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Gathering - Songs by Ben Moore
Delos

Gathering - Songs by Ben Moore

$18.99

Details

Composer
Ben Moore
Artist
Isabel Leonard, Matthew Polenzani, Janai Brugger, Joseph Lattanzi, Liz Callaway, Michael Kelly, Alex
Format
CD
Label
Delos
Released
Apr 22, 2022
Catalog #
DE 3581
UPC
013491358123

About

This unabashedly eclectic album features stirring and varied songs by Ben Moore, who has chosen poems spanning 2,600 years for his texts. The music extends from art song to cabaret, yet all share Moore’s lyrical and eloquent style. The songs are united by the unwavering honesty and passion of the composer and performers, including Isabel Leonard, Liz Callaway, Matthew Polenzani, Michael Kelly, Janai Brugger and other stars of opera and Broadway. Brian Zeger’s collaboration on piano provides the singers with support and inspiration. The album concludes with songs of hope, touching on the acceptance of love in its many forms.

REVIEWS:

A Textura Top 20 Vocal Album of 2022!

There's so much to like about this collection of songs by Ben Moore, it's hard to know where to start. Let's begin with the material itself, twenty-two songs that span the spectrum of emotional experience with dignity and poise. His music has been called “gorgeously lyrical” (The New York Times) and commended for its “romantic sweep” (Opera News), and many a song on the release exemplifies those qualities, plus a great deal more. Gathering is a magnificent collection, and as the songs were written over a span of thirty years, it also offers a superb overview.

-- Textura

The songs are put over in fine style by a terrific group of singers…All of them have their moments at centre stage here, and their voices are flexible and mellifluous enough to cross the stylistic lines drawn with sophistication and taste by the composer. For my money, the loveliest song is ‘I Must Travel as a Phantom Now’ (Thomas Hardy) sung lusciously by Isabel Leonard…[The songs are] accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger, who captures every mood and gesture of the writing. Engaging notes add even more flair to a recital that turns out to have been quite a gathering.

-- American Record Guide

…There is, truly, something for everyone on this eclectic disc. Isabel Leonard offers her dark-hooded mezzo to the most aria-like songs on the album; of them, “Lullaby” feels more traditional at its onset, and perhaps it is in the vocal line, but the uniqueness of the piano line gives the trite concept of a lullaby much more depth and nuance. Matthew Polenzani lends his unparalleled tenor to the gently complex “Where Are the Songs of Spring?,” in which listeners see the rolling hills and a babbling brook in Moore’s rolling piano line, full of movement; Polenzani also shows the more robust side of his tenor that American opera audiences have fallen in love with in “When I Was One-and-Twenty.”

The album is divided into five sections, so it ebbs and flows, like acts in a show.

-- Opera News

Tracklist 22 tracks

  1. 1 Alas! This Is Not What I Thought Life Was 03:43
    Track
    1
    Title
    Alas! This Is Not What I Thought Life Was
    Duration
    03:43
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Janai Brugger, Brian Zeger
  2. 2 No. 1. Lullaby 02:42
    Track
    2
    Title
    No. 1. Lullaby
    Duration
    02:42
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Isabel Leonard, Brian Zeger
  3. 3 No. 2. Requiem 02:21
    Track
    3
    Title
    No. 2. Requiem
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Joseph Lattanzi, Brian Zeger
  4. 4 No. 3. Where Are the Songs of Spring? 03:26
    Track
    4
    Title
    No. 3. Where Are the Songs of Spring?
    Duration
    03:26
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Matthew Polenzani, Brian Zeger
  5. 5 No. 6. Ah! Happy, Happy Boughs 03:08
    Track
    5
    Title
    No. 6. Ah! Happy, Happy Boughs
    Duration
    03:08
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Matthew Polenzani, Brian Zeger
  6. 6 I Travel as a Phantom Now 02:38
    Track
    6
    Title
    I Travel as a Phantom Now
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Isabel Leonard, Brian Zeger
  7. 7 8 Songs: No. 7. Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop 02:16
    Track
    7
    Title
    8 Songs: No. 7. Crazy Jane Talks with the Bishop
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Janai Brugger, Brian Zeger
  8. 8 14 Songs: No. 1. When I Was One-and-Twenty 01:27
    Track
    8
    Title
    14 Songs: No. 1. When I Was One-and-Twenty
    Duration
    01:27
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Matthew Polenzani, Brian Zeger
  9. 9 Between the Lights 02:53
    Track
    9
    Title
    Between the Lights
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Janai Brugger, Brian Zeger
  10. 10 No. 1. Shirley (Play My Song) 03:01
    Track
    10
    Title
    No. 1. Shirley (Play My Song)
    Duration
    03:01
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Joseph Lattanzi, Liz Callaway, Brian Zeger
  11. 11 No. 2. Diana, Marvin, Gladys, Barbra, etc. (And Another Song Comes On) 02:58
    Track
    11
    Title
    No. 2. Diana, Marvin, Gladys, Barbra, etc. (And Another Song Comes On)
    Duration
    02:58
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Joseph Lattanzi, Liz Callaway, Brian Zeger
  12. 12 No. 1. Love Remained 03:00
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 1. Love Remained
    Duration
    03:00
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Michael Kelly, Brian Zeger
  13. 13 No. 2. Uncle Ronnie 03:21
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 2. Uncle Ronnie
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Michael Kelly, Brian Zeger
  14. 14 A Holy Place 03:37
    Track
    14
    Title
    A Holy Place
    Duration
    03:37
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Janai Brugger, Brian Zeger
  15. 15 Judith River 03:58
    Track
    15
    Title
    Judith River
    Duration
    03:58
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Matthew Polenzani, Brian Zeger
  16. 16 Cabaret and Theater Songs: No. 1. Where Has Summer Gone? 03:15
    Track
    16
    Title
    Cabaret and Theater Songs: No. 1. Where Has Summer Gone?
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Liz Callaway, Brian Zeger
  17. 17 Goodbye Old Centerville 02:56
    Track
    17
    Title
    Goodbye Old Centerville
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Alexander Cesare Gemignani, Brian Zeger
  18. 18 Love and I 03:59
    Track
    18
    Title
    Love and I
    Duration
    03:59
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Alexander Cesare Gemignani, Brian Zeger
  19. 19 Cabaret and Theater Songs: No. 2. Were I to Touch You 03:11
    Track
    19
    Title
    Cabaret and Theater Songs: No. 2. Were I to Touch You
    Duration
    03:11
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Alexander Cesare Gemignani, Brian Zeger
  20. 20 A Moment Like This (or Song for Our Wedding) 02:38
    Track
    20
    Title
    A Moment Like This (or Song for Our Wedding)
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Liz Callaway, Brian Zeger
  21. 21 See How a Flower Blossoms 02:54
    Track
    21
    Title
    See How a Flower Blossoms
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Liz Callaway, Brian Zeger
  22. 22 14 Songs: No. 2. On Music 03:15
    Track
    22
    Title
    14 Songs: No. 2. On Music
    Duration
    03:15
    Composer
    Ben Moore
    Performer
    Isabel Leonard, Brian Zeger