Right Where I Should Be

Right Where I Should Be

Editorial Reviews
Scott Alarik, Boston Globe, January 30, 2003
"That neotraditional current is starting to be felt among the ranks of New England songwriters ...among the hottest ..Joyce Andersen."

Product Description
"Right Where I Should Be", co-produced by Andersen and New England journeyman songwriter Tom Dean (of Devonsquare fame,) shines the spotlight on Joyce as a songwriter, singer, and guitar player. Her clear and powerful voice and brilliant fiddle work are always in the forefront, and her thoughtful and inspiring songs, memorable phrases and uncanny gift for melody mark her as a major new talent in the acoustic scene. The CD presents 11 new Andersen original songs, and two traditional songs. Her compositions have a sophistication, laced with a refreshing originality and depth, and as she jumps effortlessly from a celtic-flavored ballad to a gospel-tinged blues, a catchy twangy country song, or a gypsy waltz, she makes them all unmistakably part of her own sound. The years of absorbing the wide spectrum of music around her has given her a music a remarkable breadth, and she clearly stands out amid the cluttered landscape of singer-songwriters.

Right Where I Should Be

Right Where I Should Be,Joyce Andersen,Joyscream Music,Remarkable neo-traditional songwriting, moving vocals,powerful fiddling and sparce production highlight the mystery, power and conviction of Joyce's eclectic style of acoustic roots music.

Carmen (Sung in English)
Average customer rating:

English is an asset and a drawback

You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English

A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!

I love Carmen!

Carmen (Sung in English)
Bizet , Bardon , Gavin , Plazas , Magee , and Parry
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Mozart - Don Giovanni / Garry Magee · Cullagh · Banks · Plazas · Shore · Tierny · PO · David Parry

ASIN: B00007JGRN
Release Date: 2003-03-11

Tracks:

Prelude
In The Plaza
Just Look At That Delicious Morsel
Here Come Our New Soldier Boys
Jose! There Was A Girl Here Looking For You Just Now
Off With You Old Soldier Boys
Corporal! Sir!
We Have Heard The Bell Summon Us To Meet Here
Ah, Just Look!
But Why Hasn't She Come, Our Carmencita?
Love's A Bird Wild As Any Rebel
Carmen! We Will Follow You High And Low!
The Cheek Of It!
Give Me News Of My Mother!
Your Dear Mother And I Were Leaving Church This Morning
I See My Mother's Face!
Wait A Moment - I'm Going To Read The Letter
Come And Help
So, Corporal: Tell Me What Happened
Well, Carmencita: What Do You Have To Say For Yourself?
Where Are You Taking Me?
There's An Old Bar In The City
Careful - It's Lieutenant!
Entr'acte
From Far Away Mysterious Sounds
Bravo, Bravo! More! Keep Dancing!
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
Who's That? It's Escamillo, The Bullfighter From Granada
Hurrah! Hurrah! The Torero!
You're Most Kind
We'll Come With You, Senor Torero
Toreador, Be Ready!
At Last! We Got Rid Of Them As Quickly As We Could
There's A Little Job That We're Starting!
Being In Love Is Not A Reason

Tracks:

To Bid You Welcome To Our Bar
La La La La La La La La...
Back To Camp!... Go At Once!
That Flow'r You Threw To Me I Treasured
No, It's Not Love At All!
Hello! Carmen!
Lieutenant Fair, It's True
The Sky Above The Open Road
Entr'acte
Keep Going, Dear Old Friend, Kep Going!
Right! Let's Stop For A While
Shuffle! Cut Them!
In Vain You Would Avoid The Bitter Things They're Saying
You're Back!
As For That Man, It Should Be Easy!
Is This The Place?
I Say That There's Nothing To Fear
It's Him! I'm Sure It's Him Over There!
Escamillo Is My Name, And I Come From Granada
She Had A Lover Here
Hola! Hola! Jose!
You Should Take Care, Carmen
Alas! Jose, Your Mother Is Ill
Entr'acte
A Few Cuartos! A Few Cuartos!
Here They Come! Here They Come!
If You Love Me, Carmen
It's You! It's Me!
Viva! Viva! What A Corrida!

Customer Reviews:

English is an asset and a drawback.......2004-07-20

The best thing about this recording of Carmen is the libretto. Conductor David Parry penned this facile and dramatic English translation. He avoids the pitfalls of literal translation to achieve an idiomatic flow that matches the rhythm of the original lyrics. I use this as a reference libretto for any of the French Carmens.

Unfortunately, the performance suffers from being sung in English. The singers declaim their parts with such proper British diction that Carmen comes across as a school marm. The spoken dialog is delivered beat for deliberate beat and is dripping with reverb. It makes the plaza, tavern and mountain pass all sound like a sewer pipe.

This is a good first Carmen for someone trying to understand the work. The libretto itself is a good investment for further listening. For an enjoyable performance with an emphasis on character and action, I recommend Regina Resnik on the London Double Decker set.

You Will Love Opera After Hearing Carmen In English.......2004-02-09

What a perfect introduction to opera. This newly released recording will surely get you hooked into opera. Carmen, a French opera by Georges Bizet, is the most recognizable and most popular in the opera world. It's famous melodies- the overture, the Habanera, The Toreador Song have all been featured in everything from cellular phone ring tones to Superbowl Commercial (last year's Superbowl with The "Opera In English" label has been making Italian operas into English for a number of years now. Also on the market are Verdi's La Traviata in English (with soprano Valerie Masterson as Violetta) Handel's Julius Caesar with Janet Baker and even Wagner's epic Ring Of The Nibeling sung in English. This is a terrific recording and I highly recommend it if you want to get into opera. Listen to this version first and then try the real, original French version Bizet had written. Patricia Bardon is sensational, sexy and dramatic as Carmen.

The real strength of this version is the dynamic drama. With the advantage of being sung in English, we get better insight on characters' emotions and motives, and we understand the drama a lot better. Carmen is all about great drama. Bizet drew the plot from the French writer Prosper Merimee's dark short story. Carmen is the ultimate femme fatale- a devil-may-care, sexy Gypsy living in Spain, seduces the conservatively raised soldier Don Jose, stealing him away from his fiancee, the passive Micaela, living a life of underground smuggling and rowdy taverns. "Habanera" and "The Gypsy Song and Dance" are very expressive of Carmen's extraordinarily liberal lifestyle. Don Jose, however, has fallen deeply in love- as he shows us in his song/aria "The Flower Song". But Carmen soon becomes tired of his constancy. Don Jose wants a committed, monogamous relationship with Carmen. But Carmen will not submit to love, since she is first and foremost a carnal creature. Eventually, she falls for the handsome Toreador Escamillo. Don Jose, consumed by jealousy, stabs Carmen at a bullfight after Carmen declares her love for Escamillo and rejects Don Jose's love. Don Jose's crazed, obscessive personality shines through in the English version as well. This tragedy has been done in English before so don't think this is the first time. Back in the 50's, there was a film, starring black actors "Carmen Jones" which was treated the same way as this opera- more like an English Broadway musical and with the dubbed singing voice of Marilyn Horne as Carmen. All in all, this recording is excellent.

A wholly credible "Carmen" -- finally!.......2003-09-17

This recording really sells "Carmen" as a drama. Although I have two other recordings of this opera and have seen it performed several times, it never quite worked for me dramatically. But thanks to the fine performances, conducting, and translation here, I've become a "Carmen" convert. Producing a good English-language performance of a foreign opera, especially a warhorse like "Carmen," is much more difficult than it might appear. You need performers who not only can sing the parts (of course) but also can sing *English* and make it halfway intelligible and make it sound like English and make it dramatically convincing to English-speakers. The singers on this recording do an excellent job all around. Don't be put off if you don't recognize their names -- they are up to the task musically and (especially) in their acting. Admittedly, as with *all* English-language recordings, some passages are very hard to understand without reading along, but most of the time the words are clear and effective. I would recommend this recording to any opera beginner or opera lover, even those who normally turn up their noses at performances in translation.

I love Carmen!.......2003-08-15

I do. I can think of no other opera with more melodic inventiveness, and few others with so sure a dramatic pulse. Carmen is popular and it thrills me to say that it is also a very good opera - not always true of popular things.

And what of this recording? Carmen sits well in English, so it is good to hear in translation, although some of the detais in the text jar. Escamillo refers to Jose as "my dear", which sounds rather peculiar, and the guide's line to Micaela: "it's not exactly inviting, is it?" sounds distinctly Middle England rather than Rural Spain. Some of the performers, not least Carmen herself, make the words work, although there are long tracts, especially with the chorus, where the language is distinctly indistinct.

The soloists are, by and large, strong. Patricia Bardon's deep, Handel-friendly voice adapts well to Carmen and she colours the music with phenomenal detail, sounding sexy and provocative from the start with an edge of pride and anger that emerges as the show goes on. She is out of her depth above the stave, though, and some extra top notes in the second act don't show her off to her best advantage. I have previously said that Julian Gavin is poorly served by recordings, though here he sounds much more even and gives a thrilling and musical performance (but his wooden spoken lines let him down). Mary Plazas is a lovely Micaela, rich-voiced and sincere (and word-perfect), but Garry Magee sounds miscast as Escamillo, lacking the ballast at the bottom of the voice to do justice to this tricky role.

The supporting cast is good (Mary Hegarty seems to do nothing but Frasquita these days!) but the really treasurable thing is the conducting. Stepping out of Italian Ottocento, David Parry turns his hand to this French Comedie with an appropriate lightness of touch. His pacing and handling of the set pieces is exemplary and the enrtractes go with a real swing.

Tracks:

King Priam: Prelude
King Priam: Hecuba: What Is It, Nurse?
King Priam: Priam: Old Man Of Troy, You're Welcome
King Priam: Hecuba: Then Am I No Longer Mother To This Child
King Priam: Priam: A Father And A King
King Priam: Priam: The Queen Is Right
King Priam: First Interlude - Nurse, Old Man: Thus Shall A Story Begin
King Priam: 1st Huntsman: The Bull Is Away Over There
King Priam: Paris: They Have Taken My Bull
King Priam: Hector: Father, He's A Shepherd Boy
King Priam: Priam: So I'd Hoped It Might Be
King Priam: Second Interlude - Nurse, Young Guard, Old Man: Ah, But Life, Life Is A Bitter Charade
King Priam: Helen, Paris: Ah, Ah ...
King Priam: Hermes: Divine Go-between, That's Who I Am
King Priam: Paris: Lady Athene, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Paris: Lady Hera, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Paris: Aphrodite, If I Honor You ...
King Priam: Hector: So You've Given Up Fighting!
King Priam: Priam: So Trojans Honor Menelaus ...
King Priam: First Interlude - Old Man: Hermes, Hermes, With The Winged Feet Come Quick!
King Priam: Achilles: O Rich-soiled Land
King Priam: Achilles: Why Are You Weeping, Patroclus?
King Priam: Second Interlude - Old Man: O, O, What A Threat To Troy
King Priam: Hermes: A Hero In Achilles Armour ...
King Priam: Hector: All Trojans, All Fought Bravely

Tracks:

King Priam: Serving Woman: Lady Andromache, Should We Not Light The Fire?
King Priam: Hecuba: Daughter Andromache, You Must Go Out ...
King Priam: Andromache: Did You Hear?
King Priam: Helen: Let Her Rave
King Priam: Hecuba: O That My Ears Should Hear Impiety So Gross!
King Priam: Andromache: Now You Shall Go
King Priam: First Interlude - Serving Women: No ... No ... No ... We Have It From The Runner
King Priam: Priam: What Is Happening?
King Priam: Young Guard: A Crime
King Priam: Nurse: The Soul Will Answer From Where The Pain Is Quickest
King Priam: Second Interlude
King Priam: Achilles: Priam! Here! What Is This?
King Priam: Priam: I Clasp Your Knees, Achilles
King Priam: Achilles: Old Man, I Am Touched
King Priam: Third Interlude -
King Priam: Paris: Where Is My Father, Where Is Priam?
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah! Ah, Ah!
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ha, Ha, Ha
King Priam: Chorus: Ah, Ah!

Customer Reviews:

An AntiWar Masterpiece.......2002-08-26

Tippett and Britten were composers who, though very different in temperment and style, had many interests in common. One of the overiding concerns with both composers was the moral response to war and it's horrors. For Britten, the War Requiem and Owen Wingrave are his very clear moral response to war. Tippet, in his fashion is much more psychological in this work, which must rank as one of Tippett's best and most powerful operatic statements.

King Priam is a dramatic tour de force. Based on the Illiad as seen through the eyes of the Trojans, the work is a meditation on the inevitability of fate in mass movements like war. Priam, though illdisposed to the war, is unable to stop or control it as it takes both of his sons, his kingdom and then finally his own life. He emerges as a figure of moral power and grandeur, but ultimately as impotent and tragic. This libretto is one of Tippett's best and most clear statements.

Musically, Priam is a powerhouse, inaugurating Tippett's second major style. Priam is constructed in a mosaic style. Small chamber groups of instruments with defined musical content are assigned to characters. As the work develops, these small groups combine and recombine in a shifting maze of patterns that seems to endlessly reinvent itself. The music starts out as largely tonal, but the tonality breaks down as Fate takes over and dooms the Trojans. The work is never serial, but it takes an almost Bergian view of tonality, sometimes more and sometimes less tonal as the dramatic situation warrants. The vocal lines are mostly declaimed, but with moments of lyricism that are unfogettable, such as Priam's first aria, A Father and a King, or the beautiful scene between Priam and Achilles in the third act. And Achilles war cry at the end of act two is bone chilling!

This is a great performance of this piece. Many of the singers originated the roles and sing them with power and authority. Phillip Langridge is terrific as Paris. Robert Tear is a marvelous Achilles. David Aetherton conducts this difficult score with precision and a fine ear for balances.

This is a profound opera by a major 20th century composer. If you like Britten, you should own this as well. It is increasingly looking like Tippett's masterpiece.

Visceral power & beauty coupled with stunning performances!!.......2001-06-13

I bought this on a whim, having heard only the slightest bit of Tippett's orchestral music and none of his operas. I expected the music to be "difficult," and the performances stilted, but I was oh so wrong! Yes, this is definitely late 20th century music -- often dissonant and atonal, but it is utterly beautiful, emotionally moving music. I'm a huge fan of Britten's operas, and judge all modern opera composers by his standards, and (pardon my gushing) Sir Michael is more than up to the challenge. First of all, he takes on the daunting task of adapting the Iliad into a opera libretto and manages to compress the drama beautifully into 3 acts that tell the story imaginatively, comprehensively and in a wholly theatrical manner. Second, he uses the music to heighten the sense of character by giving each persona a unique style of vocal line and orchestration (yes, this is what all composers do, or try to do, but Tippett succeeds in a way few others do). Several of the characters are accompanied by solo instruments (bravura parts of concerto-like difficulty performed brilliantly) -- Achilles by solo guitar, Helen by solo cello, King Priam by violin, etc. Three characters form a sort of Greek chorus who comment on the action and bring a sense of questioning morality to the whole.

All of the solo singers are astutely cast and sing with amazing power. Standouts (difficult to single out any of them, they're all so brilliant): Phillip Langridge is first-rate as Paris, Priam's second son -- he sings with enormous power and pathos at the same time. Felicity Palmer is velvety sex personified as Helen. Norman Bailey as Priam has a raw edginess to his sound, which lends such a sense of reality to a man pushed to the edge by fate and his warring sons. The London Philharmonia gives a virtuoso performance, led sensitively and intelligently by David Atherton. The digital sound is crystal clear and beautifully engineered: the sound couldn't be better live at the Met! Take a chance on this one, and enter into an operatic world you will never forget.

One of the best and most easily grasped of modern operas.......1999-02-27

Contemporary opera was never the same after King Priam, a suitable irony given that the Opera is perhaps the most easily grasped by the listening public of the 5 Tippett Operas. Even so, the "crisis of King Prian" stylistically and emotionally is the germ-seed for the eccentrism yet to come in "The Knot Garden", "The Ice Break", and "New Year". Tippett's theme is the futility of choice and the nature of the impact of choice on humanity in the micro-sphere of the individual and the macro-sphere of the community and history. Tippett's unusual yet perfectly conceived recasting of the Iliad from the Trojan persepctive does more than summarize plot, but pauses to comment on the universal human potential implicit therein. A must-buy for Tippett fans and for anyone who likes opera, Greek Mythology, classical music, or a good story.

Tracks:

Strange Elation
Saddle Up the Storm
Eve
Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?
Thomas
I'm Ready
Molina Ericksen
Pretty Sylvia
I Just Wanna Dance
Love Finds a Way
Strangers No More
There He Goes Coming Back
Whole World Is Doin' It

Album Description

"Right Where I Should Be", co-produced by Andersen and New England journeyman songwriter Tom Dean (of Devonsquare fame,) shines the spotlight on Joyce as a songwriter, singer, and guitar player. Her clear and powerful voice and brilliant fiddle work are always in the forefront, and her thoughtful and inspiring songs, memorable phrases and uncanny gift for melody mark her as a major new talent in the acoustic scene. The CD presents 11 new Andersen original songs, and two traditional songs. Her compositions have a sophistication, laced with a refreshing originality and depth, and as she jumps effortlessly from a celtic-flavored ballad to a gospel-tinged blues, a catchy twangy country song, or a gypsy waltz, she makes them all unmistakably part of her own sound. The years of absorbing the wide spectrum of music around her has given her a music a remarkable breadth, and she clearly stands out amid the cluttered landscape of singer-songwriters.

Music Review:

Music Review

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