Songs of Love and Longing
2009; Routledge; Volume: 66; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2769-4046
Autores Tópico(s)Musicology and Musical Analysis
ResumoSongs of Love and Longing. Valerie Errante, soprano; Jeffry Peterson, piano. (Albany TROY1035; 54:35) Stephen Paulus: Songs of Love and Longing: Endless Autumn Nights, One who Greets Me, Dark Seed, Echoes, Moonless Nights, Bashful Moon, From World. Yehuda Yannay: Eros Reminisced: Body Ballad, Skin Memory, Walking Yesterday, Not Too Much Light. Henry Mollicone: Five Love Songs: First Time He Kissed Me, Face of All the World, Doctor Fell, May's Love, Song. Three Simple Songs: is Another Sky, God Made a Little Gentian, Poor Little Heart. John Downey: Inclusions, Love. Richard Faith: A Sailor's Song, I Were, Serene Evening, Leavetaking, Spring. There is so much to admire about this collection, beginning with the courage of soprano Valerie Errante willingly to undertake such a fierce musical gauntlet. Most modern art song programs present a plethora of musical and vocal challenges, but few exceed the collective demands of these twenty-six songs, especially in terms of stylistic and emotional range. It is as though they represent a large and intricate mosaic, with each song contributing its own unique color and texture to create a truly dazzling whole. And yet, though the songs range from the sharply modern to the soothingly romantic, there is a strong sense of cohesiveness here that is difficult to explain, but welcome all the same. Welcome as well is the consistently high standard of these musical performances in the face of such varied challenges. Errante possesses a brilliant and flexible instrument which seems entirely untroubled by the musical complexities that these songs contain. In fact, it is only in a couple of the relatively uncomplicated songs of Richard Faith that the soprano sounds just a bit unsettled, vocally, especially at the top of her range. But in the more treacherous pieces that are the most melodically daring, she is fearless and equal to every challenge with which she is confronted. The same can certainly be said for her pianist, Jeffry Peterson, whose excellent work has been lauded before in this column and earns a new round of accolades He has to do a little bit of everything here, and does it all with unfailing musicality and with remarkable attentiveness to Ms. Errante. One can tell that they have been frequent collaborators for a long time. We are told in the program notes, and it is clearly evident in the performances themselves, that the duo has or has had close collaboration with each of the five composers represented in this collection. One hears it in the sense of complete assurance with which each song is undertaken. There is never the slightest hint of hesitancy as though the musicians were ever thinking to themselves, hope this is what Composer X wanted here. They know exactly what the composer had in mind with these songs because they have had the opportunity work with them and, in effect, to ask them what they wanted to have happen in these songs. That means that a song like Walking Yesterday by Yehuda Yannay, with its mix of singing, speaking, and Sprechstimme, can be performed in definitive fashion. It is difficult to think of anything more exciting and satisfying than that. The disk opens with what amounts to its title track, a set of seven songs titled Songs of Love and Longing. If all you know of composer Stephen Paulus is his famous This Christmastide, a lovely and radiant carol written for Jessye Norman, then you will likely be astonished at the complexity and potent modernity of these songs. The poems set by Paulus are from a Japanese tradition called tanka, which in its purest form means a poem with thirty-one syllables, arranged in groups of five, seven and five, seven and seven syllable lines. …
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