Recital: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Ravinia [Import, Live]

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson (Artist, Performer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), George Frideric Handel (Composer), Claude Debussy (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Bob Telson (Composer), Harry Thacker Burleigh (Composer), Peter Serkin (Performer), Drew Minter (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Peter Serkin, Drew Minter
• Composer: Johannes Brahms, George Frideric Handel, Claude Debussy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bob Telson, et al.
• Audio CD (February 10, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Harmonia Mundi
• ASIN: B001L15C5K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,069 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ruhe, SĂ1/4ssliebchen, im Schatten, song for voice & piano (Die schöne Magelone), Op. 33/9

2. Von ewiger Liebe ('Dunkel, wie dunkel in Wald und in Feld!'), song for voice & piano, Op. 43/1

3. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: O Numi eterni! / GiĂ  superbo del mio affanno

4. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: Ma voi forse nel cielo / Il suol che preme

5. La Lucrezia (O Numi Eterni), cantata for soprano & continuo, HWV 145: A voi, padre, consorte / Giŕ nel seno comincia compir

6. Chansons de Bilitis (3), song cycle for voice & piano, L. 90: La Flûte der Pan

7. Chansons de Bilitis (3), song cycle for voice & piano, L. 90: La chevelure

8. Chansons de Bilitis (3), song cycle for voice & piano, L. 90: Le tombeau des naĂŻades

9. Dans un bois solitaire, song for voice & piano, K. 308 (K. 295b)

10. Als Luise die Briefe ('Erzeugt von heisser Phantasie'), song for voice & piano, K. 520

11. Abendempfindung an Laura ('Abend ist's'), song for voice & piano, K. 523

12. Die ihr des unermesslichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt, cantata for voice & piano, K. 619

13. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17: Act 1. Duet. Son nata a lagrimar

14. Deep River

15. Bagdad Cafe, film score: Calling You

Editorial Reviews

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson displays her own special sense of drama in a program on the theme of love, ranging over several centuries and covering every facet of this universal emotion. "Lieberson's vocal mastery, understanding of text and how to convey its meaning, combined with the warm, richly colored timbre of her voice, exemplified in this simple song (Track 15- Burleigh's 'Deep River') , are the same qualities you'll hear applied with the same degree of care and skill, in every other selection on this recital, a concert performance from Ravinia (Illinois). Whether it's the fuller textures and overt drama of the three Brahms song or the airer contemplative atmosphere of Debussy's Trois chansons de Bilitis, Lieberson's voice seems the perfect vehicle for this at once most intimate and universal form of communication. " ClassicsToday.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Treasure February 20, 2009

By Lois C. Fleming

Format:Audio CD

It's always bugged me that I missed hearing this Ravinia concert on August 5, 2004, since I live 20 minutes from the park. Now we have a recording of it, and what a great recital it is. Especially if you have other recordings of Lorraine singing some of the pieces she included in this program, you'll want this recording. She is in full control, vocally secure, and as passionate in singing about the varieties of love, as in her signature Glyndeborne Irene on the Theodora DVD. Her introductions to some of the pieces reveal a speaking voice as lovely as her singing.

The recording is very "present." At times I feel like I want to move away from the piano a bit - or close the lid. But the aliveness captures every nuance of Lorraine's vast array of emotional warmth, depth, passion and very self as she interprets each song. The duet from Handel's Julius Caesar with Drew Minter is noteworthy.

Please buy this CD to encourage more digging the archives for Hunt Lieberson treasures not yet released.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Voice That Captures The Spirituality Within The Words And The Music! April 24, 2009

By Raymond Vacchino

Format:Audio CD

I discovered the radiance and sincerity of Lieberson's voice at a concert she gave in Amsterdam while I was visiting the city on my thirtieth birthday. It was an experience of revelation for me and one I have never forgotten.

This recording, "Recital at Ravinia", displays Lieberson's rare found ability to capture the spirituality within the words and the music. In the songs by Brahms she conveys the drama and passion with remarkable depth, heart-warming affection and richly expressive characterisation. Her approach to the works of Debussy reflect each songs withdrawn poetry and fantasy with an ease and delicacy that suggests, once more, a wholly exceptional artist fully at home in the composer's sound world.

The ear is welcomed to Handel and Mozart by Lieberson's intimate sound with sophisticated grading of dynamics, displays of bravura that deserve to be heard more often, and how important pianist Peter Serkin's arsenal is when Lieberson needs to showcase the dramatic elements of the text, and demonstrates virtuosic climaxes with absolute calculation. In the songs by Thacker, Burleigh and Telson, Lorraine's command of their varying musical styles conveys a sense of rich enterprise and inclusiveness from start to finish.
Throughout this recording Lieberson's wondrous artistic blessings are utilised. Elegantly tapered phrasing, effortless musical grace, dramatic passion, and all the imaginative freedom to concentrate fully on the heart of the music, makes one come away dazzled by the unique elan of these magnificent performances.

"The death of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson was a tragic loss to the world of the performing arts,thus making this recording one to be cherished and forever treasured."

Author: Raymond Vacchino M.Mus. (Classical Music Critic)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A tragic mood hangs over this masterful recital February 12, 2010

By Santa Fe Listener HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

During the last years of her life, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's singing, always touching and emotional, became heartrending. This recital from 2004 is particularly haunted. The selections are taken slowly, often very slowly, with maximum expression, as if the singer cannot help but cling to every phrase. At times, as in the Mozart group, the pacing is too broad and the emotion too wrenching for the material. At other times, as in the Brahms group, her deep feelings lead to transcendent music-making, the kind that is breathless and blissful at the same time. The two cantatas by Handel and Mozart find Hunt Lieberson in prime territory. They are given tragic resonance and highly romantic delivery.

But categories like classical and romantic are irrelevant. Everything here has a tragic resonance. Surely Hunt Lieberson herself felt this at the time. Peter Serkin's accompaniments are also unusually subdued. I found it difficult to get through the recital in one go. Every song stands on its own as an object lesson in perfect mastery, recalling the greatness of Christa Ludwig and Janet Baker. Hunt Lieberson was a more profound interpreter of Handel (and Bach) than either one, and the warm, ample voice remained amazingly well preserved through so much suffering. This CD is the most difficult to listen to among the treasures that have come out since Hunt Lieberson's death. One might be well advised to begin instead with "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Emmanuel," which is devoted to her sublime Baroque singing. To tell the truth, this incomparable artist, like Kathleen Ferrier, another doomed and beloved singer, left hardly a note behind that isn't magnificent. In both cases, it was the spiritual dimension that remains so memorable.