Music of Peter Lieberson (Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto) [Live]

Peter Lieberson (Composer), Justin Brown (Conductor), Donald Palma (Conductor), Odense Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Performer), William Purvis (Performer), Peter Serkin (Performer), Michaela Fukacova (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, William Purvis, Peter Serkin, Michaela Fukacova
• Orchestra: Odense Symphony Orchestra
• Conductor: Justin Brown, Donald Palma
• Composer: Peter Lieberson
• Audio CD (May 1, 2006)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Bridge Records, Inc.
• ASIN: B000FC2I5S
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,054 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LHL and more, October 8, 2006

By 

Thomas F. Dillingham (Columbia, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music of Peter Lieberson (Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto) (Audio CD)

While it is true that I bought this recording in order to hear Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's performance (I would listen to her sing anything by anybody), it is a happy outcome that I can recommend the whole disc. I have not been a fan of Peter Lieberson's music before, but the pleasing variety of works here may convert me.

First, the Rilke songs, written for LHL, are exceptionally beautiful and her performance lives up to all expectations. The selection of five poems from Rilke's 'Sonnets to Orpheus' is itself interesting, suggesting a fine understanding of the work of that very difficult poet; the poems evoke Rilke's (and Lieberson's) fascination with the tensions between dynamic motion (and life) and the pure stasis of ideal beauty, of the search for spiritual perfection and the lure of physical/sexual power. Rilke finds in art the possibility of bringing those together, of reconciling any tension between them; Lieberson seeks the same in his music (especially as he explains its connection with Buddhist principles), and the connection in these songs is both very beautiful and convincing. LHL's voice was the perfect medium for those songs; her performance is meditative, lyrical, profoundly emotional but subtle. Anyone who values her singing will want this disc.

But further, Lieberson's piece for cello and orchestra, "Six Realms," which explores the realms of existence as described in Buddhist tradition, and the Horn Concerto, are both deeply satisfying, if not particularly adventurous, works. Both offer challenges to the soloists, and both reward the attentive listener with thought provoking and moving musical experiences. TFD

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wrapped up in sound, thought, and memory, November 5, 2006

By 

Robert Dixon (Berkeley, California USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music of Peter Lieberson (Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto) (Audio CD)

Of course I bought this to have another memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson...and on that level it succeeded; what surprised me pleasantly was the rest of the album. I enjoyed Peter Lieberson's horn concerto on first listening and have replayed it several times - finding colors and contrasts that deepened the experience of the music.

But let's not forget the prime reason for owning this disc...the glorious, wonderous, magical, intelligent, powerful - and gone forever - Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Her husband crafted songs that inhabit her voice and that she lives rather than sings...though she does. Now one must wait and hope for the Neruda Songs.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting Vocals Amid a Postmodern Score, January 7, 2007

By 

Diane M. Armitage (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Music of Peter Lieberson (Rilke Songs, The Six Realms, Horn Concerto) (Audio CD)

The late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's full-throated singing once again astounds the astute listener. Rilke's complex poetry, set to music by the late singer's husband, Peter Lieberson, is a haunting combination of music, text, and near perfect vocal interpretation. Hunt Lieberson's incarnation of Rilke's evocations of loss and transformation is nothing less than a supremely intelligent and passionate performance. An orchestral piece and a horn concerto comprise most of the CD and Peter Lieberson's late-20th century musical sensibility is at once lyrical and dark and intent on exploring moods particularly resonant with postmodern life: ambiguity, dissonance, estrangement, lamentation, and the inexorable pull of fate toward the elliptical.