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PT 6836
Jake Heggie: Unexpected Shadows
Label Catalogue Number:
PTC5186836
PTC5186836
Running Time: 01:06:00
Release Date: September 2020
Originally recorded in September 2020
Originally recorded in September 2020
Genre:
Classical
Classical
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About
Star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton presents a recital of songs by American composer Jake Heggie, with the composer at the piano. UNEXPECTED SHADOWS is a celebration in words and music of powerful, exceptional women. The program contains four song cycles, a standalone art song, and an opera aria.
The Work at Hand, set to poetry of the late Laura Morefield, contemplates the brave fight against cancer that she, and millions like her, went through. Matt Haimovitz’ cello playing adds an extra layer to this profoundly moving song cycle. Iconic Legacies, with texts by Gene Scheer, offers four portraits of remarkable First Ladies. Scheer also wrote texts for Statuesque, inspired by five iconic sculptures of women and the deeply human stories within them. Of Gods & Cats, based on poetry by Gavin Dillard, offers playful parodies on religious allegories. Music, set to a text by Sister Helen Prejean, addresses the transformative, healing, and humanizing power of music, while the “Ice Cube Aria” from Heggie’s opera If I Were You, with a libretto by Gene Scheer, shows the female demon Brittomara reflecting on the delicious predictability of human nature.
Award-winning mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, just named BBC Music Magazine’s 2020 Personality of the Year, makes her PENTATONE debut. Jake Heggie has a vast discography with the label, including the opera It’s a Wonderful Life (2017) and song recital albums by Melody Moore, Lisa Delan and Joyce DiDonato. The same applies to Matt Haimovitz, who has released several albums on PENTATONE, from contemporary classical and jazz and rock covers to Bach’s complete cello suites.
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Reviews
Nominee in the Song category
Gramophone Awards 2021
“… Barton, Heggoe and Haimovitz perform all the selections with conviction, Ms Barton emphasizing the intent of the lyrics emotionally, particularly in the Winged Victory song, which requires a good deal of drama. The music varies considerably from quiet and introspective to loud and raucous. With such a wide variety of styles there is something for everyone, especially if you like Heggie’s songs…”
Paul L Althouse – American Record Guide – September/October 2021
Nominee in Contemporary Music Category
International Classical Music Awards 2021
“… Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton sings this music with sensitivity with the composer at the keyboard. Young master cellist Matt Hamovitz is featured in The Work at Hand, set to poetry of the late Laura Morefield. Comprehensive program notes and complete texts are provided. This is an important vocal issue recorded in realistic multi-channel audio.”
Robert Benson – classicalcdreview.com – October 2020
"... Warmly recommended."
Azusa Ueno – theclassicreview.com – 18 October 2020
Choral & Song Choice
Performance ***** Recording ****
"... Throughout this recital, Barton and Heggie move seamlessly from dramatic ('Ice Cube Aria' from the opera If I Were You) to the droll ('Once Upon a Universe' in Of Gods and Cats), the mezzo-soprano's tone as clear as a bell."
Claire Jackson - BBC Music Magazine - December 2020
Recommended
“… Throughout the CD Barton employs her rich and gloriously velvet textured tone with restraint and taste only to switch to delicious abandonment such as the concluding song where she sings with such gleeful relish as to make this one track alone worth the price of the entire CD. Pentatone’s excellent presentation features a gatefold style case coupled with the wonderful sound engineering making this CD one of my choices for Recording of the Year.”
Mike Parr – MusicWeb-International.com – 9 October 2020
Recording of the Month
“In the opening minute of her new album, sung entirely a capella, prize-winning mezzo Jamie Barton displays all her remarkable expressive and vocal skills.As she sings Sister Helen Prejean’s opening words of “Music” from Jake Heggie’s song cycle The Breaking Waves, we immediately feel that here is an exceptional talent. With lithe athleticism, creamy tone and an ability to raise your neck hairs, Barton describes a man on death row who has been given a tape recorder and headphones…” *****
Steve Moffatt – limelightmagazine.com.au – 21 September 2020
Album of the Week
“… Jamie Barton’s solo album is devoted to Heggie’s art songs and it’s a tribute to his output that he sustains the interest for over an hour with a variety that stands comparison with, say, Poulenc in the 20th century, lavishing sumptuous tone on the cycle written for Barton, The Work at Hand. Haimovitz plays the introductory solo superbly..”
Hugh Canning – The Sunday Times (Culture magazine) – 20 September 2020
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