Composer: Samuel Barber, Charles Tomlinson Griffes, John Harold Kander, André Previn, Kurt Weill
Performer: John Matthew Myers, Myra Huang
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Avie
Catalogue: AV2512
Release: 2022
Size: 1.1 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Barber: Knoxville: Summer 1915, Op. 24
Griffes: 3 Poems of Fiona Macleod
02. I. The Lament of Ian the Proud
03. II. Thy Dark Eyes to Mine
04. III. The Rose of the Night
Previn: 4 Songs for Tenor and Piano
05. I. Is It For Now
06. II. To Write One Song
07. III. Ad Infinitum
08. IV. The Revelation
09. Kander: A Letter from Sullivan Ballou
Weill: 4 Walt Whitman Songs
10. I. Beat! Beat! Drums!
11. II. Oh Captain! My Captain!
12. III. Come Up From the Fields, Father
13. IV. Dirge for Two Veterans
John Matthew Myers is rapidly in the ascendent. His debut album, “Desiderium”, coincides with his Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet. “Desiderium” – “an ardent desire or longing, a feeling of loss or grief for something lost” – beautifully showcases Myers’ mellifluous voice. His thoughtful program of works by American and American émigré composers opens with Samuel Barber’s yearning Knoxville: Summer of 1915 – rarely heard sung by a tenor – and transitions to Charles Tomlinson Griffes’ similarly searching settings of 3 Poems of Fiona Macleod, and Andre Previn’s 4 Songs for Tenor and Piano.
What follows is A Letter from Sullivan Ballou, set to the words of a poignant letter by an American Civil War officer, by John Kander (of Kander and Ebb musical theatre fame). Rounding out the recital are 4 Walt Whitman Songs by German-born composer Kurt Weill, including the classic O Captain! My Captain!
John Matthew Myers says “Call me a big-hearted Romantic. Each song on this album conveys yearning, separation, loneliness or distance but also a sense of intimacy and longing for connection”. It certainly does. “Desiderium” is an auspicious album.