Hirayama sings Scelsi at REDCAT

Over the course of the sixties through 1972, the avant-garde Italian composer Giancinto Scelsi composed a cycle of "songs" for Michiko Hirayama. The cycle came to be known as Canti del Capricorno.

We put "songs" in brackets because Sclesi left out the words. His compositions for the cycle were written specifically for Hirayama because of her unique vocal range. Obsessed with tone and transition, Sclesi's cycle is all about vocal variance.

Tonight at 8:30 p.m. at REDCAT, Hirayama, now in her 80's, performs Canti del Capricorno once again. As it happens, this is the work's West Coast premiere.

Scelsi should also someday receive an honorable mention in James Conlon's Recovered Voices series. It was Scelsi who kept producing the works of Jewish composers despite the objections of the Mussolini regime, a habit which ultimately caused him to remove to Switzerland for the war.

Tickets are $20 [students $16, CalArts $10].