- Audio CD (Nov 11 2008)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Wigmore Hall Live
- ASIN: B001H5GK74
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #40,973 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Rather than Easy Listening,
By
This review is from: Gerald Finley (Bass-Baritone) (Audio CD)
This is an extraordinary record of a recital that must have been electrifying live. Finley's voice is perfectly modulated to these works. The Tchaikovsky songs are attractive but the main fare are the Mussorgsky and the Rorem. Both are chilling without being histrionic as some versions of the Mussorgsky can be. Strongly recommended.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Doctor Atomic sings Russian, mostly,
By Santa Fe Listener - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Gerald Finley (Bass-Baritone) (Audio CD)
This is the 25th CD issued by Wigmore Hall in London, and it's undoubtedly one of the best. Canadian baritone Gerald Finley has been a leading opera/oratorio singer for over a decade, but he's likely to rise to stardom thanks to his lead role as J. Robert Oppoenheimer in John Adams' "Doctor Atomic." His previous CDs of Ives and Barber have been welcome fare in a musical landscape where high-quality song recitals keep growing thinner.I've listed the full program below, at the risk of scaring off potential listeners, since Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Ned Rorem aren't exactly usual fare. But Finley comes out so dashingly in Tchaikovsky's "Don Juan's Serenade" that you have to keep listening. The voice itself has an ardent quality that's exciting, and in terms of technique, intonation, and musicianship, Finely is flawless. No doubt a native Russian speaker wouldn't find his pronunciation flawless, but thre's so much vitaltiy injected into every song that linguistics becomes a second thought. One advantage in not being Russian is that Finley's "Songs and Dances of Death" are touching without lapsing into tearful lugubriousness.(It msut be said, though, that his vocalism is far from a true Slavic baritone's, such as Dimitri Hvorostovksy or Sergei Liferkus.) Most singers who take up Ned Rorem are female, so it's nice to hear a man singing texts that demand a masculine voice. The five "War Scenes" given here are freely adapted from Walt Whitman's often gruesome and yet compasisonate prose writing in the Civil War. Some are tender beyond any war poetry one can think of, and there's a chaste homoeroticism that is one of the hallmarks of Whitman's voice Finley handles this delicate territory direclty and sincerely, although I'm not sure that Roem's music reaches very deep. It was wise of the composer to keep his expresison minima, given lines like "His brains partially oozing out" -- the shock and pity of the words msut come first. The sonics are very good, and Finley's longtime accompanist, Julius Drake, does well, although I wished at times for more character and force in the Russian songs. Encore - Charles, W: Green Eyed Dragon Ecnore - Ives, C: Memories Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death Encore - Rautavaara: Shall I compare thee Rorem: War Scenes Tchaikovsky: Don Juan's Serenade, Op. 38 No. 1 It happened in the early Spring Op. 38 No. 2 At the ball Does the day reign?, Op. 47 No 6 The mild stars shone for us Only one who knows longing As over burning Embers |
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Music > Classical > Chamber Music > By Period > Modern & 20th Century
- Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Classical (c.1770-1830)
- Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music
- Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Romantic (c.1820-1910)
- Music > Miscellaneous
- Music > Opera & Vocal > Historical Periods > Early Music
- Music > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Songs & Lieder
- Music > Pop > Vocal Pop
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
