The Tender Land: Act II: Interlude - Transition (to Original Act III) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: Is There Someone in There That's Called Laurie (Martin) (Laurie) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: Daybreak Will Come (Laurie) (Martin) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: Is That How You See Laurie? (Top) (Martin) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: The Sun Is Comin' Up (Laurie) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: Laurie's Leaving (Beth) (Laurie) (Ma Moss) - Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Act II: Ma Moss' Final Aria (Ma Moss) - Aaron Copland
This is the world premiere recording of the chamber version of Copland's The Tender Land, which the composer himself approved. Those who love Appalachian Spring and its wide-open, American, innocent but energetic idiom wi... more »ll discover much of the same feeling of warmth and homespun verisimilitude here. The performance is excellent. The chamber orchestra plays handsomely and with great sentiment under Murray Sidlin (who also did the arrangements), and the singers react to the music as if they were living each moment for the first time. Suzan Hanson makes the most of Laurie, singing with the right combination of winsomeness and reality, and her love music with Martin, sung with charm by tenor Robert MacNeil, makes for some beautiful listening. Milagro Vargas is protective as Ma, while Richard Zeller's baritone is a bit light and young-sounding for Grandpa. Douglas Webster sings the role of Top, Martin's fellow wanderer, with real verve. Indeed, the quintet that ends Act One, "The promise of living," in which all five lead characters take part, is simply ravishing. The rest of the cast is excellent. Try not to do without this recording; it's a beauty. --Robert Levine« less
This is the world premiere recording of the chamber version of Copland's The Tender Land, which the composer himself approved. Those who love Appalachian Spring and its wide-open, American, innocent but energetic idiom will discover much of the same feeling of warmth and homespun verisimilitude here. The performance is excellent. The chamber orchestra plays handsomely and with great sentiment under Murray Sidlin (who also did the arrangements), and the singers react to the music as if they were living each moment for the first time. Suzan Hanson makes the most of Laurie, singing with the right combination of winsomeness and reality, and her love music with Martin, sung with charm by tenor Robert MacNeil, makes for some beautiful listening. Milagro Vargas is protective as Ma, while Richard Zeller's baritone is a bit light and young-sounding for Grandpa. Douglas Webster sings the role of Top, Martin's fellow wanderer, with real verve. Indeed, the quintet that ends Act One, "The promise of living," in which all five lead characters take part, is simply ravishing. The rest of the cast is excellent. Try not to do without this recording; it's a beauty. --Robert Levine
CD Reviews
Copland was, and still is, a genius.
saberxray | Vermillion, SD United States | 02/03/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Just recently, I was introduced to Copland when I had to sing "THE TENDER LAND" for a choral event. I found this peice to be deeply moving, and I looked elsewhere for the CD. After listening to the whole thing, I was pratically moved to tears by the shear beauty and power of the theme of the music. I always enjoyed Copland's work, like the Appalation Spring, or Rodeo, but this takes the cake. I give it a five star rating."
The Chamber Version Works Really Well
Ed Ting | Amherst, NH USA | 11/11/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I saw Sidlin's chamber version of this opera in Pittsburgh a few years ago and walked out of the concert with a warm glow inside. I've been beating the drum for this gentle little opera ever since, and I am glad to have his recording now. This is wonderful music, and if all you know of Copland is Appalachian Spring and the other popular suites, you are in for a real treat. The quintet that closes the First Act, "The Promise of Living" is stirring and may cause you to hit that "repeat" button on your remote more than once.The chamber version is thinner and leaner sounding than the full version, and as such it places greater demands on the singers. The chamber version is definitely a singer's opera; the orchestra is just along for the ride. Luckily, they're up to it. I noticed no weak spots among the cast. Ironically, the Brunelle/MN/Virgin recording uses the full orchestral version but the voices sound all wrong, as if the singers had just accidently wandered in from a Broadway play.This is the one to get. Compleatists might want to seek out the Brunelle version too, but start with this one.-Ed"
Copland: Composer for the American Depression Era
Robert W. Allen | Northfield Falls, Vermont United States | 11/05/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I will never forget the day that I first found a 33 1/3 recording of The Tender Land in Bailey's Music Rooms on Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. I made my way up the hill to the Billings Student Center, found an empty listening booth, opened up the record, and started it spinning. When I heard the glorious ending of the First Act: "The Promise of Living," I dissolved into tears.
Now it is many years later, and there's a new recording, this time a more complete version, but a chamber version at that. I can only say that this work still moves me even today as it did then, and the chamber version seems a much better rendition than the one I originally owned for two reasons: First, because it's more complete, so the plot makes better sense. Second because it is a chamber version, it has a greater tendency to evoke the stark realities of Midwest farmlife in the depression era. Copland essentially grew up as a composer during that era, and it is worth studying some of his starker piano pieces, especially the Piano Variations and the Piano Sonata, to see how he evolved from a spare style that beautifully evoked the America of his day to the more substantial works that came later: Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, Rodeo, and this great opera called The Tender Land. If anything, this opera is proof that the lessons he learned during the Depression were not lost on him, and became the basis for all the great music that followed."
Fabulous!
Thomas C. Nagy | Ebensburg, PA USA | 04/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Excellent orchestrations. The chamber setting emphasizes the vocal demands placed on the singers.The vocal casting is superb. Honest voices singing honest roles. This combination affords the listener the chance to enjoy this opera as it is intended. The opera is often described as unlistenable, mostly due to the over production of sound. "The Tender Land" was never intended to sound Wagnerian."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1