Search - Lee Poulis, Randall Scarlata, William Sharp :: Lori Laitman: Becoming a Redwood

Lori Laitman Triumphs in Third CD!

Susan Eisenberg | Silver Spring, Maryland United States | 04/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered the wonderfully melodic, highly original songs of Lori

Laitman through her first album, "Mystery," and I later reviewed her

second album, "Dreaming," for Amazon. I couldn't wait to hear what this

gifted composer would produce next, and when "Becoming A Redwood" was

released last fall, I got a copy and listened often. Ms. Laitman's

genius shines through in each cycle, but her lyrical, emotional

settings of poet Dana Gioia are my favorites, sung

brilliantly by Barbara Quintiliani and Sari Gruber, Robert McPherson,

and Lee Poulis. A glowing review by Lawrence A. Johnson in the March

2007 issue of Gramophone only confirmed my beliefs: "It's inevitable that

any American art song composer will at some point be compared to Ned

Rorem...It's a testament to the quality, melodic richness and subtlety

of Laitman's songs that for once the comparison is not

inapt...Becoming A Redwood is an extraordinarily impressive

achievement...[It's] a disc that gives increasing evidence of a major

talent; Lori Laitman's beautiful, sensitively crafted songs deserve to

be performed widely and much better known...The singers' inspired

performances provide Laitman's music with all the advocacy it

deserves."



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