- Audio CD (Oct 21 2003)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: EMI Music Canada
- ASIN: B0000AC8MR
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #154,008 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Details |
Track Listings
| 1. A Quiet Thing |
| 2. Blackberry Winter |
| 3. So Pretty |
| 4. My Shining Hour |
| 5. Pampano Verde |
| 6. Con Amores, La Mi Madre |
| 7. A La Caza |
| 8. Come Again, Sweet Love |
| 9. Flow, My Tears |
| 10. Music For A While |
| 11. Vaga Luna, Che Inargenti |
| 12. Malinconia, Ninfa Gentile |
| 13. Ma Rendi Pur Contento |
| 14. Ave Maria |
| 15. A Simple Song |
| 16. Ave Maria |
| 17. Beautiful Dreamer |
| 18. Shenandoah |
| 19. Plaisir D'Amour |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
On this record, David Daniels, one of our finest, most sought-after countertenors, adds a wide variety of styles, from Italian bel canto, popular classics, and American art- and folksongs to his signature Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. He appears to be equally at home in all of them, naturally adapting his vocalism, phrasing, diction, and delivery to each idiom, while his uniquely beautiful voice retains its pure, floating quality and intense expressiveness. His astonishing breath control lets him spin and sustain endless phrases; his middle range is dark and warm, his top bright and radiant. (Hearing those ringing E-flats, Es and Fs from a male voice never ceases to surprise.) The program seems aimed at including something for everybody, but reversing the usual route, arrives at the European 15th century by way of the American 20th, opening with John Kander's title song and songs by Alec Wilder, Harold Arlen, and Leonard Bernstein, who is represented by the frighteningly contemporary anti-war protest "So Pretty" and a song from "Mass." Three beautiful Spanish Renaissance songs and three famous English songs by Dowland and Purcell are followed by three luxuriously romantic, intimately caressing ones by Bellini; the program ends with three popular favorites, two American, one French. The only false note is struck by two overly familiar versions of "Ave Maria": Gounod's, a skillful extraction of a fine melody from Bach's C-major Prelude (sung here in D-flat), and Schubert's, a setting of Ellen's prayer from Sir Walter Scott's "Lady of the Lake." Craig Ogden's otherwise excellent guitar arrangements of the original piano and lute accompaniments are less successful here; the texture is too thin to support and sustain the intensity of the music. --Edith Eisler
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reveries,
By
This review is from: A Quiet Thing Songs For Voice (Audio CD)
A QUIET THING: Songs for Voice and Guitar is a unique, idiosyncratic, irresistible collection of songs that span from contemporary melodies from Broadway to English lute songs to versions of Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod and Schubert) to American folksongs. And as if this variety of communication weren't enough, these songs are performed by countertenor par excellence David Daniels and the subtle and sensitive guitarist Craig Ogden. Both performers are intensely musical, intuitive interpreters of poetry and melody line and offer popular ballads from the stage of today with as much sincerity as bel canto songs of Bellini and the other-worldly Dowland and Purcell. For those unfamiliar with the countertenor oeuvre then this is a beautiful introduction to that vocal quality. David Daniels is internationally celebrated for his resurrecting the original countertenor roles in Handel operas and his voice has more power on the opera stage in this unfamiliar vocal range than those many regular tenors. Not being a fan of crossover recordings (big opera stars singing Broadway show tunes) I admittedly approached this album with reservation. But listening to these two men changes all that. Here in this aptly titled collection Daniels proves that his soft and quiet range is just as admirable as his 'big role arias'. The collaboration between Daniels and Ogden is clear and pitch perfect and the result is a recital - no, salon - of intimately communicated moments. An album to treasure.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Food for the Soul,
By Nicole (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Quiet Thing Songs For Voice (Audio CD)
Having everything from Marylin Manson and The Offspring to Rossini and Offenbach in my CD collection, I'm certainly not a die-hard classical music fan. Driving home one night (stuck in peak-hour traffic) I heard "A Simple Song" (tack 15 from this album) on the radio. It was just so simple, so peaceful and joyous. I had never heard of David Daniels, but I bought the album and have listened to it constantly. It is superb. Even if you think you don't like the counter-tenor (male alto) voice, try this album, you won't regret it.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unless you like Bernstein...,
By
This review is from: A Quiet Thing Songs For Voice (Audio CD)
This disc will be painful to the ears. I love Daniels' voice - strong, fluid, clear, especially pleasant in the low to mid range. And his stage presence made the touring Julius Caesar plain fun. But the Bernstein songs on this collection are not melodious and a jarring contrast to the title track and the older pieces. I found myself skipping tracks after the first listening. It was enjoyable, one time, to hear the two versions of Ave Maria for comparison, but they also seem out of place on this secular album. At least he does not take either one "over the top" the way some well-known tenors are wont to do; kept it under control and almost ethereal, as befits the subject. "Shenandoah" is perhaps the strangest pick and not a good choice, lacking the flowing sense of the lyrics and melody - it just didn't sound like a languid river flowing to the sea. Daniels' other recordings are a much better showcase for his voice and presentation.
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