ABC Classics has done a stellar job of bringing Australian performers and composers to the attention of international audiences. This 2011 album features soprano Sara Macliver, a versatile singer who is as comfortable with pieces like Fauré's "Pie Jesu" and Bernstein's "Somewhere" as with the Baroque coloratura repertoire for which she's most widely known. Half of the tracks are devoted to Baroque arias and half to a sampling of pieces ranging from Mozart to Joni Mitchell. About half of the selections were newly recorded and the rest were taken from earlier releases. The title, Seraphim, is appropriate; Macliver's voice is angelic -- pure, chaste, and bright, ideal for the Baroque repertoire -- and she sings with an effortless agility. Generally she uses a relatively straight tone, which at moments, particularly in Handel's "Angels, Ever Bright and Fair," has a gleaming brightness that might be mistaken for a trumpet. Most of the selections are joyful and Macliver brings to them an engaging spirit of ebullience. The arias are mostly familiar and include Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim," Purcell's "Hark! now the echoing air," and Bach's "Mein gläubiges Herze," and "Schafe könne sicher weiden." A little-known gem is Arne's "The glitt'ring Sun," a shimmering, glowing depiction of a sunrise. Macliver shines (literally and figuratively) in the more recent repertoire as well. Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" is especially radiant, and she brings warmth and eloquent expressiveness to the selections from Ravel's Cinq mélodies populaires grecques and Canteloube's Chants d'Auvergne. A variety of Australian orchestras, most frequently Orchestra of the Antipodes led by Brett Weymark, provide very fine, idiomatic accompaniment. The only exception is the chamber group accompanying Purcell's "Now that the sun hath veiled his light," a piece that ought to leap out in its sublime strangeness but comes across here as plodding. The recordings were made at a variety of venues over a period of a decade, but the sound is always clean, well balanced, and immediate.
tracklisting:
1 Handel: Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson
2 Arne: The glitt’ring Sun from Cantata V: The Morning
3 Giacomelli / Vivaldi: Sposa son disprezzata from Bajazet
4 JS Bach: Mein gläubiges Herze (My believing heart) from Cantata No. 68
5 Purcell: Hark! The Echoing Air from The Fairy Queen
6 Handel: Angels, Ever Bright and Fair from Theodora
7 Purcell: Evening Hymn
8 JS Bach: Schafe können sicher weiden from Cantata No. 208
9 Giordani: Caro mio ben (My dear one)
10 Mozart: Laudate Dominum (Praise the Lord) from Solemn Vespers of a Confessor
11 Mozart: Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben from Zaide
12 Haydn: Al tuo sen fortunato from L’anima del filosofo
13 Fauré: Pie Jesu from Requiem
14 Ravel: Song of the Pistachio Harvesters from 5 Popular Greek Melodies
15 Canteloube: Bailèro from Songs of the Auvergne
16 Bernstein: Somewhere from West Side Story
17 Bowman: Crossing the Bar
18 Mitchell: Both Sides Now
Sara Macliver, soprano
mostly with
Orchestra of the Antipodes
led by Brett Weymark
I'm resurrecting here some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real project behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the tide. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...
1 comment:
Gracias!+
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