Monday, October 15, 2012

Awards 2007: Living composer - Vocal

Lieberson: Neruda Songs
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson; Boston Symphony Orchestra/James Levine
Nonesuch

Reviewers were deeply touched by the love story behind this recording of music composed by Peter Lieberson for his wife, and her death from cancer just six months after this recording was made. So there was no doubt some sentimentality in the warmth with which the album was received - but the quality of the music wasn't in doubt either. James H North in Fanfare: "It is hard to say which is more beautiful, the music or the singing, because they are inseparable. His compositions have never been so simple, so pure, cleansed of all excess, all adornment. Her singing has never seemed so true, so removed from the necessary artifices of vocal production. He subtly captures the Spanish aura of the songs, which she recreates indelibly."

Runners-up:
Rautavaara: "Song of my heart". Gabriel Suovanen; Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam [Ondine]
Lauridsen: "Nocturnes". Polyphony; Britten Sinfonia/Stephen Layton [Hyperion]
Bingham: The Secret Garden; Salt in the Blood; etc. BBC Symphony Chorus/Stephen Jackson; Fine Arts Brass Ensemble [Naxos]
Vasks: Pater Noster; Dona nobis pacem; Missa. Latvian Radio Choir; Sinfonietta Riga/Sigvards Klava [Ondine]

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