Customer Reviews

Fifteen Seconds of Grace

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4 star:		(1)
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Broadway star Victoria Clark's debut CD "Fifteen Seconds of Grace" is both a surprise and a revelation. Rather than go the oft-tread route of mining the broadway repetoire with full orchestra backing, Ms. Clark chose an ecclectic array of contemporary art songs, originals and a few esoteric, rarely recorded Broadway gems. She performs these with the gentle backing of a sparse ensemble perfectly suited to her well-phrased, pitch perfect and resonantly graceful voice. Ms. Clark's interpretive skills are on full display here, and she neither gives in to vocal showmanship (Lord knows, she could) nor mannered interpretations. She lets the lyrics speak for themselves.

"Thomas", a beautiful song she begins a capella, is the prime cut here, a gourgeous piece of longing and heartache where her gentle singing fully conveys the beauty and pain of love. Other stand-outs include the haunting "How Can I keep From Singing", her jazzy New Orleans inflected take on "Someone to Cook For" and a trio of rarely recorded Broadway classics: "Right as the Rain", "I Got Lost in His Arms", and a new take on "Before the Parade Passes By" that is both winsome and galvanizing and rivals Streisand's version. These are performed with spare arrangements that emphasize melody and lyric, and Ms. Clark does not disappoint. The one blight on the recording is "It Might Be You" from the film "Tootsie". Her performance is flawless but the material is beneath her and doesn't deserve to be in the same company as these other classics.

Auspicious is an overused word in reviews, but this utterly unexpected recording says that Victoria Clark is an artist to be reckoned with. She proved it on Broadway. Now she's made a vast leap into the recording field with hopefully many more recordings to come. Masterful.

Not since Broadway legend Audra MacDonald released her first solo album after her success in "Ragtime" have I been so impressed with another stage star's solo debut, Victoria Clark's "Fifteen Seconds of Grace." This collection of highly personal and revealing songs very close to her heart are beautifully vocalized and interpreted by Ms.Clark.I bought this cd having seen and heard Victoria Clark live in "Titanic","Opening Doors" and her amazing Tony Winning "The Light in the Piazza." These songs point out that Clark has a great need and capacity for love and this is reflected especially in her renditions of "All of my Life" and most especially in "Thomas" where she expresses pure joy and wonder at her little son.Clark's voice is fluid perfection.There is never a note misplaced or a certain nuance undetected.The collection as a whole is balladic in style,fully orchestrated and even contains a new Adam Guettel song (composer of "The Light in The Piazza") as well as Harold Arlen standards.An outstanding recommended purchase.

Victoria Clark proves herself to be a fine interpreter of both classic and modern American song. Her take on "Before The Parade Passes By" is alone worth the price of the CD.

What an amazingly versatile voice! She can belt it out and then five minutes later make it sound like an Art Song recital. This CD is a perfect showcase of her capacity to create goosebumps and bring the listener to tears (and the performer as well as witnessed at her recent mini-concert to celebrate the release.) Classics like "Before the Parade Passes By" followed by the title track with its beautiful, understated softness, and then one of Ricky Ian Gordon's signature 21st Century Art Songs... this is really a CD for everyone to love. THANKS to Tommy, Phillip, et al, for a wonderful showcase of a real star!

Victoria Clark fills each song with a spirit and emotion that uplifts and delights. The CD is filled with a delightful variety of songs and themes. I love this recording!!

Victoria Clark is a vocal and musical goddess, and this cd only makes me want to hear more from her (beyond her brilliant performances on the LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA and the TITANIC cds). Some favorite moments here: the opening song, "How Can I Keep From Singing?"; "Thomas"; "Right As The Rain"; "The Red Dress"; the new Guettel song, "Life Is But a Dream"; and, despite the criticism of it from another reviewer here, "It Might Be You," which is actually a lovely song, polished to unexpected beauty by Miss Clark's rendition.

If you love beautiful, intelligent and heartfelt singing along the lines of Barbara Cook, with humor and character in the right places and flawless technique put to the service of interpretation and soulful art, Victoria's for you.

Also worth noting are the excellent production values that have come to be expected and are so welcome in recordings produced by ps classics, Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin.

I admired Victoria Clark greatly in "Light in the Piazza" and bought her first CD. It is a beautiful disk with each song a story in itself. Her beautiful voice, musicianship and intelligence shine through. I've played it many times over and each time hear something different. Wonderful disk.

This is a gorgeous recording that showcases a wonderful partnership between Vicki Clark's superb voice and some elegant orchestrations. They've been described as "American Art Songs," which is apt. They're purely American, but with a sophistication and a "chamber piece" feel that distinguishes them from traditional popular music, cabaret, or even the "Great American Songbook." I've listened to the CD over and over, and my favorite tracks keep changing. I've concluded that means they're all wonderful. But if I had to pick out just three, I'd take, "I Got Lost in His Arms," "Thomas," and "Right as the Rain." That's at least for today.

Those who know the work of Victoria Clark--or think they do from her Tony-winning turn as Margaret Johnson the southern mother abroad in LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, or one of her other wonderful acting turns on Broadway--will still be amazed and startled by the fresh breeze on her album, FIFTEEN SECONDS OF GRACE, a splendid mix of songs familiar and less so. The voice is lovely, of course, but the interpretations are so inviting. For one who lately has played matrons and strong-willed ladies, it is a delight to find this is a voice of quick-silver, intelligence and delicacy. Under the superb musical direction of Ted Sperling, this album is one luminous discovery after another, with a wonderful sense of intimacy. Each number is a work of art, but to single one out, take a listen to BEFORE THE PARADE PASSES BY, that stalwart anthem to life from HELLO, DOLLY! Deftly defying expectations (in part thanks to a really splendid arrangement), a steamroller anthem to survive has been reborn as the tale of someone who is genuinely thrilled to re-discover life's adventure. By concentrating not on overcoming the past (as in usual interpretations) but rather on the promise of the future, the song takes on a glistening beauty previously overlooked. It is that delightfully inventive perspective that Clark brings to every note on the album. This is not a show-singer disc--it is an artist giving you a truly one-person exhibit, with something special around every corner.

How can you fault perfection? Victoria Clark, you are perfection ...I sat and watched you three times in Titanic and four times in Light in the Piazza and you brought tears to my eyes and grace to my soul and smiles to my lips...this is just an amazing CD and I feel like you have dropped by for a quiet dinner with my friends and then we gather around the piano and you just inspire and entrance us. Every breath, every syllabel...What a talent. I love Patti and Bernadette and Bette, but Victoria...you grace the stage with love and passion and thank you for this gift you have given us...You are truly amazing.