Songbook
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Song cycles from one of America's most significant opera composers.

Thomas Pasatieri has proven over the past 30 years, starting while he was still a Juilliard student, to be one of America's most significant opera composers. Among the many works to his credit are The Seagull, available on TROY579/80, and a collection entitled Divas of a Certain Age on TROY841. By 1984 he had had many operatic triumphs in this country. "But I was weary of the enormous effort it took to create a new stage work only to have it premiered and then not performed again," he writes. Around that time he left for the West Coast, working as an orchestrator for film scores, with many fascinating stories to tell of his experiences. Just the same, Pasatieri has made it clear that his true calling has been as an opera composer. With such an interest in writing for the voice, he has composed lieder and song cycles such as the ones on this disc. The cycles span some thirty years, and we both performed and dedicated to important singers for whom he has written his operas, and who recognized his superb gifts. Three Poems of James Agee "are dark and both poetry and music reflect the fearful prospects the innocent faced in the oppressive Cold War epoch. Yet the works are passionate, somehow romantic. The Oscar Wilde Poems were chosen by Pasatieri for their introspective atmosphere. A Rustling of Angels "displays innocence, optimism and simplicity, and perhaps a suggestion of divine inspiration." Six other solo songs, including the popular comic piece I Just Love My Voice, close out the program, performed by a group of singers with whom the composer has long worked. These are all works in which the composer reveals his soul, his inspirations and his love.
Contents:
Thomas Pasatieri, composer
Dream Land
Victoria Livengood, mezzo-soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
Overweight, Overwrought Over You
Victoria Livengood, mezzo-soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
Ophelia's Lament
Sheri Greenawald, soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
Three Poems of Oscar Wilde
Jordan Shanahan, baritone, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
I Just Love My Voice
Sheri Greenawald, soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
The Last Invocation
Victoria Livengood, mezzo-soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
Orpheus
Victoria Livengood, mezzo-soprano, Warren Jones, piano

Thomas Pasatieri, composer
A Rustling of Angels
Sheri Greenawald, soprano, Victoria Livengood, mezzo-soprano, Karen Slack, soprano, Jordan Shanahan, baritone, Warren Jones, piano

Review:
"If you're not familiar with the music of Pasatieri, this is a good place to start. ...I've got a few melodies I can't get out of my head." (American Record Guide)
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