Vocal and Choral

Uġis Prauliņš – L’homme Armé
Ars Antiqua Riga; Péteris Vaickovskis; Jānis Pelše
LMIC SKANI 142 (skani.lv)

One of the most frequently quoted melodies in Renaissance history, L’homme armé is a secular song from the Late Middle Ages used in over 40 separate settings of the Ordinary of the Mass. Two masses by Josquin, as well as compositions by Pierre de la Rue, Guillaume Du Fay, Palestrina and other luminaries of the time, have ensured that L’homme armé continues to be remembered and recognized by audiences and aficionados even today.

Rather than simply being an artifact from the past, composers still use this melody in their works, as demonstrated in Ars Antiqua Riga’s recent release of Uģis Prauliņš’ L’homme armé, a time-bending journey through plainchant, Renaissance-style polyphony and modernism. Instead of trying to simply reimagine the historical sounds and styles of previous composers, Prauliņš integrates this immediately recognizable tune into his own inimitable style, incorporating organ, sackbut and electronic instruments to great effect.

To say that Prauliņš’ L’homme armé is a revelation is an understatement, especially when one considers that this work is structured around the Ordinary of the Mass. Unlike Renaissance settings which were restrained by the required inclusion of certain movements, Prauliņš expands the standard structure of the Mass, incorporating additional texts to overcome both the dramatic and temporal limitations of the traditional form. 

While much of Prauliņš’ music is “atmospheric,” the aural impact of L’homme armé is stunningly indescribable, and there is not enough space in this review to include a suitable number of superlatives. Ars Antiqua Riga and its director Pēteris Vaickovskis give an extraordinary performance; a treasure for all who appreciate choral music executed at the highest level.

Anthony Davis – X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Davóne Tynes; Whitney Morrison; Boston Modern Orchestra Project
BMOP Sound (bmop.org/audio-recordings/anthony-davis-x-life-and-times-malcolm-x)

The story of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X is eerily similar to the life of its lead protagonist. Before he became “Malcolm X” he was a controversial figure who preached racism and violence, until he embraced the civil rights movement after his pilgrimage to Mecca. Largely a forgotten American, Malcolm X reclaimed some of the spotlight when he collaborated with Alex Haley on his autobiography. This brings us to the history of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X – the opera, which was premiered at the American Music Theatre Festival in September 1986.  

Did Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones performed by the Metropolitan Opera provide the much-needed breakthrough for Christopher Davis’ story and Thulani Davis’ libretto after lying dormant for 36 years? Possibly, but it also certainly took a particularly finely wrought score by pianist/composer, Anthony Davis, writing his eighth opera, to celebrate X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X again, entirely justifying the Pulitzer Prize for Music that he earned in 2020.

Davis’ score is a mighty one; its heft is brilliantly carried by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) under the baton of Gil Rose who makes full use of dark symphonic sounds to enhance a grim and tragic period atmosphere. Kenneth Griffith brings uncommon skill in marshalling the chorus for the epic narrative. 

The transformation of a frightened Malcolm Little who comes to terms with his father’s death in the recitative Reverend Little is Dead from Act I Scene 1 through Malcolm’s Aria, “You want the story, but you don’t want to know” in Act I Scene 3, another recitative We Are a Nation in Act II Scene 4, Betty’s aria When a Man is Lost in Act III Scene 2, to the tragic dénouement in the Audubon Ballroom. The achingly pure soprano of Whitney Morrison is stoic and utterly convincing as Betty Shabazz, and best of all, Davóne Tines’ velvet-toned bass-baritone brings power and nobility to the role of Malcolm X.

BMOP’s 2022 revival of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X is to be followed by productions by Opera Omaha, Seattle Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Metropolitan Opera (to be presented in 2023-24 season), marking it as one of the most significant American operas of the 20th century,

No Choice but Love – Songs of the LGBTQ+ Community
Eric Ferring; Madeline Slettedahl
Lexicon Classics LC2206 (lexiconclassics.com/catalogue)

In this rather breathtaking, two-disc recording, noted American tenor Eric Ferring – in a made-in-the-stars collaboration with pianist Madeline Slettedahl – has created a significant piece of work that highlights many diverse LGBTQIA voices and perspectives. Included in the project is the world premiere of composer Ben Moore’s Love Remained (in a new arrangement for tenor voice) and his commissioned title work, No Choice But Love. Ferring has expressed “As members of this community, Madeline and I wanted to pay homage to the beautiful, difficult history of the LGBT+ community within the classical world… we, as artists must use our gifts to be catalysts for change…” The talented producers of this artful collection are Gillian Riesen and Rebecca Folsom.

Also included in the recording are illuminating and eclectic works by Manuel de Falla, Jake Heggie, Francis Poulenc, Ethel Smyth, Jennifer Higdon, Willie Alexander III, Mari Esabel Valverde, Benjamin Britten and Ricky Ian Gordon. First up is Moore’s four-movement work, Love Remained. Ferring and Slettedahl shine here, expressing Moore’s message of hope and eventual acceptance throughout. On Hold On, Ferring sings with such emotion, imbuing each word with meaning and hope. Valverde’s two-piece song cycle, To Digte af Tove Ditlevsen is a work of shimmering beauty, rendered with sumptuous dynamics, pianistic skill and Ferring’s magical voice; and de Falla’s Oración de las madres que tienen a sus hijos en brazos is moving beyond measure.  

A true standout is Gordon’s Prayer. Ferring and Slettedahl move as one being through this luminous, deeply spiritual composition and Britten’s Canticle I is an inspired inclusion. The magnificently rendered title track was debuted on this year’s National Coming Out Day and nothing could be more appropriate. This performance and the entire recording is a clear hope for understanding, love and acceptance. Bravo!

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Ode
Odeya Nini
populist records (odeyanini.com)

LA-based interdisciplinary vocalist and composer Odeya Nini has created an album displaying the limitless bounds of her voice in a solo vocal chamber work. Holding both a BFA from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and an MFA in composition from California Institute of the Arts, Nini is known for her vocal sound baths, workshops and retreats, where she explores the transformative and healing qualities of the body through voice.

With Ode, Nini explores a wide collection of style, harmonic range and influences. Creating a work of almost entirely multi-tracked acoustic voice, Nini’s sound poems imagine landscapes of tonal and textural shifts that develop and melt beneath your feet, creating experiences with resonances and vibrations of both the body and the surrounding landscape, extending her voice to expressions of breath, growls and stratospheric lyricism. At times modal and melodic and at other times mining the depths of microsounds, each of the six tracks is constructed of compositional and improvised collages. 

An album well suited to those who are interested in listening experiences over melodic content, Ode is a work of vocal prowess from this sonic artist.

Immensity Of
Departure Duo
New Focus Recordings FCR329 (newfocusrecordings.com)

Cheekily tagging itself “a high-low duo” the virtuoso Departure Duo is an unlikely combo. Boston-based soprano Nina Guo and double bassist Edward Kass are committed to commissioning, performing and touring repertoire composed for their unusual combination, music that explores the full range of styles and sounds they can produce. They frequently collaborate with sonic artists to create new music, including three of the works on Immensity Of by younger generation American composers Katherine Balch, John Aylward and Emily Praetorius. 

Balch’s Phrases dramatically grapples with meaning, gesture and sound, while Aylward mines the poetry of Rilke for inspiration in Tiergarten (Zoo). The time-stretching Immensity Of by Praetorius is quite different from anything else here, featuring delicate, long glissandi for both voice and bass. Its beautiful lonely spaciousness is relieved only by soft whistling, birdsong, mouth clucks and knocking bass pizzicati.

Kurtág’s Einige Sätze aus den Sudelbüchern Georg Christoph Lichtenbergs forms the album’s centerpiece. Drawing from 18th-century German polymath Lichtenberg’s collection of often humorous aphorisms, the composer selected texts to form the lyrical and aesthetic backbone of his collection of 18 succinct individual sections, a veritable song cycle.

Kurtág’s pleasure in the texts’ wry humour is evident in Die Kuh (The Cow) and in several other places. In Die Kartoffeln (The Potatoes) for example, he appears to depict root vegetables in storage in atonal first-species counterpoint. Surely that’s a first! Departure Duo’s masterful performance makes a strong case for this 21-minute work, as well as for their high-low partnership.

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Lionel Daunais – Melodies/Songs
Jacqueline Woodley; Annina Haug; Pierre Rancourt; Marc Bourdeau; Michel Bellavance
Centrediscs CMCCD 30122 (cmccanada.org/shop/cd-cmccd-30122)

Lionel Daunais (1901-1982) was a French-Canadian baritone and a prolific composer. As a founding member of notable ensembles such as the Trio lyrique and the Variétés lyriques, and via his other numerous musical activities and roles such as artistic and stage director, Daunais had a lengthy career and a meaningful influence on Quebec’s musical scene of the mid-20th century.

With Mélodies, pianist Marc Bourdeau pays homage to Daunais’ legacy with a carefully considered curation of a large repertoire (over 250 songs). The final selection includes 27 songs that mix the diverse writing styles of art songs and popular songs with more traditional Quebec folklore songs. Bourdeau’s impeccable research and care of Daunais’ musical intentions, guided both by his appreciation for Daunais and the time he spent in the archives of the Lionel Daunais Fonds, allow for an authentic (re)discovery of this formidable artist. The detailed CD booklet is augmented by a website (LionelDaunais.com) with considerable documentation, useful material on Daunais’ career for possible further research, behind-the-scenes details, as well as videos of recordings and rehearsals. 

Bourdeau’s collaborators are soprano Jacqueline Woodley, mezzo-soprano Annina Haug, baritone Pierre Rancourt and flutist Michel Bellavance. In a variety of ensembles, duets and trios, they excel at recreating the gentle humour, and sometimes sarcasm, the depth and subtle meanings of texts, as well as the appropriate tones for themes of earlier times. Mélodies is not only a significant addition to the life, times and music of Lionel Daunais, it is also an important contribution to Quebec’s musical heritage.

Ottorino Respighi – Crepuscolo
Timothy Fallon; Ammiel Bushakevitz
BIS BIS-2632 SACD (bis.se)

Respighi’s remarkably wide-ranging stylistic eclecticism in these 26 songs turns this CD into a bountiful sonic buffet offering a delectable array of variegated flavourful delicacies.

The neo-Renaissance Cinque canti all’antiqua (Five Songs in Ancient Style) includes an aria from his opera Re Enzo and four plaintive love songs, three with texts by Boccaccio. The five extravagantly expressive songs of Deità Silvane (Woodland Deities) recall music by Debussy and Ravel, who also evoked sylvan myths, here replete with fauns and nymphs, cymbals and pipes, and mysterious dances. In the fifth song, Crepuscolo (Twilight), “Pan falls asleep… a joyful song quivers.” Inspired by a visit to Scotland, Respighi arranged his beguiling Quattro arie scozzeti (Four Scottish Songs) – the nostalgic When the Kye Come Home, Within a Mile of Edinburgh and My Heart’s in the Highlands, ending with the jaunty The Piper of Dundee, all sung in Scottish English.

There are many beauties to be found within the other 12 songs, each steeped in the hyper emotionality of Late Romanticism, whether expressing sweet tenderness, passionate yearning or agonized desperation. American tenor Timothy Fallon invigorates these unfairly neglected, fervent songs with operatic ardour and a firm, shining tone, while Ammiel Bushakevitz sparkles and surges at the piano. One caveat – due to the very over-reverberant acoustic, the bass response must be minimized in order to maximize the enjoyment of this most enjoyable CD. Texts and translations are included.