Search - Boyd Meets Girl :: Songs of Love & Despair

IC B. (icberry)
Reviewed on 3/19/2024...

The artists, in fact, are Australian classical guitarist Rupert Boyd and American cellist Laura Metcalf. known collectively as "Boyd Meets Girl". The album is fresh, lively, technically and artistically tight, classically-trained-competent and rather wonderful.

From others:

"Acclaimed soloists in their own right, as a duo they perform an eclectic and engaging range of repertoire, from the baroque through modern day, including many of their own arrangements. Boyd has been described as truly evocative by The Washington Post, and as a player who deserves to be heard by Classical Guitar Magazine. Metcalf, also a member of the ensembles Sybarite5 and Break of Reality, has been called brilliant by Gramophone.

Rupert Boyd writes: "This is an album of love. But also of despair. And some things in between. Largely conceived, arranged, rehearsed and recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, Songs of Love & Despair contains the music that we were drawn to during this time - a time of unprecedented stillness and solitude, traveling at most a few miles from our home for months on end. As a married couple we were fortunate to be able to play music together every day, and this collection of repertoire is half love, half longing; from the delicate beauty of Debussy and the joyousness of Boccherini, to the anguish of Messiaen and heartbreaking Appalachian folk songs, which tell the stories of love, life and loss. The album is a testament to this time, and we welcome you to join us as we traverse the emotions that have enveloped us all."