Hello Darkness: An Ode to Death in Songs from Claudio Monteverdi to Billie Eilish

Mezzo-soprano Olivia Vermeulen has always been drawn to the darker roles in opera, the sad arias in oratorio and the deep laments in song, so it seemed fitting to dedicate a CD to the dark side of the Lied. "After the recent recording ('Dirty Minds'), which focused on 'la petite mort', it seemed a natural progression to turn our attention to 'la grande mort'! Darkness in the outside world and the inner self has always been alongside Love one of the chief themes of vocal music, and compositions and songs about death are legion during every period of musical history. The music on this recording is extremely diverse and we relished the idea of programming songs from different centuries in different styles and genres. We begin with a collection of songs about melancholia, inner abysses, longing for death and murderous lust. But the CD is also rich in songs about comfort and hope, light instead of despair with lashings of black humour! Composers down the ages have used innovative approaches to render the theme of death. Chromaticism is used tellingly by Monteverdi and Schubert. Duparc's sensuous 'Extase' (1878), is nothing short of a miniature Liebestod. Korngold and Wolfgang Rihm play with translucent semitone sighs, Schumann's 'Nachtlied' is characterized by hovering harmonies; Strauss and Korngold use late-romantic opulence; while tonality with Charles Ives and Alban Berg begins to lose its hold, while Berg, abandons tonality entirely. John Cage goes a step further and directs the pianist to drum the notes on the lid of a completely closed piano. Randy Newman's 'In Germany before the war' is wreathed in mystery." - Olivia Vermeulen Praised for the "exceptional wealth of colors" of her voice (Opernwelt) and her singing of "exquisite, inexhaustible sweetness" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Olivia Vermeulen has established herself as one of the leading vocal artists in today's classical music world. Her opera and concert performances in a wide range of repertoire from early music to 21st century works have stunned audiences around the world. "The eclectic programme occasionally jars, but there's nevertheless much to enjoy." BBC Music Magazine

Composer: Bernhard Lang, Jan Vermeulen, Randy Newman, John Cage, George Crumb, Charles Ives, Henri Duparc, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Gustav Mahler, Franz Schubert, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Alban Berg, Claudio Monteverdi, Andrew Lippa, Wolfgang Rihm, Nick Cave, Billie Eilish, Danger Dan

Number of Discs: 1

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