Track Listing

1. Faces Of Love (Emily Dickinson): I Shall Not Live In Vain - Jake Heggie
2. Eve-Song (Philip Littell): Even - Sylvia McNair
3. Eve-Song (Philip Littell): Listen - Sylvia McNair
4. Eve-Song (Philip Littell): Snake - Sylvia McNair
5. Of Gods And Cats (Gavin Geoffrey Dillard): In The Beginning - Jennifer Larmore
6. Of Gods And Cats (Gavin Geoffrey Dillard): Once Upon A Universe - Jennifer Larmore
7. Paper Wings (Frederica von Stade): Bedtime Story - Frederica Von Stade
8. Paper Wings (Frederica von Stade): Paper Wings - Frederica Von Stade
9. Paper Wings (Frederica von Stade): Mitten Smitten - Frederica Von Stade
10. A Route To The Sky - Frederica Von Stade
11. Natural Selection (Gini Savage): Animal Passion - Jake Heggie
12. Natural Selection (Gini Savage): Alas! Alack! - Jake Heggie
13. Natural Selection (Gini Savage): Joy Alone (Connection) - Jake Heggie
14. Before The Storm (Edna St. Vincent Millay): What Lips My Lips Have Kissed - Jake Heggie
15. The Faces Of Love (Emily Dickinson): If You Were Coming In The Fall - Carol Vaness
16. The Faces Of Love (Emily Dickinson): As Well As Jesus? - Carol Vaness
17. The Faces Of Love (Emily Dickinson): It Makes No Difference Abroad - Carol Vaness
18. Encountertenor (John Hall): Countertenor's Conundrum - Brian Asawa
19. Encountertenor (John Hall): The Trouble With Trebles In Trousers... - Brian Asawa
20. Dixie (Traditional) - Jennifer Larmore
21. Songs To The Moon (Vachel Lindsay): Once More - To Gloriana - Frederica Von Stade
22. Songs To The Moon (Vachel Lindsay): Euclid - Frederica Von Stade
23. Songs To The Moon (Vachel Lindsay): The Haughty Snail King - Frederica Von Stade
24. Songs To The Moon (Vachel Lindsay): What The Gray-Winged Fairy Said - Frederica Von Stade
25. My True Love Hath My Heart (Sir Philip Sidney) - Frederica Von Stade
26. Encore: Sophie's Song (Frederica von Stade) - Jennifer Larmore

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56153 in Music
• Released on: 1999-09-14
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Don't be put off by the title, which sounds like the product of a marketing meeting. These are smart, fun, sexy, friendly musical settings of verse by (mostly) living poets by the composer of the forthcoming Dead Man Walking opera. Even better, there's not the slightest hint of these starry singers phoning in their performances en route to the airport. Everyone performs in excellent voice and with maximum commitment (Jennifer Larmore's English diction has never been better), and with good reason. Jake Heggie draws on all manners of compositional techniques--from expansive flights of polytonality to droll references to tango and other dance rhythms--but always at the service of his essentially lyrical musical personality, which can be vaguely described as updated Samuel Barber. Beyond writing well for the voice, Heggie gives the singers an unfettered emotional outlet and a range of theatrical moods, both in his choice of stylish, emotionally present verse and in his broad, clearly etched melodies that so easily accommodate coloring and nuance. As if that's not enough to inspire commitment from singers, Frederica von Stade doubles as poet in the cycle Paper Wings. Not all of this is great--Heggie sometimes resorts to generalized prettiness--but there hasn't been a more engaging vocal recital album all year. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews

A delight
We first heard Jake Heggie in an interview on NPR and were intrigued enough to order this CD. It has been such a complete delight. His songs are wonderfully evocative and complex and somehow they manage to be just what you longed to hear. That a serious composer is writing such accessible and rewarding music is heartening beyond measure. If Amazon's review format would only allow a sixth or seventh star...

A Beautiful CD
I am a Classical Music Performance Master's Student and I got this CD because of the wonderful songs it has on it. I think the CD is absolutely awesome. I didn't get it for class or anything, I just love it.

Very Enjoyable
I have never been heard of Jake Heggie. There are many famous singers sung here, that's why I bought it. Actually, I was not interested in contemporary American composer. But I listened to it, I enjoyed all the track. Very enjoyable disc.