Brian Asawa - Vocalise / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Brian Asawa - Vocalise / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Brian Asawa - Vocalise / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
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Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-03-09
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
  1. Songs (3) for voice & piano, Op. 18: No.2, Le Voyageur
  2. Nocturne, song for voice & piano in E flat major, Op. 43/2
  3. Arpège, song for voice & piano in E minor, Op. 76/2
  4. Cinq Mélodies 'de Venise', song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 58: No.2, En Sourdine
  5. Pavane, for orchestra & chorus ad lib in F sharp minor, Op. 50
  6. Poems (6) of Goethe, for voice & piano, Op. 18: No.5, Das Veilchen
  7. Songs (9) of Goethe, for voice & piano, Op. 6: No.2, Mailied
  8. Songs (9) of Goethe, for voice & piano, Op. 6: No.5, Aus "Claudine von Villa-Bella"
  9. Songs (12) of Goethe, for voice & piano, Op.15: No.4, Aus 'Erwin und Elmire'
  10. Suite-Vocalise, for voice & piano, Op. 41/2
  11. Cançao do Amor, for voice & orchestra (arranged from Floresta do Amazonas), A. 546
  12. Pálida Madona, song for voice & piano (Canções típicas brasileiras No. 8), A. 159/8
  13. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, for voice & 8 cellos, A. 389: Aria
  14. I wait for thee, song for voice & piano, Op. 14/1: No.1, I Wait for Thee
  15. She is as lovely as the noon, song for voice & piano, Op. 14/9: No.9, As Fair as Noon
  16. To her, song for voice & piano, Op. 38/2: No.2, To Her
  17. In the silence of the secret night, song for voice & piano, Op. 4/3: No.3, In the Silent Night
  18. Vocalise, song for voice & piano, Op. 34/14: No.14, Vocalise

Free Music Notes for Brian Asawa - Vocalise / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

Free Music Review: Countertenor achievement
Hit: 5 Stars

We may have heard some of these pieces performed by female singers but I have never heard them performed by any countertenor. Aside from his daring, Mr. Asawa displays amazing (I'll even confess 'enviable') skill and artistry. His "pretty" voice (as it is touted....and his voice IS gorgeously endearing) is indisputable, and though I don't hold him as the authority on Rachmaninov's 'Vocalise', for example (for me that authority belongs to Anna Moffo), I appreciate his 'take' on it. This is the countertenor voice.

I also appreciate that some may not be able to break the mould of traditions concerning the performance of these pieces but that is not to deny the fact that the countertenor voice in these songs is brilliant, by that (countertenor) standard. I go even further to say that the concept of a countertenor (and Mr. Asawa's ravishing one in particular) here adds an intruiging new feel to the works. We KNOW it's not Natalie Dessay or Joan Sutherland singing, though we love them too. This CD is more of an indulgence, to say the very least (and I say that not prejudice Mr. A's performance).

Overall, this CD is certainly a fair introduction to these pieces with great performances in some parts. But more idiomatically speaking, this is a wonderful achievement by a top-rate countertenor and I'm getting more of his work.

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Brian Asawa - Vocalise / Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Poster

During the planning stages of this project, someone should have thought more seriously about the question, "Why are we doing this?" This collection of "vocalises and newly orchestrated songs" by Fauré, Medtner, Villa-Lobos, and Rachmaninoff, as impressive as it is for its ambition and concept, amounts to a disconcerting mismatch of voice and music. Countertenor Brian Asawa delivers plenty of pretty sounds, but he just doesn't have the emotional range or dramatic tools to make convincing interpretations. Technically, he is nearly flawless, but there's a sameness to every sweetly sung selection. In the famous and oft-performed "Pavane" by Fauré, you're distracted by Asawa's covered, unnatural-sounding quality and his inability to get precisely together with the melody line in the orchestra. This back-of-the-throat sound also gets in the way of clarity in the songs with texts--we can't really hear what these pieces are about. You'll enjoy this recording best if you just focus on the lush sound and skip the awkwardly executed "Suite-Vocalise" by Medtner. --David Vernier

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