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PENTATONE

Heggie: Unexpected Shadows / Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie

$19.99

Details

Composer: HEGGIE, JAKE
Artist: Barton, Heggie, Haimovitz
Format: CD
Label: PENTATONE
Released: Sep 18, 2020
Catalog #: PTC5186836
UPC: 827949083662

About

A 2021 GRAMMY Nominee for Best Classical Vocal Solo Album!

Star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton presents a recital of songs by American composer Jake Heggie, with the composer at the piano. UNEXPECTED SHADOWS is a celebration in words and music of powerful, exceptional women. The program contains four song cycles, a single song, and an opera aria. The Work at Hand, set to poetry of the late Laura Morefield, contemplates on the brave fight against cancer that she, and millions with her, went through. Matt Haimovitz’ cello playing adds an extra layer to this profoundly moving song cycle. Iconic Legacies, on texts by Gene Scheer, offers four portraits of remarkable First Ladies. Scheer also wrote texts for Statuesque, inspired by five iconic sculptures of women and the deeply human stories within them. Of Gods & Cats, based on poetry by Gavin Dillard, offers playful parodies on religious allegories. Music, on a text by Sister Helen Prejean, addresses the transformative, healing, and humanizing power of music, while the so-called Ice Cube Aria from Heggie’s opera If I Were You, on a libretto by Gene Scheer, shows the female demon Brittomara reflecting on the delicious predictability of human nature. Multi-award-winning mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton makes her PENTATONE debut. Jake Heggie has a vast discography with the label, including the opera It’s a Wonderful Life (2017) and song recital albums by Melody Moore, Lisa Delan and Joyce DiDonato. The same applies to Matt Haimovitz, who has released several albums on PENTATONE, from contemporary classical and jazz and rock covers to Bach’s complete cello suites.

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REVIEWS:

Everyone is in peak form on this recording. Barton purrs, croons, divas, and screams her way through four complete song collections along with the song “Music” from The Breaking Waves collection to texts by Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), and the short “Ice Cube Aria” from Heggie and Gene Scheer’s recent opera, If I Were You. Her huge range and power allies with a larger-than-life personality. Heggie, who was clearly encouraging Barton to perform at her best, holds his own with stellar pianism whose ferocious vitality must have kept Skywalker Studio’s piano tuner very busy. Unexpected Shadows makes the best possible case for the necessity and relevance of modern American classical song.

– San Francisco Classical Voice (sfcv.org)

Barton’s solo album is devoted to Heggie’s art songs and it’s a tribute to his output that he sustains the interest for over an hour with a variety that stands comparison with, say, Poulenc in the 20th century, lavishing sumptuous tone on the cycle written for Barton, The Work at Hand.

– Sunday Times (UK)

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Tracklist 16 tracks

1 The Breaking Waves: No. 3. Music 02:56

Track
1

Title
The Breaking Waves: No. 3. Music
Duration
02:56
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
2 No. 1. Individual Origami 06:38

Track
2

Title
No. 1. Individual Origami
Duration
06:38
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Matt Haimovitz, Jake Heggie
3 No. 2. Warrior 1 04:36

Track
3

Title
No. 2. Warrior 1
Duration
04:36
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Matt Haimovitz, Jake Heggie
4 No. 3. The Slow Seconds 07:21

Track
4

Title
No. 3. The Slow Seconds
Duration
07:21
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Matt Haimovitz, Jake Heggie
5 If I Were You: Ice Cube Aria: I Don't Have to Do a Thing (version for voice and piano) 03:27

Track
5

Title
If I Were You: Ice Cube Aria: I Don't Have to Do a Thing (version for voice and piano)
Duration
03:27
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
6 No. 1. Eleanor Roosevelt: Marian Anderson's Mink Coat 04:00

Track
6

Title
No. 1. Eleanor Roosevelt: Marian Anderson's Mink Coat
Duration
04:00
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
7 No. 2. Mary Todd Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln's Hat 04:29

Track
7

Title
No. 2. Mary Todd Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln's Hat
Duration
04:29
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
8 No. 3. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: White House Christmas Card, 1963 03:11

Track
8

Title
No. 3. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: White House Christmas Card, 1963
Duration
03:11
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
9 No. 4. Barbara Bush: The Muppets 03:45

Track
9

Title
No. 4. Barbara Bush: The Muppets
Duration
03:45
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
10 No. 1. In the Beginning 02:54

Track
10

Title
No. 1. In the Beginning
Duration
02:54
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
11 No. 2. Once Upon a Universe 03:32

Track
11

Title
No. 2. Once Upon a Universe
Duration
03:32
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
12 No. 1. Henry Moore: Reclining Figure in Elmwood 04:11

Track
12

Title
No. 1. Henry Moore: Reclining Figure in Elmwood
Duration
04:11
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
13 No. 2. Pablo Picasso: Head of a Woman, 1932 01:51

Track
13

Title
No. 2. Pablo Picasso: Head of a Woman, 1932
Duration
01:51
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
14 No. 3. Hatshepsut: The Divine Potter 03:21

Track
14

Title
No. 3. Hatshepsut: The Divine Potter
Duration
03:21
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
15 No. 4. Alberto Giacometti: Standing Woman, 1948 04:33

Track
15

Title
No. 4. Alberto Giacometti: Standing Woman, 1948
Duration
04:33
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie
16 No. 5. Winged Victory: We're Through 05:15

Track
16

Title
No. 5. Winged Victory: We're Through
Duration
05:15
Composer
Jake Heggie
Performer
Jamie Barton, Jake Heggie