Eric Salzman, the American composer, producer, music critic, and author, has died at the age of 84. Salzman was an important figure in the first decades of Nonesuch Records under the leadership of Tracey Sterne. His pieces The Nude Paper Sermon and Civilization and Its Discontents: A Musical Theater Comedy, both composed with Michael Sahl, were recorded for Nonesuch in the 1970s. Also for the label, Salzman produced Teresa Stratas's The Unknown Kurt Weill; the New York City Opera recording of Weill's Silverlake; and the three albums of The Tango Project.
Eric Salzman, the American composer, producer, music critic, and author, has died at the age of 84. Salzman, an important figure in the first decades of Nonesuch Records under the leadership of Tracey Sterne, died at his home in Brooklyn on November 12.
Salzman's pieces The Nude Paper Sermon, a work for actor (Stacy Keach), renaissance consort, chorus, and electronics commissioned by Nonesuch, and Civilization and Its Discontents: A Musical Theater Comedy, both composed with Michael Sahl, were recorded for Nonesuch Records in the 1970s. Also for the label, Salzman produced Teresa Stratas's Nonesuch 1982 debut album, The Unknown Kurt Weill, which the New York Times called a "landmark" recording; the New York City Opera recording of Weill's Silverlake, featuring Joel Grey; and the three albums of The Tango Project—the eponymous 1982 debut, inspired by the cabarets and theaters of Buenos Aires in the 1920s and '30s, the follow-up Two to Tango: The Tango Project II, which showcased works by composers like Weill and Cole Porter, and The Palm Court—performed by Sahl on piano, accordionist William Schimmel, and violinist Stan Kurtis.
For more on Eric Salzman's life and career, please find the New York Times obituary at nytimes.com.
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