Da Capo In Song [coll] [New World Records]

The Da Capo Chamber Players, USA’s leading (and longest-lasting?) Pierrot ensemble, are captured in 1984 (with original pianist Joan Tower) playing a selection of American “chamber music songs”. The early Copland is particularly skippable, Talma’s Diadem also did nothing for me.

But Miriam Gideon’s settings were arresting, partly for the music, mostly for Constantine Cassolas’ incredible voice (rare praise from Cujo for a tenor)

And unsurprisingly, Cowell’s Vocalise delivers spectacularly. Prepend with any of the classical Vocalise precedents (Rachmaninoff, Delibes, etc), append with any number of items in our library featuring wordless sopranos (Kyriakides, Cracow Klezmer Band, etc)

-Cujo, KFJC, Aug 2012