Customer Reviews

Leaving Home

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With "Leaving Home," Rebecca Luker has made me do something I thought I would never do - I played this disk over and over, listening to nothing else for several days!

I'm a very critical listener. What I hear on this disk is absolutely perfect technique - spot-on intonation, flawless diction, wonderful phrasing - and as beautiful a voice as I have ever heard in my fifty years on the planet. That alone would make this required listening for anyone who wants to know how a song should be sung. But much greater than that is the emotional truth in every phrase. As I listen, I can see the expressions flitting across her face, the light in her eyes. I know that she is feeling every word. So am I.

Our greatest artists open a crack in the window yielding a glimpse of the eternal. Rebecca throws wide the door, and the light and love of Heaven come pouring through!

Simply wonderful!

Like a lot of people, I was greatly surprised when noted Broadway soprano Rebecca Luker decided to record an album of folk, pop, and blues music. It was certainly a very bold step for Ms Luker, but the gamble paid off, and 'Leaving Home' is a fantastic album for her talents, which are quite varied judging by this album.

Ms Luker might have been forever pegged as the prim and proper ingenue of musicals like "Show Boat", "Sound of Music" and "The Music Man", but thanks to this album, her fans have been able to hear her in an entirely new context. I also hope that this album manages to infiltrate beyond musical theatre fans, because hers is a talent for the whole world to appreciate.

Luker chooses a range of beautiful songs for this album, including Joni Mitchell's heartbreaking "River" (a major highlight), as well as pieces from Janis Joplin, Carly Simon, Amanda McBroom and Stephen Foster, amongst others.

Keeping her main audience happy, she has also included "Wick" (from "The Secret Garden"), which she shares as a duet with Alison Fraser (her co-star from the original Broadway cast). The final track of the album - John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "She's Leaving Home" - is the perfect ending.

An amazing about-face from Rebecca Luker. [PS Classics 415]

It was with the greatest trepidation I purchased Rebecca Luker's foray into folk music. I have been a fan of Ms. Luker's for many years, enjoying her many performances in some truly memorable Broadway productions. But folk music? I had my doubts whether such a pure Broadway voice could make me forget about all that and enjoy this music as itself. And I am certainly glad to have taken the risk.

Her vocal quality wraps itself around the folk music in a completely different fashion. From the haunting Neil Young tune to Joni Mitchell to the eye-opening Stephen Foster song, Ms. Luker offeres up a delightful and, at times, moving assortment of music from this category. And at the end, I kept thinking of wonderful songs that could have been included. And perhaps the muses will smile on us and Ms. Luker will take another dive into the world of folk.

This is one of the loveliest CD's I have acquired in many years. I play it several times a day. It has such a wonderful mixture of melodies on it. Rebecca truley has a remarkable voice.

simply beautiful. a musical oasis that transports you to another place. a place of beauty,serenity, thoughtfulness and quiet reflection. this cd is a must for your collection...

What a wonderful talent. I can't take it out of my car. It plays over and over.

Rebecca Luker gives a wonderful performance on these poetic songs.

She uses her beautiful voice with great expression and she makes it a joy to listen to these finely crafted songs.