New Year's Day 2014 with Boston Baroque

Review in NATS Journal

NATS Journal January/February 2014

Andrew Garland—American

Portraits. Andrew Garland, baritone;

Donna Loewy, piano. (GPR Records

B00ARWDS8M; 52:10)

Jake Heggie: The Moon is a Mirror: “The

Strength of the Lonely,” “What the Miner

in the Desert Said,” “The Old Horse and

the City,” “What the Forester Said,” “What

the Snowman Said.” Stephen Paulus:

A Heartland Portrait: “Flying at Night,”

“At Midnight,” “An August Night,” “Porch

Swing in September,” “A Summer Night.”

Lori Laitman: Men With Small Heads:

“Men With Small Heads,” “Refrigerator

1957,” “A Small Tin Parrot Pin,” “Snake

Lake.” Tom Cipullo: America 1968:

“Monet’s Water Lilies,” “Hey Nonny No,”

“The Point,” “The Whipping,” “Those

Winter Sundays,” “Frederick Douglass.”

If one wants to encounter a first-rank

authentic baritone, look no further

than Andrew Garland. Here is a young

singer who has it all: a distinctively

beautiful voice, flawless technique,

exceptional musicality, and superb

communicative skills. He is also an

intelligent and articulate young man

with the chiseled good looks of a

bodybuilder and athlete. Quite simply,

there is no other up and coming clas-

sical singer who is a more impressive

complete package or more deserving

of a major career. The sound itself is an

ideal blend of rich warmth and ringing

brilliance, and Garland’s technical

solidity allows him to sing beautifully

even when negotiating through the

most difficult, turbulent melodic lines.

One will not hear the slightest hint of

ungainly singing. Nor does one detect

any expressive or musical hesitancy,

which likely stems from the extensive

coachings that he did with all four

of the composers represented on the

disk. Garland sings with the kind of

artistic ownership that can be elusive

in this fast paced age.

Such artistic ownership is literally

true with America 1968, composed

specifically for Garland and Loewy

by Tom Cipullo, one of the busiest,

most admired, and most decorated

art song composers before the public

today. This work is a stunning tour de

force for its composer and the artists

who bring it so thrillingly to life. There

is a wild swing of moods, colors, and

styles, but a consistent voice ties it

all together. Garland delivers these

texts with perfect clarity, and rises to

climactic high Fs and Gbs with thrilling

ease. The set culminates in an

immensely inspiring song, “Frederick

Douglass,” which Garland sings with

a sincerity that can be neither taught

nor faked. To experience such artistic

authenticity is a privilege.

Steven Paulus is one of our most

distinguished composers, with works

that have been performed not only

in concert halls around the world,

but even at the funerals of two of our

former presidents. He is perhaps most

renowned for his choral works, but

he has crafted a host of works for solo

voice that are nothing less than superb.

A Heartland Portrait is suffused

with a beautiful sense of heart and

warmth, and these sensitively shaped

phrases draw out gorgeous vocalism

from Garland and exceptionally attentive

playing from Loewy.

Jake Heggie is a composer of similar

renown, and The Moon is a Mirror is

yet another example of his superlative

gifts for setting out of the ordinary

texts in arresting fashion. The moon

figures in all of these songs one way or

another, but don’t assume for a moment

that this is going to be a journey

of dreamy loveliness. The poems are

widely varied, and Heggie delivers the

flavor of each with bracing originality.

Perhaps the most striking is the

second song, “What the Miner in the

Desert Said,” in which we experience

the hallucinations of someone dying

of thirst. It’s a small masterpiece, and

Garland’s singing of it is masterful.

Listen especially for the last moment,

when this unfortunate man meets his

demise. These songs are in some ways

the most unmistakably American in

their tone, and the baritone is to be

commended for delivering these texts

with comfortable ease that never strays

into caricature. Listen especially for

the the way in which he allows a feel

of blues to enter his vocalism without

compromising the flow of the line or

the beauty of his essential sound.

Completing the collection is Lori

Laitman’s entertaining Men with Small

Heads, which springs upon the listener

one delightful surprise after another.

The earnest conversational tone of

the first song and its sense of fun is

a breath of fresh air, as is the mock

melodrama and swirling contrasts of

“Refrigerator 1957.” The third song,

“A Small Tin Parrot Pin,” is one of

those songs that constantly shifts, albeit

it in subtle fashion, and to deliver

it with such precise ensemble and clarity

is incredibly impressive. Anyone

who fears snakes may be tempted to

avoid the fourth and final song, but

to do so would be to miss out on one

of the most intriguing songs on the

disk. Make sure you listen to the last

moment, to experience the snake’s

frightening strike. Laitman seems

incapable of composing anything but

captivating art songs, and her utterly

unique voice is a vivid presence here.

Garland’s diction is exemplary,

both for its flawless clarity as well as

its authenticity. Nevertheless, GRP

has included full texts, which allows

the listener to appreciate these widely

varied texts even more deeply. There

are also biographic notes about the

artists and the four composers, plus

brief background on each work. What

this release is mostly about, however,

is the staggering quality of this music

and these performances. One can only

hope that many more recordings of

this calibre will be made by these two

exceptional artists. - Gregory Berg