Search - Victoria Clark :: Victoria Clark: Fifteen Seconds of Grace

50 Minutes of Grace

Music Man | Boston MA | 11/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Broadway star Victoria Clark's debut CD "Fifteen Seconds of Grace" is both a surprise and a revelation. Rather than go the oft-tread route of mining the broadway repetoire with full orchestra backing, Ms. Clark chose an ecclectic array of contemporary art songs, originals and a few esoteric, rarely recorded Broadway gems. She performs these with the gentle backing of a sparse ensemble perfectly suited to her well-phrased, pitch perfect and resonantly graceful voice. Ms. Clark's interpretive skills are on full display here, and she neither gives in to vocal showmanship (Lord knows, she could) nor mannered interpretations. She lets the lyrics speak for themselves.



"Thomas", a beautiful song she begins a capella, is the prime cut here, a gourgeous piece of longing and heartache where her gentle singing fully conveys the beauty and pain of love. Other stand-outs include the haunting "How Can I keep From Singing", her jazzy New Orleans inflected take on "Someone to Cook For" and a trio of rarely recorded Broadway classics: "Right as the Rain", "I Got Lost in His Arms", and a new take on "Before the Parade Passes By" that is both winsome and galvanizing and rivals Streisand's version. These are performed with spare arrangements that emphasize melody and lyric, and Ms. Clark does not disappoint. The one blight on the recording is "It Might Be You" from the film "Tootsie". Her performance is flawless but the material is beneath her and doesn't deserve to be in the same company as these other classics.



Auspicious is an overused word in reviews, but this utterly unexpected recording says that Victoria Clark is an artist to be reckoned with. She proved it on Broadway. Now she's made a vast leap into the recording field with hopefully many more recordings to come. Masterful."

Victoria Clark in ONE word... VERSATILITY!

Dana Mooney | New York, NY USA | 11/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What an amazingly versatile voice! She can belt it out and then five minutes later make it sound like an Art Song recital. This CD is a perfect showcase of her capacity to create goosebumps and bring the listener to tears (and the performer as well as witnessed at her recent mini-concert to celebrate the release.) Classics like "Before the Parade Passes By" followed by the title track with its beautiful, understated softness, and then one of Ricky Ian Gordon's signature 21st Century Art Songs... this is really a CD for everyone to love. THANKS to Tommy, Phillip, et al, for a wonderful showcase of a real star!"

What a voice...what an interpreter

Duke Gaines | Washington, D.C. | 11/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Not since Broadway legend Audra MacDonald released her first solo album after her success in "Ragtime" have I been so impressed with another stage star's solo debut, Victoria Clark's "Fifteen Seconds of Grace." This collection of highly personal and revealing songs very close to her heart are beautifully vocalized and interpreted by Ms.Clark.I bought this cd having seen and heard Victoria Clark live in "Titanic","Opening Doors" and her amazing Tony Winning "The Light in the Piazza." These songs point out that Clark has a great need and capacity for love and this is reflected especially in her renditions of "All of my Life" and most especially in "Thomas" where she expresses pure joy and wonder at her little son.Clark's voice is fluid perfection.There is never a note misplaced or a certain nuance undetected.The collection as a whole is balladic in style,fully orchestrated and even contains a new Adam Guettel song (composer of "The Light in The Piazza") as well as Harold Arlen standards.An outstanding recommended purchase."