CD Reviews

Exhilaration – Dickinson and Yeats Songs

Music by Gregg Kallor

Gregg Kallor Music

---

Song – poem by Christina Rossetti
Yeats Songs – poems by William Butler Yeats
Exhilaration – poems by Emily Dickinson
Lullaby – lyrics by Herschel Garfein
Adriana Zabala, mezzo-soprano; Gregg Kallor, piano

---

This disc of songs by Gregg Kallor, fabulously sung by Adriana Zabala, is packed with lovely and effective music. The language of the music is simple (in a good way), straightforward, and approachable. The harmonies, tone, energies, and textures don’t break any new ground, but they don’t need to. The whole disc reminds me of my favorite recording of Bernstein songs (“Songs and Duets” disc with Arias and Barcarolles sung by Judy Kaye and William Sharp).

These songs are not thick and ponderous, they are not heavy at all, they are simply beautiful and poignant works that I hope more people hear. The poems selected do have weight to them, don’t get me wrong, but the treatment in the music really lets the poetry shine through on its own. The focus remains on Ms. Zabala’s sensitive and expressive voice while the piano is always serving a background role without ever falling into a pit of “I’m just the accompaniment.” The piano writing is equal parts tender, melodic, spiky, and playful.

Musically conservative? Sure. Well crafted? Definitely. Entertaining? Yes. Well performed? Absolutely. Lyrical? You bet. I would think this would do well in some stockings this year. As gifts.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 2:41 pm and is filed under CD Review, Jay Batzner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.