Rita Dove: Thomas and Beulah

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

“This is no song cycle in any traditional sense. Wolman’s reputation derives chiefly from his works that incorporate computer-generated sounds, often combined with acoustic instruments. Here he carries his electronic experiments a step further. The vocal lines consist of chant, song, recitation and a kind of intermediate speech-song. Oppens manipulates the vocal sounds in real time at her computerized “prepared” piano. She also controls a second, prerecorded layer of accompaniment that incorporates Dove reading her own poetry. The vocal writing is accessible, even pretty, unfolding with sweet, diatonic, repetitive simplicity. Haymon clung to single pitches for long stretches, while Oppens summoned a delicate array of color effects from her switched-on keyboard, from a tinny pianola to winds whooshing through trees: the dreamlike serenity of Wolman’s soundscape, and the great skill and sensitivity with which the singer and pianist evoked it.” – John von Rhein

AMAZON

An extraordinary achievement! It should be mentioned that the soprano singing Rita Dove’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poems in Amnon Wolman’s musical tour de force is Cynthia Haymon, who achieved international fame a few years back when she sang Porgy in Trevor Nunn’s outstanding Glyndebourne Festival production of “Porgy & Bess” (available on both CD and DVD). Ms. Haymon has given vocal justice to Rita Dove poems before –most notably in the song cycle “Seven for Luck”, composed by John Williams and conducted by him in 1998 both at Tanglewood (with the Boston Symphony) and on the PBS program “Boston Pops”. (Unfortunately not yet available on CD; a surprising fact, considering that John Williams, honored with half a dozen or so Oscars and with his movie music in everyone’s ear, is one of the most famous composers of our time. “Seven for Luck” is not only a beautiful work, a prime example of a successful writer-composer collaboration, but also unique in the sense that Williams deviated from his usual symphonic approach and subjected himself to words.)