On Oct. 8 in the Pottle Music Building Auditorium the Department of Fine and Performing Arts hosted Donald George and Lucy Mauro’s “Margaret, Mathilde, Mary and More” production.
“This was a ‘must see’ event,” said Kenneth Boulton, Fine and Performing Arts interim department head.
The production included compositions by composers Margaret Ruthven Lang, Mathilde von Kralik, Mary McAuliffe, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi.
Donald George, tenor and 2010 Alumnus of the year, has performed with many of the famous orchestras and conductors of the world including the Berlin Philharmonic. George is an associate professor of voice at State University of  New York Potsdam’s The Crane School of Music. He earned his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at Southeastern in 1967 and his master’s degree from LSU.
“Although Donald George is one of Southeastern’s most prominent alumni and a member of the Southeastern Music Hall of Fame, it has been more than 20 years since he has appeared in concert as a part of Fanfare,” said Boulton.
Lucy Mauro is an associate professor at West Virginia University. She frequently performs, conducts master classes, workshops and other presentations with Donald George, specializing in such areas as developing musical expression and communication, the nineteenth-century German Melodrama and the art of collaborative performances. Lucy Mauro is a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of  Johns Hopkins University where she received bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.  She also studied with Ann Schein and Julio Esteban at Johns Hopkins University.
 “Margaret Lang, Mathilde Kralik and Mary McAuliffe are three women from three different countries in three different eras, and all of them seemingly forgotten until Lucy and I went looking in archives and found them,” said Donald George.
The first set of compositions that were performed that night were composed by Margaret Ruthven Lang. Margaret wanted to be forgotten and made every effort toward that goal by destroying all of her music that she could. During the performance tenor Donald George stated, “Every ten years she did a major house cleaning and threw out everything that she had not touched, used or looked at. She lived to be 104, so she had quite a few house cleanings.”
Although Margaret did many “house cleanings” in her lifetime, Donald and Lucy managed to dig up many of her compositions. Among those they performed were “Love is Everywhere,” “Ojalá,” “Irish Love Song,” “There was an old man in a tree” and “There was a young lady whose eyes.”
The next set of compositions performed were composed by Mathilde von Kralik. Kralik was troubled by the falling of the Austrian Empire and the loss of a “comfortable” lifestyle. Her music was forgotten, but is preserved in the Austrian National Library. The compositions performed included “Komm mit mir! (Come with me!),” “Sibernebel (Silver Mist),” “In dem Prater (At the Prater Park)” and “Im Grünen (In the Woods).”
The story of Mary McAuliffe is quite different from that of Margaret and Mathilde. She wanted her music to be heard, and so Donald and Lucy seek to manifest her wishes.  Three of her compositions made it into that night’s performance. They consisted of “Sally Garden,” “When you are old” and “A Dawn Song” from “Four Songs” by William Butler Yeats.  
The next two compositions were written by composers that were not mentioned in the title of the program. The first was by Gaetano Donizetti and is entitled “Una furive lagrima” from “L’elisir d’amore.” In a Donizetti composition the speaker talks of a woman he loved who does not love him, as interpreted by Donald and Lucy. The second composition is by Giuseppe Verdi and is titled “La donne è mobile” from Rigoletto. This composition was about a man who saw no value in the love of a woman.
The crowd was pleased with Donald George and Lucy Mauro’s performance. After the performance, they received a standing ovation.
More information on Fanfare performances can be found on the Columbia Theatre’s website.