Gerald Finley Samuel Barber Julius Drake - Songs by Samuel Barber (27 tracks) +Album Reviews

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Gerald Finley, Samuel Barber, Julius Drake
Songs by Samuel Barber
Genres: Pop, Classical

Track Listings (27) - Disc #1
1. There's nae lark
2. The Beggar's Song 'Good people keep their holy day'
3. In the dark pinewood
4. #3: Bessie Bobtail 'As down the road she wambled slow'
5. #1: At St. Patrick's Purgatory 'Pity me on my pilgrimange to Loch Derg!'
6. #2: Church Bell at Night ' Sweet lettle bell, struck on a windy night'
7. #3: St. Ita's Vision 'I will take nothing from my Lord, said she'
8. # 4: The Heavenly Banquet ' I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house'
9. # 5: The Crucifixion 'At the cry of the first bird'
10. # 6: Sea Snatch 'It has broken us, it has crushed us'
11. # 7: Promiscuity 'I do not know with whom Edan will sleep'
12. #8: The Monk and his Cat ' Pangur, white Panguer'
13. #9: The Praises of God 'How foolish the man who does not raise'
14. #10: The Desire for Hermitage ' Ah! To be all alone in a little cell'
15. #1: Rand has fallen
16. #2: Sleep now
17. #3: I hear an army
18. # 1: Puisque tout passe
19. #2: Un cygne
20. #3: Tombeau dans un parc 'Dors au fond de l'allee'
21. #4: Le clocher chante 'Mieux qu'une tour profane'
22. #5: Depart 'Mon aimie, il faut que je parte'
23. #1: The Daisies ' In the scented bud of the morning-O'
24. #2: With rue my heart is laden
25. #4: Nocturne ' Close my darly both your eyes'
26. #3: Sure on this shining night
27. Dover Beach, Op. 3 ' The sea is calm tonight

CD Details

All Artists: Gerald Finley, Samuel Barber, Julius Drake
Title: Songs by Samuel Barber
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: Hyperion UK
Original Release Date: 1/1/2007
Re-Release Date: 11/13/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 034571175287

CD Reviews

Fresh, direct singing brings out Barber's American-ness

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Samuel Barber was an accomplished baritone, and Gerald Finely's voice is similar in range and weight (one the evidence of early recordings, Barber's was more mellifluous and warm). Even though there's not much audience for American art songs, the output from Barber has been loved for at least six decades. Listeners who don't know the Hermit Songs generally have encountered the heartbreaking "Sure on This Shining Night" to a poem by James Agree.

Gerald Finley, fresh from his operatic triumph as John Adams' Doctor Atomic, and pianist Julius Drake are direct, at times blunt, in their approach. Thomas Hampson was more stylized and nuanced in his classic traversal, with Cheryl Studer and pianist John Browning, of all the songs (Dg, unfortunatley in shrill, edgy digital sound), and Sir Thomas Allen was warm and eloquent in his 1990 Barber recital (Virgin). Finley doesn't attempt eloquence, but he's so sincere and right in his American-ness that this newcomer in the Barber song sweepstakes creates a very positive impression."