Search - Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin :: So Much to Tell

Superb Barber and Copland by a Singer to Watch

J Scott Morrison | Middlebury VT, USA | 11/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Measha Brüggergosman is a Canadian soprano not yet thirty years old. Young she may be, but she is carving out a big career for herself. On this disc she is up against pretty stiff competition and comes out pretty darned well. The program consists of Copland's 'Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson,' Barber's `Knoxville: Summer of 1915,' and three songs by Gershwin. There is also a stunning unlisted 'ghost track,' an unaccompanied rendition of 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.' Each of these areas of the repertoire has been repeatedly recorded by singers much more famous than she. Talk about confidence!



Measha Brüggergosman's name is unusual, to say the least. It turns out that her birthname was Gosman and when she married Markus Brügger they simply combined both names. I'm told that her first name is pronounced 'Meesha.' She studied with Mary Morrison in Toronto and then with the eminent Canadian-born soprano, Edith Wiens, in Germany.



I am familiar with three recorded versions of the eight Dickinson songs that Copland orchestrated (out of the twelve songs he'd earlier set for voice and piano): those of Dawn Upshaw (with Hugh Wolf and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), Marni Nixon (with Keith Clark and the Pacific Symphony) and Barbara Hendricks (with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony). All three are simply ravishing. Brüggergosman's performance on this disc deserves to be placed beside them. She seems to identify completely with Dickinson's words. In 'There came a wind like a bugle,' for instance, she sings out the opening line with stentorian tones, something that none of the other three singers can quite manage. Brüggergosman's voice is largish, but she manages it so well that she is also able to sing sweetly, softly as in the following song, 'The world feels dusty' ('when we stop to die'). She conveys the girlish enthusiasm of 'March, come in!' delightfully. (By the way, it is from a line in that poem, 'I have so much to tell,' that this CD gets its overall title. An apt one, too, because one of the things that comes across in this album is the singer's eagerness to tell us all manner of things with relish and exuberance.)



Barber's 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915' is perhaps my favorite piece for soprano and orchestra by an American composer. I fell in love with it shortly after its first recording came out in the 1950s. On that LP (now on a Sony CD) the work's dedicatee, the beloved American soprano Eleanor Steber, sang what for me remains the definitive version. There have been many subsequent recordings, notable among which is that of Leontyne Price. (For what it is worth, there is a much more recent recording by Dawn Upshaw that I was not so taken with, but others have been rapturous about it. Further, when oh when is Renée Fleming going to record this masterpiece?) If I say that Brüggergosman's performance reminds me of Steber's you can be assured this is high praise. Her diction is near-flawless and it is clear that she feels the words acutely. This prose poem by James Agee contains nostalgia, irony, love, innocence, feelings of loss all rolled up together. Barber's music captures it perfectly. When the soprano's line rises, on the words 'Now is the night one blue dew,' ending on a pianissimo high A falling to G# (and with 'oo' vowels almost impossible to sing above the staff) I don't know anyone who doesn't get a chill when it's done well. Here, it is. Goosebumps. The final section beginning with 'On the rough wet grass of the backyard' returns to the opening innocence and sweetness, even when the text talks of death, of 'my people ... in the hour of their taking away,' and Brüggergosman's sweet lyric tone matches this perfectly. There is something in her sound that conveys the childlike, yet knowing, tone of Agee's text. Ah!



There is more Barber on this disc, this time orchestra alone. I am ashamed to admit that I don't ever recall hearing his 'Serenade for Strings, Op. 1' but as played here by the fine Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under their conductor Roy Goodman, this 10 minute, three movement work following, as it does, 'Knoxville,' continues the identifiably American nostalgic tone. And beautifully played, too.



The CD concludes with what for me is the weakest part of it: soprano and chamber orchestra arrangements by Adrian Williams of three Gershwin tunes-'Embraceable You,' 'By Strauss,' and 'I've Got a Crush on You.' The arrangements strike me as the sort that are perhaps best heard at a symphony pops concert­--lush and overdone. Brüggergosman does her best, and that's pretty good if a little bit straight, although the slow tempo and crooning manner in which such lyrics as 'could you coo, could you care' are sung made my blood sugar rise. Not my cuppa but I do know there are people for whom these arrangements and performances would be delightful.



Then, as a surprise (but I guess it won't be for you if you've read this far) is a blockbuster unlisted a cappella rendition of 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.' Here Brüggergosman knocked my socks off. This is not only musically stunning, it is clear that she is conveying something vitally important to her. I would be willing to hear a whole CD of such songs sung by her in this fashion.



This young singer is definitely someone to keep a watch for. I'd love to hear her sing in live performance and hope one of these days I'll be able to.



Recommended.



Scott Morrison"

Look out, world.....Here comes Measha Brüeggergosman !

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 05/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are times in the course of musical happenings that a singer just stuns the audience. Such is the case with Measha Brüeggergosman, a young Canadian soprano who while no means unknown on the concert stage, here presents a portrait of an important young artist. That a new soprano with such gifts at such a young age would also show the intelligence to make her recording debut not with rehashes of war horse audience pleasers, but with a recital of songs by three American composers - well, that just says a lot.



Brüeggergosman owns and uses well a voice that is rich and on the dark side, that sort of voice one usually associates with the big Verdi soprano roles. Yet though many are comparing her to the young Leontyne Price (a well-deserved and apropos predecessor!), Measha Brüeggergosman proves herself much more agile in rapid sequences. She is sensitive to text and her enunciation is near perfection. At her not-yet-thirty age these attributes are rare.



The recital, and that is how this remarkable CD sounds, begins with Aaron Copeland's '8 Poems by Emily Dickinson', progresses to Samuel Barber's stunningly beautiful 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915', segues into an orchestral breather of Barber's 'Serenade for Strings' played well by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducted by Roy Goodman, and ends with three popular songs by George Gershwin (for this listener the least successful choices in this hearty menu). And then there is an encore a cappella 'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' that surpasses all other interpretations.



Sounds like a rave review? It most certainly is. This album is a treasure and only wets the appetite for more exposure to the magic of Measha Brüeggergosman. She has so much to tell. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, May 05"

Rising Powerhouse Soprano Sings Copland, Barber and Gershwin

Ed Uyeshima | San Francisco, CA USA | 03/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Of the multitude of singers on William Bolcom's recent masterwork, "Songs of Innocence and of Experience (William Blake)", soprano Measha Brüeggergosman stood out with her impressive solo on "The Lamb", a challenging piece that called for preternatural leaps and runs which she performed with precision and passion. Astonishingly, she is only 26 years old, yet has the powerful voice of someone at least a decade older than her years especially with her full-bodied timbre and richness in color and texture. Brüeggergosman puts all of this on full display in this promising recital recording. Where her tender age does show at times is a certain lack of nuance in interpretation that can only come with experience, an undefinable quality that a Karita Mattila or a Renée Fleming has in spades. With this debut, the young soprano chooses to tackle Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and George Gershwin, an odd trio at first glance but a true American triumvirate that somehow comes together through her searing commitment to the music. A critical part of the equation here is the expert accompaniment by the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra led by music director Roy Goodman. In fact, they perform Barber's "Serenade for Strings" beautifully as an instrumental intermission within the program.



The eight Copland pieces were orchestrated by the composer himself mostly in the 1960's, and his style is unmistakable in this paean to poet Emily Dickinson, with whom he obviously shared a passion for love, nature and self-realization. It is an idyllic marriage over which Brüeggergosman presides gorgeously with a strong sense of the dramatic possibilities therein. Following Leontyne Price's footsteps, she handles Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" with an articulate expressiveness that somehow misses the intentional spring breeze casualness of the piece but still packs an emotional wallop all the same. The three Gershwin selections are lovely, though truth be told, they seem to belong on another album altogether. She handles the casual elegance of "Embraceable You" with aplomb without sacrificing her focused pitch, but oddly the song stops suddenly. "By Strauss" is given a full-blown Broadway-style treatment, which she sings with requisite lightness and a welcome sense of humor in perfect three-quarter time. Brüeggergosman is almost undone by the elaborate arrangement for "I've Got a Crush on You", and her articulate phrasing seems at odds with the casual, playful yearning of the original song. There is a bonus track in which she sings with roof-raising conviction an unaccompanied spiritual, "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?", without sacrificing the purity of her voice. Hers will be a talent to watch and over time, I believe her interpretative skills will become just as impressive as her voice."