Bespoke Songs
Fotina Naumenko; various artists
New Focus Recordings FCR410 (newfocusrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/bespoke-songs)
Listen
Bespoke Songs, I. Here is a poem
“Hope” is the Thing with Feathers, I. After great pain, a formal feeling comes
Let Evening Come, I. Evening Sun
Read the Review
Sensual doesn’t so much ooze as burst in ecstatic luminosity from Fotina Naumenko’s soaring, swooping soprano. The recital comprises 20 works specially commissioned by Naumenko from four composers. Each takes a cue from a verse by poets selected by the soprano and relates to settings and emotions awakened by the global pandemic. The album takes its title from a cycle of twelve – Bespoke Songs –composed by Jonathan Newman, set to the poetry of Kristina Faust.
Two shorter cycles comprise a work by Jennifer Jolley (“Hope” Is The Thing with Feathers – poetry by Emily Dickenson), and one by Benedict Sheehan (Let Evening Come with texts by Jane Kenyon). These cycles bookend Carrie Magin’s work (How to See An Angel set to Dorothy Walter’s poem). The commissions were initiated during the global pandemic and reflect the angst that was imposed on a human psyche which still cries out for healing.
The work of artists of the first order were driven not only to deeper reflection, but also to surface for air with the singular impulse to heal others with art. This Naumenko certainly does with uncommon erudition. Her instrument is gorgeous: lustrous, precise and feather-light. Her musicianship is fierce as she digs into the expression of every word, giving every phrase a special grace. The accompanying musicians bring a deeply interiorised reading that complements Naumenko’s execution.
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- Benedict Sheehan: Akahist - Choir of Trinity Wall Street; Artefact Ensemble; Novus NY 25-02-14
- Zibuokle Martinaityte – Aletheia: Choral Works - Latvian Radio Choir; Sigvards Klava 25-02-14
- Works for Piano and Orchestra: Prokofiev; Rimsky-Korsakov; Tsfasman - Zlata Chochieva; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Karl-Heinz Steffens 25-02-12
- Hush: New Works for Flute and Electronics - Roberta Michel 25-02-12