Customer Reviews

Songs by Samuel Barber

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.