So Much to Tell

Product Details

Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0059582523421
Label : Cbc
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 2004-11-02
Running Time : 65minutes
UPC : 059582523421

ASIN : B00068NVFC

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Nature, The Gentlest Mother
2. There Came A Wind Like A Bugle
3. The World Feels Dusty
4. Heart, We Will Forget Him
5. Dear March, Come In!
6. Sleep Is Supposed To Be
7. Going To Heaven!
8. The Chariot
9. Knoxville: Summer Of 1915
10. I. Un Poco Adagio
11. II. Andante Con Moto
12. III. Dance
13. Embraceable You
14. By Strauss
15. I've Got A Crush On You

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Customer Reviews

Superb Barber and Copland by a Singer to Watch (2006-10-25)

Measha Brggergosman is a Canadian soprano not yet thirty years old. Young she may be, but she is carving out a big career for herself. On this disc she is up against pretty stiff competition and comes out pretty darned well. The program consists of Copland's 'Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson,' Barber's `Knoxville: Summer of 1915,' and three songs by Gershwin. There is also a stunning unlisted 'ghost track,' an unaccompanied rendition of 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.' Each of these areas of the repertoire has been repeatedly recorded by singers much more famous than she. Talk about confidence!Measha Brggergosman's name is unusual, to say the least. It turns out that her birthname was Gosman and when she married Markus Brgger they simply combined both names. I'm told that her first name is pronounced 'Meesha.' She studied with Mary Morrison in Toronto and then with the eminent Canadian-born soprano, Edith Wiens, in Germany.I am familiar with three recorded versions of the eight Dickinson songs that Copland orchestrated (out of the twelve songs he'd earlier set for voice and piano): those of Dawn Upshaw (with Hugh Wolf and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), Marni Nixon (with Keith Clark and the Pacific Symphony) and Barbara Hendricks (with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony). All three are simply ravishing. Brggergosman's performance on this disc deserves to be placed beside them. She seems to identify completely with Dickinson's words. In 'There came a wind like a bugle,' for instance, she sings out the opening line with stentorian tones, something that none of the other three singers can quite manage. Brggergosman's voice is largish, but she manages it so well that she is also able to sing sweetly, softly as in the following song, 'The world feels dusty' ('when we stop to die'). She conveys the girlish enthusiasm of 'March, come in!' delightfully. (By the way, it is from a line in that poem, 'I have so much to tell,' that this CD gets its overall title. An apt one, too, because one of the things that comes across in this album is the singer's eagerness to tell us all manner of things with relish and exuberance.)Barber's 'Knoxville: Summer of 1915' is perhaps my favorite piece for soprano and orchestra by an American composer. I fell in love with it shortly after its first recording came out in the 1950s. On that LP (now on a Sony CD) the work's dedicatee, the beloved American soprano Eleanor Steber, sang what for me remains the definitive version. There have been many subsequent recordings, notable among which is that of Leontyne Price. (For what it is worth, there is a much more recent recording by Dawn Upshaw that I was not so taken with, but others have been rapturous about it. Further, when oh when is Rene Fleming going to record this masterpiece?) If I say that Brggergosman's performance reminds me of Steber's you can be assured this is high praise. Her diction is near-flawless and it is clear that she feels the words acutely. This prose poem by James Agee contains nostalgia, irony, love, innocence, feelings of loss all rolled up together. Barber's music captures it perfectly. When the soprano's line rises, on the words 'Now is the night one blue dew,' ending on a pianissimo high A falling to G# (and with 'oo' vowels almost impossible to sing above the staff) I don't know anyone who doesn't get a chill when it's done well. Here, it is. Goosebumps. The final section beginning with 'On the rough wet grass of the backyard' returns to the opening innocence and sweetness, even when the text talks of death, of 'my people ... in the hour of their taking away,' and Brggergosman's sweet lyric tone matches this perfectly. There is something in her sound that conveys the childlike, yet knowing, tone of Agee's text. Ah!There is more Barber on this disc, this time orchestra alone. I am ashamed to admit that I don't ever recall hearing his 'Serenade for Strings, Op. 1' but as played here by the fine Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under their conductor Roy Goodman, this 10 minute, three movement work following, as it does, 'Knoxville,' continues the identifiably American nostalgic tone. And beautifully played, too.The CD concludes with what for me is the weakest part of it: soprano and chamber orchestra arrangements by Adrian Williams of three Gershwin tunes-'Embraceable You,' 'By Strauss,' and 'I've Got a Crush on You.' The arrangements strike me as the sort that are perhaps best heard at a symphony pops concert--lush and overdone. Brggergosman does her best, and that's pretty good if a little bit straight, although the slow tempo and crooning manner in which such lyrics as 'could you coo, could you care' are sung made my blood sugar rise. Not my cuppa but I do know there are people for whom these arrangements and performances would be delightful.Then, as a surprise (but I guess it won't be for you if you've read this far) is a blockbuster unlisted a cappella rendition of 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord.' Here Brggergosman knocked my socks off. This is not only musically stunning, it is clear that she is conveying something vitally important to her. I would be willing to hear a whole CD of such songs sung by her in this fashion.This young singer is definitely someone to keep a watch for. I'd love to hear her sing in live performance and hope one of these days I'll be able to.Recommended.Scott Morrison

"Why did I Bother?" (2005-07-30)

This CD is crap. Measha is technical but she knows nothing about subtlety. Just because you can sing a high C doesn't mean it has to come out in every song. It's a shame that so many singers adapt songs to show off their voice and not the oher way around.

Thank Heaven for Joni Mitchell or I'd be afraid for Canadian music.

Amazing voice (2005-07-22)

This CD is absolutely amazing. The maturity of this young woman's voice is incredible, and her vocal talents are beyond compare. Even if you do not listen to much classical vocal, you will be moved and joyful at hearing her music. Definitely one for your collection.

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