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Ned Rorem: Selected Songs
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In Stock
Price:
$8.99
$4.53*
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| Part No: | B00005QISU |
| Manufacturer: | Naxos American |
| MFG Part: | |
| Customer Rating: | 4.5 / 5.0 |
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| Farley's aggressive romanticism perhaps not spot-on, Rorem delightful | 2008-12-14 | 5 / 5 |
| It's hardly a surprise to discover another delightful recording from Naxos, and I was prepared to gush about the accompaniment before commenting on Farley's performance; in my ignorance, I hadn't taken the time to check the name of the accompanist. Rorem himself! What a twit I am. In any case, it's hardly surprising then that we have been delivered 32 pieces of supple, sensitive, and--typical of Rorem--glowingly diaphanous keyboard work. I have rarely been so charmed by such a typically charming composer. Treasonously, I found myself wishing that Farley would desist and let the piano take center stage. Naturally, this is the worst thing I could say about a collection of art songs--so, a couple words on the soprano.
These songs are, for the large part, slightly uptempo in comparison to other recordings of the same work, and the delivery is more forceful--operatic, even. Investigating other recordings of Rorem's work for upper-range voice I discovered that this is, to varying degrees, the standard form of presentation; pieces I would expect to be delivered in a subdued and gauzy fashion are typically sung--well--loudly. "Loud" is really the word for Farley's performance, both in the usual sense and in the sense of graphic design--other reviewers have accused her of affectedness and, while this is perhaps unjust, her delivery certainly draws attention to itself. For instance, in "What if some little pain"--a piece with a markedly simple, yearning accompaniment--she inflicts so much breathy rapture on the word "doth" in the final verse that the melody and, I would say, the progress of the piece is temporarily brought to an aesthetic halt.
Because the vast bulk of my listening habits, as far as vocal music is concerned, have been concentrated in the more post-classical style one finds in Gavin Bryars, Louis Andriessen, and the minimalists, it is possible that this final point is unjust, i.e. that I may have a tin ear in this regard: However, I would criticize Farley's technique itself in that she often seems to lose her pitch in the interstices between notes, a sort of toneless vibrato static between sustained pitches. If this is ignorant of me, I readily accept that I may be mistaken.
In final defense of Farley, although it was unsettling in a few pieces I found her more forcible energetic delivery particularly effective in a number of pieces--"Visits to St. Elizabeth's" and "Root Cellar" in particular, as well as the Roethke cycle as a whole, were particularly good. She is also particularly good when she adopts a gentler and more lyrical style, for instance in the very first piece, "The Waking," in which she is just as sweet, supple and intelligently ravishing as could possibly be desired. |
| Great vocal virtuosity | 2005-04-07 | 5 / 5 |
| This is a great recording, by two great artists. Carole Farley is the ideal singer for Ned Rorem's songs. She spell out every
word and every nuance, giving each song and every poem their full character. The songs are a revelation. I recommend this recording without hesitation.
Christoph (Berlin, Germany) |
| Confuzzled | 2004-01-03 | 3 / 5 |
| | While these song are GREAT...I cannot get over Carole Farley; her voice is so affected (kind of like a sprechstimme; overly dramatic...). I love the fact that Rorem himself is playing the piano, and as a singer, the catalogue of songs is good to have...but cant say I could ever manage getting over Farley's affectation. There are far superior recordings out there. |
| An American Composer of Art Song | 2003-04-01 | 5 / 5 |
| | American popular song, whether standards, show tunes,jazz, blues, or rock, is one of our country's most visible artistic achievements. American classical (or Art) songs are much less known. Ned Rorem (b. 1923) is probably the greatest American composer in this unfamiliar medium. Rorem is sometimes dubbed the "American Schubert." This disc features 32 of Ned Rorem's songs for voice and piano. Soprano Carole Farley is the accomplished singer, and Ned Rorem himself plays the piano. The disc is special because it features settings of the works of American poets. The CD begins with 9 settings of poems by the mid-twentieth century poet, Theodore Roethke, and concludes with settings of 5 poems by Walt Whitman. The disc also includes settings of poems by William Carlos Williams, Gertrude Stein, and Paul Goodman, among others. Thus the disc combines in a special way American creative effort in poetry and in music. Rorem's songs are declamatory in style. Typically, the voice line delivers the text of the poetry in a sort of chant. The relationship between the voice line and the piano is far from Schubertian. Generally, the piano takes a separate line and accentuates the voice by means of large chords or by runs or by other comments and punctuation on the voice. The texts are well set and the music is effective. There are some unusual harmonies with jazz and blues influences. Rorem's piano accompanyment on this disc gives the recording a sense of authenticity -- we get a good idea of how the composer wants his songs to be conveyed. The disc includes excellent program notes and texts of all the songs. Naxos has received deservedly high praise for its "American Classics" series which makes much music written by Americans available on CD at a low price. This disc includes some lovely, little-known songs. It is an excellent introduction to the American art song and to the music of Ned Rorem. |
| more German than Rorem | 2002-07-20 | 3 / 5 |
| I've been a Rorem fan since hearing a highschool friend perform some of his work in her college recital. His startling, atonal songs were an instant revelation. For years there were few reliable CDs of his vocal work. A scandal considering his reputation rests more on his art songs and chamber music than on his orchestral pieces. This Naxos entry of a wide overview of his best songs is thus quite welcome, due largely to its availability, wide distribution and professional packaging (he's had some shoddy issues before with incorrect liner notes, etc.; the challenge of the low budget).
I can't call myself an unalloyed fan of soprano Carole Farley however. Her delivery here recalls the speak-singing style of German 12-tone composers (a specialty of hers), and can sound melodramatic, especially when she rushes the more delicate passages.
I prefer Rorem's softer, more melodious French side, the one that descends from Impressionism and is more warmly emotive. While Farley loses the shading of some of the more fragile songs, she is well-suited to the longer, more forceful pieces. I've heard many readings of "Early in the Morning" (one of Rorems most popular songs) by male and female vocalists, and its tale of wistful nostalgia is muted by Farley's direct approach. However, she nails "My Papa's Waltz," a fractured setting for a Roethke poem about a frightened child forced to dance with a drunken father. Here her acting skills come to the fore, and she perfectly captures the tipsy madness of the song. Rorem can be quite theatrical himself on occasion. She does almost as well with "See How they love me," a ballad with a regular pace that allows her assertive style to breathe.
At any rate it's great to hear these lovely songs in a recent (2000) recording, accompanied (rather emphatically, but perhaps he's matching his theatrical singer) by Rorem himself.
The similar Susan Graham album is more to my taste, but this is a more than competent bargain set.
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