Reese: The Mitten
Kathryn Guthrie, soprano; Thea Lobo, mezzo-soprano; Luke Grooms, tenor; Kellie Van Horn, mezzo-soprano; Paul Soper, baritone; Andrea Chenoweth, soprano; David Salsbery Fry, bass; Neal Ferreira, tenor;
The Shakespeare Concerts Ensemble
Arcadia Players
Kevin Owen, French horn;
Ian Watson, harpsichord.
SangYoung Kim, piano. John McGinn, piano. Victor Cayres, piano.
Navona Records 6134
Total Time: 64:47
Recording: ****/****
Performance: ****/****
How many ways can one set Shakespeare? This sixth release in The Shakespeare Concert Series provides one answer with a number of settings from the bard’s plays (As You Like It, Hamlet, Love’s Labours Lost, Hamlet, Twlefth Night, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice), a sonnet, and settings of texts by John Fletcher and John Donne.
The album is bookended by more recent music by the series founder, Joseph Summer. It begins with a “Concert Overture” for piano (well-performed here by SangYoung Kim. It’s turbulent music sets the stage for the overarching theme, “No Enemy But Winter and Rough Weather.”
The songs cover music from the Renaissance (Thomas Morley) to the present day. Most interesting are two settings of “Under the Greenwood Tree”. William Walton’s is the more familiar perhaps with its very measured approach that is of that newer English Renaissance of the 20th Century. The piece was written in 1936 for a film version of As You Like It. Then we are treated to the first of three of Four Shakespeare Songs, Op. 31 (1937-41) included on the disc. This music by Korngold is firmly couched in late-Romanticism. His setting of “When Birds Do Sing” adds a more comical style where the piano provides little motivic touches to the vocal line. This is contrasted with Morley’s own setting. Interesting comparisons to be made between the two composers who are more similar than one might anticipate. The chamber ensemble setting of Peter Warlock’s “Sleep” makes for a slightly more operatic moment, though the music itself winds around modal harmonies. Settings of “Blow, Blow, though winter wind” provide interesting contrast between a setting by Arne, and then Korngold. The Arcadia Players return for two fascinating settings by Dominick Argento (“Winter” and “Dirge”) from his Six Elizabethan Songs, a bit more operatic in style. Donald Busarow’s setting of “Death, Be Not Proud” is a rather fascinating approach. The music if set for soprano, French horn, and piano. The latter draws out the dramatic and emotional undercurrent of the text. The others are almost in a dialogue that take inspiration one from the other with the French Horn providing some truly beautiful lyric moments. These become the counterpoint to the equally compelling soprano line.
The last five pieces are all by Joseph Summer. The stormy and darker music of the opening piano piece find a counterpart in the setting of “Sonnet LX” and “O, that this too too solid flesh”. The text moves through a sort of contemporary recitative-like moment with spots of more operatic heights. The latter moves well through this famous Hamlet soliloquy. Summer’s setting of a scene from The Tempest follows here with an ensemble cast. It is perhaps one of the highlights of his own work presented on the disc providing a window into a chamber opera. These and the following songs feature some excellent accompaniment that tends towards more modern harmony with flashes of gorgeous lyricism.
The overall flow of this album works quite well. Though the texts may be identical in some cases, this allows for excellent comparisons to how composers of different times and styles approach text setting. Summer’s own music is equally dramatic and serves to bookend these other works quite well while also showing off his own style. An interesting album that has much to offer for fans of art song and worthy repertoire to become familiar with as well.
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