An American Song Album
PTC5186770
Jake Heggie
24 Bit / 96K
Hermit Songs Op. 29
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 1, At Saint Patrick's Purgatory
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 2, Church Bell at Night
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 3, St. Ita's Vision
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 4, The Heavenly Banquet
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 5, The Crucifixion
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 6, Sea-Snatch
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 7, Promiscuity
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 8, The Monk and His Cat
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 9, The Praises of God
Hermit Songs, Op. 29: No. 10, The Desire for Hermitage
Solo: Melody Moore Soloist
These Strangers
No. 1, These Strangers, in a Foreign World
No. 2, In the Midst of Thousands
No. 3, I Did Not Speak Out
No. 4, To a Stranger
How Well I Knew The Light
How Well I Knew the Light: No. 1, Ample Make This Bed
How Well I Knew the Light: No. 2, The Sun Kept Setting
(Arr. for Voice & Piano): No. 1, He Has Kissed Me
(Arr. for Voice & Piano): No. 2, Gentleness
(Arr. for Voice & Piano): No. 3, To My Husband
(Arr. for Voice & Piano): No. 4, At Dawn
(Arr. for Voice & Piano): No. 5, Rocking
Four Early Songs
4 Early Songs: No. 1, Night
4 Early Songs: No. 2, A Summer Vacation
4 Early Songs: No. 3, My Heart Is in the East
4 Early Songs: No. 4, Alone
Kathy's Aria (from Goodbye Mr. Chips)
Three Welsh Songs
3 Welsh Songs (Version for Voice & Piano): No. 1, Welcome Robin
3 Welsh Songs (Version for Voice & Piano): No. 2, Kind Old Man
3 Welsh Songs (Version for Voice & Piano): No. 3, All Through the Night
Solo: Gordon Getty MainArtist
Solo: Bradley Moore Soloist
An American Song Album is a fine collection of songs by American composers, presented by soprano Melody Moore. The repertoire includes Samuel Barber's introspective Hermit Songs, Jake Heggie's engaged cycles These Strangers and How Well I Knew the Light, Carlisle Floyd's exploration of motherhood in The Mystery, Copland's impressionist and oriental Four Early Songs, as well as a varied selection from Gordon Getty's vocal works. Set to Irish, Welsh, Chilean, German, Arabic and Afro-American poetry, these pieces constitute a panorama of the US as a melting pot of cultures, while simultaneously being bound together by an unmistakably American sound. Melody Moore manages to lift out the poetry of these works with her warm, lyrical voice and impeccable vocal technique. She is accompanied on the piano by Bradley Moore, one of the most eminent conductors and song accompanists of today's American musical scene. With her first solo album, Melody Moore continues her PENTATONE discography that already features recordings of leading roles in Gordon Getty's Plump Jack (2012) and The Little Match Girl (2015), as well as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello (2017).
"…Moore and Moore (no relation) are an instinctive partnership, and this repertoire gives them plenty of opportunity to find their voice, their angle. Loaded with promise for the future, it's an opening gambit that leave you wanting, well, more." *****
Alexandra Coghlan – Limelightmagazine.com.au – 8 November 2019
Choral & Song Choice
Performance **** Recording *****
"… full of interest and vividly communicative artistry."
Terry Blain – BBC Music magazine – October 2019
"... This recording is a calling card for an exciting and electric voice, with the high range of a soprano but fleshed out with dark, mezzo-ish colours and with its voluptuous richness focused into singing of striking directness and clarity... assured and distinctive solo recital debut." ****
Erica Jeal - The Guardian - 26 July 2019
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