Customer Reviews

STEPHEN FOSTER'S AMERICA

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

 

 

The major thing wrong with this recording is the editing out of the word "darkies" which is like eliminating "cowboy" from western songs. If this guy is so sensitive, why include "Massa" which is a tribute to a slave master. Also, He's Got The Whole World In His Hand is generally attributed to the modern age.

If you want to hear a much better rendition of Foster, and other music of the period, try and find Thomas Hampson, "American Dreamer" and "An Old Song Re-Sung".

The tenor is fine, but the musical accompaniment is primitive. However, my main objection is that I do not at all approve of PC censorship and Bowdlerization. As if anyone who might be offended by the term "darkey" is going to be listening to Stephen Foster anyway! Get a life.

This recording is a good representation of the fine performance I heard Mr. Jimerson give at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. It is a careful historical recreation by an outstanding tenor. In regard to the minimal editing for today's audiences, the only "modernization" that I found in the texts is the substitution of non-pejorative nouns for the original "darkies."

I was thrilled to discover this CD! Mr. Jimerson has recreated Stephen Foster just as I remember it being sung in American parlors in the 1930's.

This recording is not for the untrained ear. Jimerson sings in the bel canto style of the opera world. His voice reminds me of one of the great Irish tenors, John McCormack.

Listening to this music, I can imagine my mother and father singing Foster by our old Chickering grand piano. Although my mother was an opera singer, she loved the emotional purity of Stephen Foster.

On the book with this CD is a New York Times review that hits the nail on the head, "Mr. Jimerson sang Foster straightforwardly, with affection and care." For my part, I'll be playing this CD again and again.

Faithful renditons of great songs. Every American should know the words to at least half a dozen of these gems. I do not agree with reviewers who believe he should have included the original slurs....these "reviewers" should imagine themselves in Mr. Jimmerson's place, who was singing for a diverse crowd in our nation's capitol in 1990's America. Accuracy ("authenticity"?)is of course crucial, but it is absurd to demand that the performer sing these uncomfortable lines in this setting.

I am so happy that I discovered this CD! These interpretations take me back to another place and time when parlor music dominated America's musical culture. In the 19th century, trained singers sang beautiful ballads by the family piano. Douglas Jimerson presents a time capsule with carefully crafted interpretations. By the way, the sound samples on amazon appear to be from an earlier release of the album, and the new recordings are more lovely than I expected.

These are earnest and heartfelt renditions of Stephen Foster songs that really deliver a period flavor, and nail Foster's emotions on the head. I can't believe that anyone could object to Mr. Jimerson's elision of currently offensive racial terms. There's a difference between "Massa's in de Cold, Cold Ground," which establishes a dramatic situation, take it or leave it, and race-specific epithets that might hurt somebody's feelings in the here and now. My only problem with Mr. Jimerson is that he tends throw these bizarre songs into the mix that have nothing to do with the themes of his albums -- like "He's Got the Whole World." Still, we should be grateful that this sensitive singer (and his fine, period-conscious musicians) are recording great 19th Century sentimental songs. I'd like to see him go even deeper into the literature of the time.

Bought for stephen foster SONGS but 2 of the spiritual songs are not Fosters.
And there is patriotic songs that are not FOSTERS. Your listing does not say songs from others yet there are 4 such songs.
Bad advertising.

I love Foster's music. I didn't enjoy any of these. I'll not waste any more time.