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Naxos

Hagen: Shining Brow / Falletta, Orth, Harris, Frankenberry, Buffalo PO

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Details

Composer
HAGEN, DARON
Artist
Orth, Harris, Frankenberry, Falletta
Format
CD
Label
Naxos
Released
Mar 31, 2009
Catalog #
8669020-21
UPC
730099902076

About

Superbly varied, brilliant and expressive … extremely valuable.

Now in his late forties Daron Hagen has been eminently successful for many years in a wide variety of musical genres: orchestral, concertos, chamber music, vocal and opera. He has received commissions from leading American orchestras like the New York Phil, the Philadelphia and the National Symphony and from numerous instrumentalists. He numbers among his teachers Ned Rorem, David Diamond, Witold Lutos?awski and Leonard Bernstein. With such diverse musical influences it's no wonder that his own compositional style is eclectic, a remark that is in no way deprecating. It only denotes that he is at home in a variety of styles and is able to adjust to the requirements for each specific composition. I have listened to excerpts from a number of his compositions and the remaining impression is that here is basically a warm romantic with ability and willingness to write gorgeous melodies. Romeo and Juliet for flute, cello and orchestra is a splendid example and the second movement from his third piano trio Wayfaring Stranger (2007) is extremely beautiful. He is just as adept at writing rhythmically fresh and rather naughty music for brass - the Invention from Concerto for Brass Quintet!. He is also accomplished when writing for the human voice. I haven't heard any of his solo songs - of which there are a lot - but his choral writing is extremely affecting. The Waking Father for six male voices is music to return to. His musical idiom is largely tonal though he employs various modern techniques for expressive reasons. Mixing styles - high and low - is one of his hallmarks and he is a splendid communicator, which his first opera Shining Brow aptly demonstrates.

It was in July 1989 that Daron Hagen was asked by the Madison Opera to write an opera about the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Together with the chosen librettist, Paul Muldoon, Hagen worked out a synopsis and set to work with the first act, which fizzed along without problems. The second act was tougher and he met Leonard Bernstein several times for guidance. Bernstein died in October 1990, before the opera was finished, and it is dedicated to his memory.

Frank Lloyd Wright fell in love with a client's wife Mamah while outlining their house. They left their respective wife and husband, went to Europe. Eventually returning to the USA, they built a house in Wisconsin, Taliesin, which is Welsh for 'Shining Brow'. In 1914, when Wright was in Chicago, his manservant murdered seven people in the house, including Mamah and her two children and then set the house on fire. Two survivors managed to put out the fire but the house was seriously damaged. This is essentially the story of the opera. Frank Lloyd Wright lived until 1959 and probably his most famous creation is the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Musically Hagen's score is a conglomerate of the manifold styles I referred to in his other works, but wholly efficient and personal. Shining Brow is a number opera with arias, choruses, orchestral numbers and ensembles. The music is very varied to mirror the dramatic and emotional contents of the story. The chorus of draftsmen (CD 1 tr. 2) has 'go' and makes me think of Orff and Carmina burana. Wright's arietta (CD 1 tr. 5) is melodious and agreeable and his wife Catherine's aria (CD 1 tr. 6) has echoes of Broadway musical. The Sullivan Variations (CD 1 tr. 8) is hymn-like brass music and there is another chorus with plainsong character. In act II there is a barbershop quartet (CD 2 tr. 8) and the Canapé Variations (CD 2 tr. 9) is a long gossip scene at a cocktail party played against the waltz from Der Rosenkavalier. Initially there are quotations from the Presentation of the Silver Rose from the same opera. Symbolically this 'theft' of another composer's music is a parallel to Wright's 'theft' of another man's wife. Sullivan's arietta (CD 2 tr. 15) is a song that should be on many opera-lovers' list of the most beautiful opera arias. It is followed by an a cappella chorus that nods in the direction of Bernstein's Candide (the Westphalia chorus). The rhythmic elements are often very much in the foreground and there are no longueurs. To my mind this is a truly inspired and dramatically convincing opera and readers who prefer operas with melodies should know that there is a wealth of melodic inventiveness.

The cast is a good one and several of the members have taken part in earlier productions, including Robert Orth as Frank Lloyd Wright and Brenda Harris as Mamah. They are both excellent and Robert Frankenberry as Wright's one-time mentor and friend Louis Sullivan sports a fine lyric tenor. The Buffalo forces are splendid and JoAnn Falletta brings out the dark dramatic side of the work as well as the lyrical music of which there is also a lot.

The recording can't be faulted and the few stage noises only enhance the feeling of a real occasion. While writing the final paragraphs of this review I have been listening again to large portions of the opera and can report that it grows further with renewed acquaintance. The orchestration stands out as superbly varied, brilliant and expressive and the melodic material is organically interwoven with the story. The only regrettable thing is that there is no libretto available. We get only a synopsis that gives the outline but leaves you in limbo as far as detailed understanding is concerned.

Anyway, relatively contemporary operas are rare guests in the record catalogues. Shining Brow, like Carlson's Anna Karenina that I reviewed a short while ago, are extremely valuable additions to a repertoire that far too seldom reaches beyond Puccini. Daron Hagen has no intention to challenge Puccini; he has his own musical world that is just as valid - and it shouldn't be less accessible to opera-lovers.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

Tracklist 40 tracks

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1 Prologue: So much so, that even now I flinch… (Sullivan, Waiter) 04:41
    Track
    1
    Title
    Prologue: So much so, that even now I flinch… (Sullivan, Waiter)
    Duration
    04:41
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Frankenberry, Elem Eley
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  3. 2 Prologue: So the poetry of architecture… (Draftsmen) 01:04
    Track
    2
    Title
    Prologue: So the poetry of architecture… (Draftsmen)
    Duration
    01:04
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  4. 3 Act I Scene 1: Some are destined to stand… (Wright, Mamah, Edwin, Draftsmen) 05:11
    Track
    3
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: Some are destined to stand… (Wright, Mamah, Edwin, Draftsmen)
    Duration
    05:11
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Brenda Harris, Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  5. 4 Act I Scene 1: The music, so… the music of architecture… (Draftsmen) 01:30
    Track
    4
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: The music, so… the music of architecture… (Draftsmen)
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  6. 5 Act I Scene 1: Arietta: And her scent, was it musk? (Wright) 03:23
    Track
    5
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: Arietta: And her scent, was it musk? (Wright)
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  7. 6 Act I Scene 1: Aria: If not for me, then for the children's sake… (Catherine, Wright) 04:47
    Track
    6
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: Aria: If not for me, then for the children's sake… (Catherine, Wright)
    Duration
    04:47
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Elaine Valby, Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  8. 7 Act I Scene 1: Aria: Each room opens into the next, Catherine… (Wright, Sullivan) 04:48
    Track
    7
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: Aria: Each room opens into the next, Catherine… (Wright, Sullivan)
    Duration
    04:48
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Robert Frankenberry
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  9. 8 Act I Scene 1: Interlude: Sullivan Variations 02:23
    Track
    8
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: Interlude: Sullivan Variations
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  10. 9 Act I Scene 1: When I woke up this morning… (Workmen) 03:18
    Track
    9
    Title
    Act I Scene 1: When I woke up this morning… (Workmen)
    Duration
    03:18
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  11. 10 Act I Scene 2: Far be it from me to suggest… (Women, Workmen) 02:56
    Track
    10
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Far be it from me to suggest… (Women, Workmen)
    Duration
    02:56
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  12. 11 Act I Scene 2: Arietta: Three long days and three long nights… (Edwin, Workmen) 02:26
    Track
    11
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Arietta: Three long days and three long nights… (Edwin, Workmen)
    Duration
    02:26
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  13. 12 Act I Scene 2: Aria: The truth is that my mouth is full of nails (Edwin) 03:20
    Track
    12
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Aria: The truth is that my mouth is full of nails (Edwin)
    Duration
    03:20
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  14. 13 Act I Scene 2: They say the soul weighs about the same as… (Workmen, Mamah, Wright) 03:00
    Track
    13
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: They say the soul weighs about the same as… (Workmen, Mamah, Wright)
    Duration
    03:00
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Brenda Harris, Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  15. 14 Act I Scene 2: Melodrama: Be it mud hut, mansion or mosque… (Mamah, Wright, Edwin) 01:35
    Track
    14
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Melodrama: Be it mud hut, mansion or mosque… (Mamah, Wright, Edwin)
    Duration
    01:35
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Brenda Harris, Robert Orth, Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  16. 15 Act I Scene 2: Trio: For three long months I've tried to ease… (Mamah, Wright, Edwin) 04:05
    Track
    15
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Trio: For three long months I've tried to ease… (Mamah, Wright, Edwin)
    Duration
    04:05
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Brenda Harris, Robert Orth, Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  17. 16 Act I Scene 2: Interlude: She sweeps us off our feet …, "Hymn to Nature" (Chorus) 02:00
    Track
    16
    Title
    Act I Scene 2: Interlude: She sweeps us off our feet …, "Hymn to Nature" (Chorus)
    Duration
    02:00
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  18. 17 Act I Scene 3: …back into earth and air (Mamah, Chorus) 00:46
    Track
    17
    Title
    Act I Scene 3: …back into earth and air (Mamah, Chorus)
    Duration
    00:46
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Brenda Harris
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  19. 18 Act I Scene 3: Frank, how much longer must I endure…? (Mamah) 14:52
    Track
    18
    Title
    Act I Scene 3: Frank, how much longer must I endure…? (Mamah)
    Duration
    14:52
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Brenda Harris
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  20. Disc 2
  21. 1 Act II: Prelude 01:35
    Track
    1
    Title
    Act II: Prelude
    Duration
    01:35
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  22. 2 Act II: So much, so much, so much, so much, so… (Townspeople, Reporters, Guests) 01:50
    Track
    2
    Title
    Act II: So much, so much, so much, so much, so… (Townspeople, Reporters, Guests)
    Duration
    01:50
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  23. 3 Act II: Sextet: With a tally ho and view halloo… (Reporters, Townswomen) 03:11
    Track
    3
    Title
    Act II: Sextet: With a tally ho and view halloo… (Reporters, Townswomen)
    Duration
    03:11
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  24. 4 Act II: Aria: Ladies and Gentlemen… (Wright, Chorus) 09:02
    Track
    4
    Title
    Act II: Aria: Ladies and Gentlemen… (Wright, Chorus)
    Duration
    09:02
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  25. 5 Act II: Questions: Mister Wright! (Reporters, Townswomen) 00:49
    Track
    5
    Title
    Act II: Questions: Mister Wright! (Reporters, Townswomen)
    Duration
    00:49
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  26. 6 Act II: Dialogue: Together, Mamah, we will take… (Wright, Mamah, Chorus) 02:26
    Track
    6
    Title
    Act II: Dialogue: Together, Mamah, we will take… (Wright, Mamah, Chorus)
    Duration
    02:26
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Brenda Harris
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  27. 7 Act II: Sextet: Just my luck to end up here… (Reporters, Wright, Mamah) 01:56
    Track
    7
    Title
    Act II: Sextet: Just my luck to end up here… (Reporters, Wright, Mamah)
    Duration
    01:56
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Brenda Harris
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  28. 8 Act II: Interlude: For when all's said and done, we'd like to know… (Barbershop Quartet) 02:20
    Track
    8
    Title
    Act II: Interlude: For when all's said and done, we'd like to know… (Barbershop Quartet)
    Duration
    02:20
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  29. 9 Act II: Canape Variations: As the guests arrive at Taliesin… (Company) 09:12
    Track
    9
    Title
    Act II: Canape Variations: As the guests arrive at Taliesin… (Company)
    Duration
    09:12
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  30. 10 Act II: Oration: I am the birch stripped of its bark (Chef) 01:08
    Track
    10
    Title
    Act II: Oration: I am the birch stripped of its bark (Chef)
    Duration
    01:08
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  31. 11 Act II: Interlude: The Fire 02:28
    Track
    11
    Title
    Act II: Interlude: The Fire
    Duration
    02:28
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  32. 12 Act II: Scene: Frank. Lieber Meister… (Wright, Sullivan) 04:56
    Track
    12
    Title
    Act II: Scene: Frank. Lieber Meister… (Wright, Sullivan)
    Duration
    04:56
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Robert Frankenberry
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  33. 13 Act II: Duet: For ten long years I’ve tried to heal… (Wright, Sullivan) 04:09
    Track
    13
    Title
    Act II: Duet: For ten long years I’ve tried to heal… (Wright, Sullivan)
    Duration
    04:09
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Robert Frankenberry
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  34. 14 Act II: Eddie? Why so crestfallen? So forlorn? (Wright, Edwin, Sullivan) 01:52
    Track
    14
    Title
    Act II: Eddie? Why so crestfallen? So forlorn? (Wright, Edwin, Sullivan)
    Duration
    01:52
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Matthew Curran, Robert Frankenberry
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  35. 15 Act II: Arietta: I cry out from the Slough of Despond… (Sullivan) 02:11
    Track
    15
    Title
    Act II: Arietta: I cry out from the Slough of Despond… (Sullivan)
    Duration
    02:11
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Frankenberry
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  36. 16 Act II: Out of the depths we heard them cry again… (Townspeople, Wright) 02:23
    Track
    16
    Title
    Act II: Out of the depths we heard them cry again… (Townspeople, Wright)
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  37. 17 Act II: For ten long hours they were trapped… (Wright, Edwin) 05:48
    Track
    17
    Title
    Act II: For ten long hours they were trapped… (Wright, Edwin)
    Duration
    05:48
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth, Matthew Curran
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  38. 18 Act II: Out of the depths we heard them cry again… (Townpeople, Wright) 01:43
    Track
    18
    Title
    Act II: Out of the depths we heard them cry again… (Townpeople, Wright)
    Duration
    01:43
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Elem Eley
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  39. 19 Act II: Arietta: Not musk, cedar perhaps… (Wright) 02:04
    Track
    19
    Title
    Act II: Arietta: Not musk, cedar perhaps… (Wright)
    Duration
    02:04
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  40. 20 Act II: Aria: He's found! We've found the chef! (The Maid) 02:18
    Track
    20
    Title
    Act II: Aria: He's found! We've found the chef! (The Maid)
    Duration
    02:18
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Gilda Lyons
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  41. 21 Act II: Not maple. Pine; the scent of a plain pine box… (Wright, Chorus) 02:37
    Track
    21
    Title
    Act II: Not maple. Pine; the scent of a plain pine box… (Wright, Chorus)
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta
  42. 22 Act II: Aria: I think of the balsam fir… (Wright) 06:23
    Track
    22
    Title
    Act II: Aria: I think of the balsam fir… (Wright)
    Duration
    06:23
    Composer
    Daron Aric Hagen
    Performer
    Robert Orth
    Ensemble
    Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
    Conductor
    JoAnn Falletta