Moravec: Sanctuary Road / Tritle, Oratorio Society of New York
Details
- Composer
- MORAVEC, PAUL
- Artist
- Tritle, Burton, Mitchel
- Format
- CD
- Label
- Naxos
- Released
- Jan 10, 2020
- Catalog #
- 8559884
- UPC
- 636943988428
About
A 2020 GRAMMY nominee for Best Choral Performance!
After the success of his opera The Shining, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec has once again collaborated with librettist Mark Campbell to create the second of his “American historical oratorios.” Sanctuary Road draws on the astonishing stories to be found in William Still’s book The Underground Railroad, which documents the network of secret routes and safe houses used by African American slaves to escape into free states and Canada during the early to mid- 1800s. The epic nature of these stories of courage, perseverance and sacrifice is transformed into an enthralling saga, heard here at its world premiere performance at Carnegie Hall- a performance acclaimed by BroadwayWorld for its “riveting, pulsating wall of sound and stellar soloists.”
REVIEWS:
Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road is unique. Moravec terms it an oratorio, and indeed; yet there’s plenty of dramatic action of an operatic sort. The soloists, all African American, are an able group, but bass-baritone Dashon Burton, as Still, has an especially compelling, authoritative quality. The performance was recorded live at the work’s 2018 premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York, and the Oratorio Society of New York Chorus under Kent Tritle is both precise and energetic in the pressure-packed situation of a single recorded performance.
– AllMusicGuide.com (J. Manheim)
Santuary Road's eminent singability, colorful scoring, and uplifting messages would seem to guarantee its future success. Moravec’s setting of the material makes it unquestionably an oratorio in the full quasi-operatic sense, rich in character, action, and vocal display, and also cinematic in rhythm, cutting from intimate moments to breathless chase scenes and back.
The performance largely belonged to the five soloists, four portraying various fugitives plus the clear-voiced bass-baritone Dashon Burton in a sturdy turn as William Still himself.
Mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis had the showstopper aria as the appropriately named Ellen Craft. Strong in the lower register, her voice blossomed on top, bringing loud applause at the close.
In recurring segments titled “Run,” Joshua Blue depicted the lone fugitive’s terror and grit in his powerful tenor. With clear diction and dry humor, baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather as Henry “Box” Brown told of his 26 hours traveling in a shipping crate to Philadelphia.
Soprano Laquita Mitchell’s solo came late but was worth waiting for. By the aria’s climax, she was in full-throated dramatic mode, to marvelous effect.
Between Moravec’s sensitive scoring and conductor Tritle’s astute management of balances, all the solos came across clearly, even though not all the voices were extra large. In fact, all the sonic and dramatic elements of the piece came together smoothly in a well-paced performance whose final crescendo on the word “Free” brought a tear to the eye and the audience to its feet.
– New York Classical Review by David Wright
It is extremely well crafted in musical terms and it sets off the text so that the experience is commemorative, rightly honoring, remembering but of course still providing a history-as-art experience. I come away with a feeling of satisfaction, of approval. You should hear this.
– Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review
All the soloists, including the lovely soprano Laquita Mitchell, the sonorous bass-baritone Dashon Burton and the heavy-lifting narrator, the superb baritone Malcolm J. Merriweather do sterling work with the unstinting support of maestro Tritle and his orchestra and chorus.
– Rafael's Music Notes
Tracklist 17 tracks
-
1 Write (William Still, soloists, chorus) 06:06
- Track
- 1
- Title
- Write (William Still, soloists, chorus)
- Duration
- 06:06
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Dashon Burton, Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
2 Quietly (soloists) 02:26
- Track
- 2
- Title
- Quietly (soloists)
- Duration
- 02:26
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Malcolm J. Merriweather, Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Laquita Mitchell
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
3 Reward! (chorus, soloists) 02:27
- Track
- 3
- Title
- Reward! (chorus, soloists)
- Duration
- 02:27
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Malcolm J. Merriweather, Joshua Blue, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Laquita Mitchell
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
4 The Same Train (Ellen Craft) 04:52
- Track
- 4
- Title
- The Same Train (Ellen Craft)
- Duration
- 04:52
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Raehann Bryce-Davis
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
5 Interview I (William Still, baritone) 00:52
- Track
- 5
- Title
- Interview I (William Still, baritone)
- Duration
- 00:52
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Dashon Burton, Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
6 Run I (Wesley Harris) 01:13
- Track
- 6
- Title
- Run I (Wesley Harris)
- Duration
- 01:13
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Joshua Blue
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
7 This Side Up (Henry "Box" Brown) 03:27
- Track
- 7
- Title
- This Side Up (Henry "Box" Brown)
- Duration
- 03:27
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
8 I Waited (chorus) 02:29
- Track
- 8
- Title
- I Waited (chorus)
- Duration
- 02:29
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
9 Run II (Wesley Harris) 00:50
- Track
- 9
- Title
- Run II (Wesley Harris)
- Duration
- 00:50
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Joshua Blue
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
10 Interview II (William Still, soprano) 00:44
- Track
- 10
- Title
- Interview II (William Still, soprano)
- Duration
- 00:44
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Dashon Burton, Laquita Mitchell
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
11 Aunt Abigail (Harriet Eglan, Charlotte Giles) 03:34
- Track
- 11
- Title
- Aunt Abigail (Harriet Eglan, Charlotte Giles)
- Duration
- 03:34
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Raehann Bryce-Davis, Laquita Mitchell
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
12 Run III (Wesley Harris, chorus) 02:14
- Track
- 12
- Title
- Run III (Wesley Harris, chorus)
- Duration
- 02:14
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Joshua Blue
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
13 Interview III (William Still, soloists) 01:27
- Track
- 13
- Title
- Interview III (William Still, soloists)
- Duration
- 01:27
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Dashon Burton, Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
14 Rain (Clarissa Davis, soloists) 04:00
- Track
- 14
- Title
- Rain (Clarissa Davis, soloists)
- Duration
- 04:00
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
15 Interlude: 1861-1865 (chorus) 03:41
- Track
- 15
- Title
- Interlude: 1861-1865 (chorus)
- Duration
- 03:41
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
16 Finale (William Still, soloists, chorus) 09:23
- Track
- 16
- Title
- Finale (William Still, soloists, chorus)
- Duration
- 09:23
- Composer
- Paul Moravec
- Performer
- Dashon Burton, Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather
- Ensemble
- Oratorio Society of New York Chorus, Oratorio Society of New York Orchestra
- Conductor
- Kent Tritle
-
17 Write It! - Reflections on Sanctuary Road 20:34
- Track
- 17
- Title
- Write It! - Reflections on Sanctuary Road
- Duration
- 20:34
- Composer
- na Not Applicable
- Performer
- Paul Moravec, Laquita Mitchell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Joshua Blue, Malcolm J. Merriweather, Dashon Burton