, including favorite tunes from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb, Lerner and Loewe, and more.
Devoted Fleming fans also will want to check out a free program titled Music and Mind: Healing, Social Connection and the Power of Song, set for May 18 at the Schermerhorn. Part of Fleming’s ongoing advocacy efforts, the inspiring event promises a mix of musical presentations and a lively panel discussion, all designed to explore the ways music can contribute to both individual wellness and communal well-being.
