Letter from Italy, 1944: Documentary Premiere Official Trailer Video (4 min. app.)
Letter from Italy, 1944: A New American Oratorio (CPTV)
Karyl Evans: Producer / Director / Writer / Editor
Emmy Award (Outstanding Director)
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Boston/New England Chapter (2016)
Narrated by Meryl Streep
This documentary tells the true story of a 10th Mountain Division World War II soldier who returns from war with PTSD and how his condition affects his relationships with his wife and daughters. The compelling narrative is told through the creation of an oratorio composed by two of the soldier’s daughters, Sarah Meneely-Kyder and Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely, in collaboration with Artistic Director Joseph D’Eugenio in 2013. (1 hour)
Letter from Italy, 1944: World Premiere (CPTV)
Karyl Evans: Producer / Director / Writer / Editor
Sarah Meneely-Kyder, composer
Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely, poet
Joseph D’Eugenio: Artistic Director and Conductor
This is the complete premiere performance of the oratorio, Letter from Italy, 1944 commissioned and performed by the GMChorale in 2013, conducted by Artistic Director, Joseph D’Eugenio. Academy award winner, Meryl Streep, narrates a short documentary that introduces the performance. (2 hours)
Hear audio clips from the premiere of Letter from Italy, 1944
Letter from Italy, 1944 ~ by Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely (with companion CD)
Letter from Italy,1944, by Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely, the daughter of an army doctor serving with the 10th Mountain Division during World War II, has written a searingly honest and loving series of poems. They depict her father’s post-traumatic return to civilian life and the winning courage he showed in his losing battle. Written in her own voice and others in the family, these poems lead us into the hearts and minds of people at the mercy of a merciless war that took the lives of many who returned home, the victims being not only the soldiers themselves but those in their families. Yet in the midst of it all, there are many moments of great beauty, courage, and musical enchantment. An oratorio, Letter from Italy, 1944, composed by the poet’s sister, Sarah Meneely-Kyder, is based on the book’s poetry. Excerpts of the music can be heard on the book’s accompanying CD, which was conducted and produced by Joseph D’Eugenio.
In Delightful Company: Choral Works by Charles Fussell
Dr. Nathan Zullinger: Conductor
Joseph D’Eugenio: Pianist
Ensemble: CONCORA (Connecticut Choral Artists)
Artistic Director: Richard Coffey
Charles Fussell is an American composer and conductor of contemporary classical music. He has composed six symphonies and three operas. His symphony Wilde for solo baritone and orchestra, based on the life of Oscar Wilde and premiered by the Newton Symphony Orchestra and the baritone Sanford Sylvan in 1990, was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Fussell’s choral compositions are represented on this recording by five works that span nearly four decades. Additionally, the five pieces of standard choral repertoire on the recording were selected for their musical kinship to different aspects of Fussell’s compositional voice and writing.