Songs by Samuel Barber [Import]

Gerald Finley (Performer), Samuel Barber (Composer), Julius Drake (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Gerald Finley, Julius Drake
• Composer: Samuel Barber
• Audio CD (November 13, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Hyperion UK
• ASIN: B000WE5G5I
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,473 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. There's nae lark

2. The Beggar's Song 'Good people keep their holy day'

3. In the dark pinewood

4. #3: Bessie Bobtail 'As down the road she wambled slow'

5. #1: At St. Patrick's Purgatory 'Pity me on my pilgrimange to Loch Derg!'

6. #2: Church Bell at Night ' Sweet lettle bell, struck on a windy night'

7. #3: St. Ita's Vision 'I will take nothing from my Lord, said she'

8. # 4: The Heavenly Banquet ' I would like to have the men of Heaven in my own house'

9. # 5: The Crucifixion 'At the cry of the first bird'

10. # 6: Sea Snatch 'It has broken us, it has crushed us'

11. # 7: Promiscuity 'I do not know with whom Edan will sleep'

12. #8: The Monk and his Cat ' Pangur, white Panguer'

13. #9: The Praises of God 'How foolish the man who does not raise'

14. #10: The Desire for Hermitage ' Ah! To be all alone in a little cell'

15. #1: Rand has fallen

16. #2: Sleep now

17. #3: I hear an army

18. # 1: Puisque tout passe

19. #2: Un cygne

20. #3: Tombeau dans un parc 'Dors au fond de l'allee'

See all 27 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fresh, direct singing brings out Barber's American-ness, January 28, 2008

By 

Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Songs by Samuel Barber (Audio CD)

Samuel Barber was an accomplished baritone, and Gerald Finely's voice is similar in range and weight (one the evidence of early recordings, Barber's was more mellifluous and warm). Even though there's not much audience for American art songs, the output from Barber has been loved for at least six decades. Listeners who don't know the Hermit Songs generally have encountered the heartbreaking "Sure on This Shining Night" to a poem by James Agree.

Gerald Finley, fresh from his operatic triumph as John Adams' Doctor Atomic, and pianist Julius Drake are direct, at times blunt, in their approach. Thomas Hampson was more stylized and nuanced in his classic traversal, with Cheryl Studer and pianist John Browning, of all the songs (Dg, unfortunatley in shrill, edgy digital sound), and Sir Thomas Allen was warm and eloquent in his 1990 Barber recital (Virgin). Finley doesn't attempt eloquence, but he's so sincere and right in his American-ness that this newcomer in the Barber song sweepstakes creates a very positive impression.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRAVO MR. FINLEY!, March 21, 2010

By 

Beverly D. Pierce - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Songs by Samuel Barber (Audio CD)

I HAVE TO ADMIT I AM ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY BY THE MAGNIFICENT VOICE AND DEMENOR OF GERALD FINLEY. THIS RECORDING IS A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF HIS RANGE AND VERSITILITY. THIS WONDERFUL VOICE INSPIRES AND UPLIFTS MY DAY. I LOVE OPERA AND WHEN IT'S SUNG IN ENGLISH, IT'S EVEN BETTER.THESE CLASSIC SAMUEL BARBER SONGS ARE WONDERFUL. "THERE'S NAE A LARK" IS SO ROMANTIC!...AND MR. FINLEY IS SO HANDSOME ONE WOULD CERTAINLY LOVE TO HAVE HIM SING THIS SONG FOR THEM!!!AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT THE PIANO ARTISTRY OF JULIUS DRAKE PROVIDES THE DRAMATIC ACCOMPANIMENT TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VOICE I'VE HEARD IN MANY YEARS. MR. DRAKE IS A GENIUS IN HIS OWN RIGHT. THIS IS DEFINITELY A SUPER-WINNING COMBINATION OF TALENTS.

4 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not quite a success, January 28, 2008

By 

Strauss Lover - See all my reviews

This review is from: Songs by Samuel Barber (Audio CD)

Sadly, Gerald Finley and Julius Drake fall way short (on too many levels to recount) of what Cheryl Studer, Thomas Hampson, John Browning and the Emerson String Quartet accomplished in their now-legendary and classic Samuel Barber set for Deutsche Grammophon. The insight, personality and sense of spontaneity that Studer and Hampson, not to mention the Barber pianist par excellence, brought to these songs is nowhere to be heard in this new recording. You are well advised to skip this and acquire the DGG set for a rewarding experience unlike any other. Out of kindness I gave the Finley/Drake recording 2 stars out of 5 but I wonder if that's one star too many.