1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
bland and unmemorable, February 20, 2008
This review is from: Arias & Songs (Audio CD)
Composer Robert Ward (b. 1917) enjoyed his greatest success with his Pulitzer-winning opera The Crucible (1961) after the Arthur Miller play - but the success seems to have been limited at that. Hearing these arias from a few of his operas (here given with a piano accompaniment) and five songs, one can understand why. They are pretty bland and unmemorable, couched in a lyrical language of no great distinction. Maybe it would work better with the colors of the orchestra. But the songs don't provide much variety either, and hearing in succession all these arias and song for baritone also doesn't help: it reinforces the impression of sameness. The best ones are the arias from "The Lady from Colorado" (1964), which have, alternately, a muscularity and brashness (as in "Law and Order, track 8) or a gentle, lyrical lilt (track 9) nicely evocative of Broadway.
William Stone has a good baritone voice. It is not enough to save this bland music.
For the record, the excerpts are from "The Crucible", "He Who Gets Slapped" (1956), "'Abelard and Heloise" (1981), "Claudia Legare" (1977), "Minutes Till Midnight" (1982) and "The Lady from Colorado" (best served, with 4 arias). With that, all of Ward's six operas are represented.
Good sound, good introductory survey but nothing about the individual works; instead, texts are provided, TT is 51:15, which I find is at the inferior limit of acceptability for a CD.
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