Search - Andre Previn, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin :: Previn: Honey and Rue; Barber: Knoxville; Gershwin: Porgy And Bess / Battle, Previn, et al

Andre Previn, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin
Previn: Honey and Rue; Barber: Knoxville; Gershwin: Porgy And Bess / Battle, Previn, et al
Genres: Pop, Classical

Track Listings (9) - Disc #1
1. Honey And Rue: 1. First I'll Try Love
2. Honey And Rue: 2. Whose House Is This?
3. Honey And Rue: The Town Is Lit
4. Honey And Rue: 4. Do You Know Him?
5. Honey And Rue: 5.I Am Not Seaworthy
6. Honey And Rue: 6. Take My Mother Home
7. Knoxville: Summer Of 1915
8. Porgy And Bess: 'I Loves You, Porgy'
9. 'Summertime'

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CD Details

All Artists: Andre Previn, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Kathleen Battle
Title: Previn: Honey and Rue; Barber: Knoxville; Gershwin: Porgy And Bess / Battle, Previn, et al
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 2
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date: 10/17/1995
Genres: Pop, Classical
Styles: Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Modern, 20th, & 21st Century
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 028943778725

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Back at the beginning of the 1990s, with some help from Carnegie Hall, soprano Kathleen Battle commissioned André Previn and Toni Morrison to write a song cycle for her. The result was a set of six songs called Honey and Rue, referring to "the bitter and the sweet" that comes with life and love and is part of the African American experience. One of the songs, the last to be composed, is unaccompanied. The remaining five are scored for chamber orchestra and showcase Previn's chameleon-like abilities as an arranger--here capturing echoes of such European masters as Mahler and Berg, there a hint of Americana in the Copland-Bernstein vein, and elsewhere the engaging verve of jazz and the blues. Previn conducts his score with breezy authority, drawing spirited playing from the Orchestra of Saint Luke's, particularly in the jazzy third song ("The Town Is Lit") and the spiritual-like concluding number ("Take My Mother Home"). Battle sings expressively and with obvious commitment--both here and in the selections by Barber and Gershwin that fill out the disc--though not without her lately characteristic affectations. The recording makes her voice sound oddly reverberant, as though it had been subjected to the kind of processed engineering usually reserved for pop productions. --Ted Libbey

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CD Reviews

A beautiful cycle for a beautiful voice

bravissimadiva | Chicago | 06/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This C.D. is a real gem. It stands as a testement to the sheer beauty and artistry that is Kathleen Battle as well as the genius of Andre Previn, author Toni Morrison and the various other American Composers and librettist featured on this disc. Kathleen Battle's voice is at it's silvery best, rich with emotiveness, expression and artistic grace. A wonderful blend of neo- classic, post-romantic and twentieth century music this is any music buffs forte, and worthy of being in any singers library."

An Impressive Song Cycle

bibliomane01 | 06/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Honey and Rue" is a song cycle with lyrics written by Toni Morrison and music composed by Andre Previn, performed by Kathleen Battle and the Orchestra of St. Lukes with the composer at the helm. The work received its premiere at Carnegie Hall in 1992.With such an all-star team behind it, it is no surprise that "Honey and Rue" is a great success. Morrison's lyrics present "images of yearning, satisfaction, resolution" and Previn's eclectic score combines early 20th century classical ideas with jazz and blues. As for Miss Battle, well I'm afraid that I'm an adoring fan and can't be relied upon. The disc is filled out with Barber's glorious "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" and two selections from "Porgy and Bess.""

Wonderful Music, Rip-off price

M. A COMBRINK | Cape Town, South Africa | 06/15/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I love this disc. A wonderful singer performing wonderful music. The Morrison poems are hauntingly set by Previn, and the Barber gives Dawn Upshaw a run for her money, the Gershwin as near-perfect as one could hope for. But it's a total cheek to charge this kind of money for a 40 minute disc. In keeping with the American flavour of the disc, how about some orchstrated Barber songs or his opera arias? Copland? More Gershwin? Adams? Even some of Previn's other wonderful music could have notched this into 50 minutes. I feel ripped off."

Kathleen Battle at her very best!

Patrick W. Crabtree | Lucasville, OH USA | 01/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I play this CD with great frequency -- it offers a huge range of classical vocal performance.

I listened to Kathleen Battle sing most of these selections LIVE last year in her hometown of Portsmouth, Ohio at Shawnee State University, (I don't know why she comes back here but, thankfully, she does!), and the minute I arrived back at home I got online and ordered this CD. This is an incredible compendium of predominently modern classical vocals with a tinge of 19th-Century Southern Black nostalgic flavour worked in.

At the live performance I attended, Ms. Battle was accompanied by the incredibly talented renowned pianist, Ted Taylor, and I only wish I could obtain a CD in that sort of performance as well; however, the orchestral accompaniment is, of course, nothing short of outstanding -- it's just a little different rendition from what I originally heard.

World-class composer and conductor, Andre Previn, specifically wrote the lion's share of this music for Ms. Battle and he clearly did her right by it. The modern, nearly atonal selections, test Ms. Battle's broad vocal skills... she meets and exceeds the worthy challenge with an apparent ease which is truly astonishing.

Certain cuts are actually chilling -- they will raise the hair on the back of your neck in the proper acoustic environment. Such a composition is "I Am Not Seaworthy". This song is superbly surreal and, like "The Rite of Spring," I have heard nothing like it either before or since it's original publication.

Maybe it took Janis Joplin's raspy bellowing to popularize the song "Summertime" to American Baby Boomers but you never heard a more astonishing performance of that great old Jazz-noir tune than the one on this CD. And if you wish to retain a belief that music cannot break a wine glass, don't turn the volume up too loudly on Ms. Battle's a capella performance of "Do You Know Him?"

Obviously this is some of Kathleen Battle's early work (look at the cover photo!) but it's some of her most spectacular. To me, it's really representative of something that we have little of: American Operetta. Folks, you'll get your money's worth and more on this one -- don't miss it!"

Sublime!

Marvin L. Perrott | London, United Kingdom | 08/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The poetry The music The orchestra The singerAll in perfect equal parts that gives us a recording of 20th century music that sets the standard for sublime. Wonderfully recorded, and tailored.A brilliant recording. A must buy."