Utwory na płycie:

• Barber - Knoxville - Summer of 1915, Op. 24
• Griffes - Three Poems of Fiona Macleod - The Lament of Ian the Proud
• Griffes - Three Poems of Fiona Macleod - Thy Dark Eyes to Mine
• Griffes - Three Poems of Fiona Macleod - The Rose of the Night
• Previn - Four Songs for Tenor and Piano - I. Is It For Now
• Previn - Four Songs for Tenor and Piano - II. To Write One Song
• Previn - Four Songs for Tenor and Piano - III. Ad Infinitum
• Previn - Four Songs for Tenor and Piano - IV. The Revelation
• Kander - A Letter from Sullivan Ballou
• Weill - Four Walt Whitman Songs. I. Beat! Beat! Drums!
• Weill - Four Walt Whitman Songs. II. Oh Captain! My Captain!
• Weill - Four Walt Whitman Songs. III. Come Up From the Fields, Father
• Weill - Four Walt Whitman Songs. IV. Dirge for Two Veterans

Samuel Barber:
Knoxville - Summer of 1915, Op. 24

Charles Griffes:
Three Poems of Fiona Macleod

Andre Previn:
Four Songs for Tenor and Piano

John Kander:
A Letter from Sullivan Ballou

Kurt Weill:
Four Walt Whitman Songs

The star of tenor 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 programme 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 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 debut album, and one especially attuned to our times.

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Recorded: 15 & 17 November 2020, Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, NY. Myra Huang is a Steinway Artist.