Search - Lesley Pryde and Laura Leon :: Out And About

I'm glad I don't live in Australia.

Stanley D. Wolfersberger | Ohio | 01/13/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"While I can appreciate that some may be enamoured with the repertoire presented here (as, truly, the selections on this disc are all excellent in their own right), I simply cannot get past the absolutely grating cacophony of noise that this soprano produces.



Yes, "The Serpent" is a poem (by Roethke) intended for children. And quite possibly, Hoiby would approve a performance that is a bit less stuffy than the average classical voice recital in favor of one more on the "giacoso" side. What is, however, not forgiveable is the deafening use of straight tone and sheer shrill of any pitch above C5.



"The Song of Black Max" features "rubatic" liberties that should not be taken. The character of the piece relies on a careful examination of the score: Bolcom didn't choose note values arbitrarily for fun; he penned a specific formula that when followed correctly (much like a cake recipe) produces a desirable end result. To mess with it ruins everything.



And Hundley should be beautiful, not piercing.



Finding an alternative to this disc would be great, but it's just not easy enough to do. On the Bolcom side, you should keep an eye out for the Marc-André Hamelin/Jody Applebaum recording. For the Hoiby, you'll probably have to check out student recitals at your local music college. (It's regrettable that Leontyne Price did not record The Serpent, but you can find other songs from "her" set on such albums as "Price Rediscovered.")



That said: two stars for a nice selection of rep and an attempt (however distasteful in my view) at an original interpretation. To give any higher a rating would be an injustice to mankind."