Hyperion 67813
ECHOES OF NIGHTINGALES
Christine Brewer, soprano
Roger Vignoles, piano
AMERICAN-BORN soprano, Christine Brewer, sure gets around, as she well should with the voice she's got. She is adored on both sides of the Atlantic and everywhere else her voice has been heard. Considered by many to be among the very top of the finest sopranos in the world today, Brewer's is a diversified career in opera, art song, contemporary works, and popular pieces. She's an artist with her own mind with what she wants to give her audiences. When I think of her personality, I am reminded of one of her great predecessors, Eileen Farrell, one of the singers who is given tribute in this release.
Hyperion issued a lovely new CD [67813] taking us back to the days of 78s, early LPs, and concerts and recitals where this kind of repertoire was sung with no apologies. Audiences loved it whether as a part of a formed recital or as an encore. For many, this will be a sentimental recording, especially given the booklet cover art from 1906, a painting by Joseph Marius Avy (1871-1939) entitled The Celebrated .
The present disc contains 22 tracks weighing in at almost 66 minutes. "Echoes of Nightingales," pays homage to sopranos Kirsten Flagstad, Eileen Farrell, Helen Traubel, and Eleanor Steber, all as encores sung by these never-forgotten sopranos of the past. On today's concert stages, it is difficult to find them at all. Here is a listing and its attribution to each of the "nightingales" mentioned:
KIRSTEN FLAGSTAD:
Edwin McArthur: Night
A. Walter Kramer: Now like a lantern
Mildred Lund Tyson: Sea Moods
Landon Ronald: O lovely night!
James H. Rogers: At Parting
John Alden Carpenter: The sleep that flits on baby's eyes
Frank Bridge: Love went a-riding
Ernest Charles: When I have sung my songs
EILEEN FARRELL
Paul Sargent: Hickory Hill
Vincent Youmans: Through the years
Paul Nordoff: There shall be more joy
Harold Arlen: Happiness is a thing called Joe
Leonard Bernstein: Some other time
HELEN TRAUBEL
Sidney Homer: Sing to me, sing
Frank La Forge: Hills
Frank Bridge: Love went a-riding
ELEANOR STEBER
Idabelle Firestone: In my garden
Sigmund Romberg: Will you remember" (Sweetheart)
Idabelle Firestone: If I could tell you
Moore/von Flotow: The last rose of summer
Harold Vicars 'Moya': The song of songs (Chanson du coeur brisé)
John La Montaine: Stopping by woods on a snowy evening
CHRISTINE BREWER
Celius Dougherty: Review
One of the interesting points about this collection is that some of the songs were written by the piano accompanists who assisted their artists, especially Sidney Homer, husband of contralto Louise Homer; Edwin McArthur, longtime accompanist to Kirsten Flagstad; Frank La Forge, accompanist to Lily Pons, among others; Sir Landon Ronald, who assisted many artists, including Nellie Melba among others; and Celius Dougherty, who accompanied Richard Crooks, Alexander Kipnis, and many others. No doubt being the pianist for so many grand artists, in itself, created the inspiration for the pianists to bring themselves a little more attention by having the diva sing their songs!
Like everything I've heard Christine Brewer sing, it's all first class, with its own individual imprint: a voice that shimmers in its silvery quality, is expressive, is in tune (!), and has an appealing natural vibrato. Her voice encompasses a very broad range and she knows how to use it to the best artistic advantage.
There is something for everyone on this generously-filled disc and it is obvious recording this repertoire was a pure labour of love for both, Miss Brewer and her assisting artist, Roger Vignoles, who provides exceptional pianism throughout this disc making many demands in various styles for both artists.
I am hopeful there will be a sequel to this disc. While this disc's program contents is geared largely to music penned by American composers, I would enjoy hearing Brewer sing Victorian songs, and a special favourite, "The Green Hills of Somerset" by Coates, a Dame Joan Hammond favourite.
Five stars, all the way for this recording, made between December 14-16, 2009 at All Saints, East Finchley, London, which provides exceptionally informative notes by the late John B. Steane, who apparently wrote the notes prior to his passing in March 2011. Miss Brewer, too, supplies her own commentary on the repertoire and singers represented. Texts are included in the booklet. ♪
