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Track(s) taken from CDA67644

The South Wind

First line:
When gently blows the South Wind
composer
1899 to Heine's Die Lotosblume; revised 1908
author of text

Gerald Finley (baritone), Julius Drake (piano)
Recording details: February 2007
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Mark Brown
Engineered by Julian Millard
Release date: February 2008
Total duration: 2 minutes 41 seconds

Cover artwork: Early Spring Afternoon, Central Park (1911). Willard Leroy Metcalf (1858-1925)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Outstandingly well sung and played, equally well recorded, and highly recommendable to all lovers of fine songs and fine singing’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘This is a highly successful follow-up to Gerald Finley and Julius Drake's first Ives recital from 2005. Here there is the same sort of mix, from familiar songs such as The Circus Band and Watchman! to an early requiem for the family cat and the intriguing title song, Romanzo, di Central Park, with its obbligato violin part atmospherically played by Magnus Johnston. Finley is his usual charismatic self, at home as much in the hymnody as the parody, and he is careful not to over-sentimentalise the more homely numbers while injecting pathos into the war songs. Drake projects Ives's often complex accompaniments with clarity and style’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘The programme has been selected and sequenced with care … the booklet includes not just texts but also comments by Calum MacDonald about every single song. Hyperion always gets these things right; even the cover art is a bull's-eye. Finley and Drake give no cause for complaint either … the engineers have done their work well. Finley and Drake are perfectly balanced and they perofrm in an environment of intimate warmth’ (International Record Review)

‘Finley is a wonderfully assured interpreter … perfectly registering their switchback changes of mood and presenting their occasional lapses into sentimentality with total conviction. More than any other performers on disc, Finley and Drake establish these songs, with all their quirks and flights of fantasy, among the most important of the 20th century in any language’ (The Guardian)

‘Gerald Finley has everything and more in his darkly full-bodied voice to match the often formidable technical and expressive requirements of Ives's songbook—reinforced by Drake's elastic, expressive piano … this is a must-buy album’ (The Times)

‘The variety of songs recorded here is extraordinary … Gerald Finley's warm baritone sits right inside Ives's soundworld, while Drake refuses to be fazed by the idealistic piano writing’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Listening to a collection such as this reveals genuine delights of phrase and harmony. These are, by and large, not songs for 'showy' singers, yet several of the numbers more citational of popular song do demand some verbal panache, which the Canadian bass-baritone can certainly supply, along with fine-honed dynamic control and a warm, solidly delineated tone … Drake, very sensitive as to tempo and mood, proves willing to haul out the trombones when needed’ (Opera News)

‘It's the best kind of fun. The astonishing range Ives exhibits in the 30 songs on the disc—some comic, others serious—is astonishing. Finley, in even better voice than on the Barber CD, and Drake, relishing Ives' complexities, dig deep into them all’ (Bay Area Reporter, USA)

‘Gerald Finley's second disc of Ives songs is every bit as wonderful as the first. Finley is the perfect song recitalist … he can sound dreamy, tender, raucous, heroic, and serene, all without ever disfiguring his timbre or letting the pitch waver. Julius Drake offers accompaniments that are as perfect and knowing as the singing, and the engineering couldn't be better … this is magnificent—vocal recitals don't come any better’ (Classics Today)
The South Wind was originally composed in about 1899 as a setting of Heinrich Heine’s poem ‘Die Lotosblume’, but as Ives noted in 114 Songs he felt ‘the setting was unsatisfactory, and other words were written for it’. This was a new poem by Harmony Twichell, soon to become Ives’s wife, and the re-casting took place in 1908. Nevertheless 114 Songs prints the two texts as alternatives. Gravely expansive, this is one of Ives’s finest homages to the spirit of post-Brahmsian Romanticism.

from notes by Calum MacDonald © 2008

The South Wind («Le vent du Sud») fut originellement composée vers 1899 sur «Die Lotosblume» de Heinrich Heine mais, comme le révèlent les 114 Songs, Ives sentit que «la mise en musique n’était pas satisfaisante et d’autres paroles furent écrites». Cette refonte eut lieu en 1908, avec un nouveau poème d’Harmony Twichell, qui allait bientôt épouser Ives. Reste que les 114 Songs présentent les deux textes, au choix. Solennellement expansive, cette œuvre constitue l’un des plus beaux hommages ivesiens à l’esprit du romantisme post-brahmsien.

extrait des notes rédigées par Calum MacDonald © 2008
Français: Hypérion

The South Wind wurde ursprünglich um 1899 als Vertonung von Heinrich Heines Gedicht „Die Lotosblume“ komponiert, aber wie Ives in 114 Songs bemerkt, fand er „die Vertonung unzulänglich und andere Worte wurden dafür geschrieben“. Diese Worte waren ein neues Gedicht von Harmony Twichell, die bald Ives’ Frau werden sollte, und die Neugestaltung fand 1908 statt. 114 Songs druckt jedoch beide Texte als Alternativen. Dieses gravitätisch-expansive Lied gehört zu Ives’ besten Huldigungen an den Geist der nach-Brahmsischen Romantik.

aus dem Begleittext von Calum MacDonald © 2008
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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