Desert Poems

Amazon.com
Stephan Micus has never been an extravagant musician. Even when playing 28 tuned flowerpots or five shakuhachi, his music is suited more for the silent corner than the thundering stage. Still, Desert Poems may be his most austere and prayerful album since The Music of Stones. He's still playing multiple instruments, including the Indian sarangi, the West African doussn'gouni harp, and his trademark flowerpots, only they are sparsely deployed over stretched-out melodies. Micus also reveals a soulful tenor he employs in English and a language of his imagination. He curves around the sparse backing, a thumping doussn'gouni on track one, a multi-kalimba cycle on "Mikhail's Dream," and a gong-like flowerpot on "For Yuko." You can hear the influence of Arvo Pärt on "Adela" with a menacing, scraped staccato centering canonic violin lines that build to a solemn crescendo. Micus's music has always had a spiritual edge, but with Desert Poems, he's moving into the sacred realm. --John Diliberto

Tracks:

La Ran La Lera...Largo Al Factotum
O Sainte Medaille...Avant De Quitter Ces Lieux
Ce Breuvage...Vision Fugitive
C'est Toi...Au Fond Du Temple Saint - Placido Domingo
La Fatigue Alourdit Mes Pas...Comme Une Pale Fleur
Ecoute!...Dieu, Tu Semas Dans Nos Ames
C'est Mon Jour Supreme
Tout Est Desert...Son Regard
Ove Son Io?...Vada In Fiamme
Perfidi! All'Anglo Contro Me...Pieta, Rispetto Amore
Di Provenza Il Mar, Il Suol
E Sogno? O Realta?
Komm!
Der Garten Des Herzens
Lied Des Venezianischen Gondoliers
Le Lazzarone
L'Ultimo Ricordo

Tracks:

Mein Sehnen, Mein Wahnen
Wo Berg' Ich Mich?...So Weih' Ich Mich Den Rachgewalten
Wie Todesahnung...O Du Mein Holder Abendstern
Gruss Op.48 No.1
Im Wunderschonen Monat Mai
Aus Meinen Tranen Spriessen
Die Rose, Die Lilie
Ich Will Meine Seele Tauchen
Ich Grolle Nicht
Gute Nacht
Die Post
Blicke Mir Nicht In Die Lieder
Ich Atmet' Einen Linden Duft
Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen
Von Der Schonheit
O Vaterland, Du Machst Bei Tag
Als Flotter Geist
Komm, Zigany
An Old Song Re-Sung
At Dawning (I Love You) Op.29 No.1 - Armen Guzelimian
Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair
Beautiful Dreamer

Album Description

Details TBA. EMI. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous, Natural Sound........2007-08-04

Thomas Hampson, like Bryn Terfel, is a favored baritone for a reason. He has accomplished the natural tone and beautiful phrasing that all singers strive for throughout their carreers. The only way I could possibly see where the writer of the previous negative review was coming from is if he had been taught to sing in the early twenitieth century when the throaty, dark tone and unnatural phrasing and pronounciations were in vogue. This is an excellent recording of an excellent musician.

SImply Untrue.......2006-08-16

The previous review is simply a gross falsification. I have been an obsessed opera fan for a long time, and Thomas Hampson is a truly special singer. He is not the possesor of the largest or most interesting voice, which he will tell you and indeed says so all the time. His commitment to text, his willingness to search out parts to fit his voice, and his dedication to art song make im invaluable to Americans as a ture Troubador. His light Baritone was ideally suited to Figaro and to Valentin and the art song he loves. He must stretch to sing Verdi, where his voice sounds dry and small but many singers have chanced Verdi at their peril, and his innate ablity to inhabit a song, here evidenced in Di Provenza overcomes fact that it is out of his fach. You misinformed opinion of Hampson is mean and strangly bitter. I love Opera, but I do not love every singer, which doesn't mean I debase their very artistic existance. I have seen Hampson live, and have loved him (in Thias) and somewhat disliked him (in Simon Boccanegra) As for him being pretentious, somwetimes I find him mannered, but always charming. SOmetimes Intellectualism can appear pretentious, but surely you wont hold an opera singer to the charge that he must be unintellectual. what a vitriolic review, please buy this Cd, it merits repeated listening to a true American SINGER,

an extra star for all the guest artists.......2006-05-08

The title of this album is an oxymoron. Or a sick joke. I can't decide. Sure he has made millions by luring the uninitiated listener into his web of deceit and conceit, but don't be fooled any longer. How fortunate Hampson has been to sing for and with great artists to shoulder his heavy load.

An Homage to a Great Artist.......2005-10-30

EMI is wisely creating a series of recordings to gather the moments of artists that showcase the very reasons they become so highly regarded. Usually these collections are produced late in careers or even posthumously, but in the case of THE VERY BEST OF THOMAS HAMPSON the artist is still one of the more active and premiere singers of our day. Yet while he doesn't still perform all of these inclusions, it is wonderful to have excerpts from various successful recordings to remind us of the artistry that Hampson represents.

The two disc set includes arias from operas: Rossini's 'Il barbière di Siviglia', von Weber's 'Euryanthe', Gounod's 'Faust', Massenet's 'Hérodiade', Bizet's 'Les Pêcheurs de perles' (in duet with Placido Domingo), Thomas' 'Hamlet', Verdi's 'Don Carlo', 'Il Travatore', 'Macbeth', 'La Traviata', and 'Falstaff', Korngold's 'Die Tote Stadt', and Wagner's 'Tannhäuser'.

But the rewards of a Hampson recording must include his impeccable career as a lieder stylist and on this recording are excerpts from Schumann's 'Dichterliebe', Schubert's 'Winterreise', Mahler's 'Rückert Lieder' and 'Das Lied von der Erde', as well as songs by Meyerbeer, Rossini, Grieg, Kalman, and Lehar. And very importantly there are examples of American songs that Hampson has always emphasized in his recitals. Works by Stephen Foster, and two extraordinary works with the brilliant accompanist Armen Guzelimian - 'An Old Song Re-sung' by Griffes and 'At Dawning' by Charles Wakefield Cadman - round out this fine survey.

Not usually a collector of such 'recombinations', for this listener this album is so very fine that it deserves the attention of all those who appreciate the artistry of Thomas Hampson - then and now. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, October 05

superb vocals.......2005-08-07

Mr.Hampson really gets the chance to showcase his wonderful baritone voice in this "Best of" collection which includes excellent selections from his various other CDs. I like the diversity of the selections featuring operatic arias,works from classical composers, and folk songs. For Thomas hampson fans, as well as fans of the baritone voice, this CD is for them.

Sure on This Shining Night: 20th-Century Romantic Songs of America

Average customer rating:

A Spectrum of Romance in American Musical Composition
a rare gem of a CD

Sure on This Shining Night: 20th-Century Romantic Songs of America

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Songs from the Labyrinth (Music by John Dowland)

ASIN: B000002ZYW
Release Date: 1997-04-10

Tracks:

The Children
The Year's At The Spring
When Stars Are In The Quiet Skies
Orpheus With His Lute
Rose Marie
Ives
Song To The Witch Of The Cloisters
Sure On This Shining Night
Sigh No More, Ladies
Come Away, Death
On Hearing 'The Last Rose Of Summer'
Echo
If I Could Tell You
The Collection
The Lord's Prayer
Nature, The Gentlest Mother
The Tiger
Never More Will The Wind
Little Elegy
One Alone
Do Not Go, My Love
To A Stranger
When I Have Sung My Songs
These, My Ophelia
An Old Song Re-sung
Ah! Sweet Mystery Of Life
June Night
Triolet

Customer Reviews:

A Spectrum of Romance in American Musical Composition.......2006-01-15

Often American music is thought to be jaunty, combative, or tragic in content, especially when it comes to songs/lieder for the classical repertoire. This engaging CD takes umbrage with that misconception and in presenting some twenty-eight songs by various composers clearly identifies the romantic side of American composers.

Here are songs well known and not so well known by familiar and not so familiar composers, and in the hands of tenor Robert White and pianist Samuel Sanders they all come across as important. Included are rarities by composers such as Amy Beach, Theodor Chanler, Isabelle Firestone, Eric Ewazen, Albert Hay Malotte, Marc Marder, John Musto and Richard Hageman, with popular composers Rudolf Friml and Sigmund Romberg, along with the greats: Ives, Schuman, Hindemith, Barber, Thomson, Korngold, Copland. Rorem, Bolcom, Corigliano, and Griffes. It is a huge spectrum of work and while some are less successful than other, they all are given respectful and loving renditions by White and Sanders. It is great fun to hear Firestone's famous 'If I could tell you' that opened the Voice of Firestone for so many years along side Samuel Barber's gorgeous 'Sure on this shining night' and Aaron Copland's settings of Emily Dickinson's poems.

This a rare treat for connoisseurs of lieder and for lovers of beautiful songs. Recommended. Grady Harp, January 06

a rare gem of a CD.......2002-07-08

Sure On This Shining Night is not my usual musical cup of tea...yet, it has become one of my favorite CDs. This collection of American Romantic songs has burrowed its way into my heart.

There is a universality to the longing involved in Romanticism. These songs capture this feeling perfectly. From the first song to the last, these songs do one thing perfectly: evoke an emotional response.

This is due in no short measure to the wonderful performance Robert White gives. Rather than being merely technically accurate, White actually gives each of these songs a life of their own. He achieves this effect by getting inside not only the words, but the feelings involved.

Some of the highlights for me are: the lovely and memorable "Rose Marie," Ewazen's setting of Blake's "The Tiger," a moving version of "The Lord's Prayer" and the haunting "Never More Will the Wind."

Samuel Sanders is a worthy musical companion to White. His playing is reciprocally lovely and introspective. The notes are extensive and informative as well.

Tracks:

The Horses Of Nizami
Adela
Night
Mikhail's Dream
First Snow
Thirteen Eagles
Contessa Entellina
Shen Khar Venakhi
For Yuko

Amazon.com

Austere and ecstatic, multi-instrumentalist Stephan Micus's 15th album is a meditation on both the topography and idea of the desert. Unobstructed, ancient, and open, the compositions evoke a harshly beautiful state of being that exists outside of human perceptions of time. Micus attempts to touch this deeper reality by combining an arsenal of instruments and musical styles ranging from the Asian steppes to the Sahara and the mountains of the Republic of Georgia. A quiet restlessness unites the performances. "Adela" overdubs 22 dilruba Indian string instruments in a piece that strangely suggests modern chamber music. "Shar Khar Venakhi" transposes a 13th-century polyphonic choral piece from the Caucasus to massed Indian and Turkman strings with windblown, forlorn effect. Every instrument on this impressive disc is played by Majorcan resident Micus, who also sings with monastic sobriety on "Contessa Entellina" and in Japanese Noh theater style on "For Yuko" accompanied by clay flowerpots and shakuhachi. Many artists attempt to fuse vernacular instruments of the world with a sense of the distant past, but few strike the chilling note of solitude that pervades this clear-headed work. --Bob Tarte

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous crosscultural mix..........2002-09-20

A gorgeous modern classical/Arabic mix... The Middle East isn't exactly virgin territory for Western classical composers, but it's really only been in recent years that the greater subtleties have come out. Stephen Micus' latest work is rich in hush and silence, delving into the lulling, harmonic richness of various Eastern traditions, rather than simply borrowing the same old belly-dancer melodies. If you'll pardon the stereotype-laden metaphor, this isn't the type of music that would be used to whip the harem girls into a whirling silk scarf frenzy -- rather, it's what a particularly enlightened caliph might relax to, late at night when the palace is alseep and his favorite composer is passing a pipe around. Although Micus primarily draws on Arabic traditions, he also features some typically spectral Japanese shakuhachi flute work, and pushes the mixed tonalities of various non-European scales in unexpected directions. What's most striking about this album is the skill with which he tempers seeming dissonance into smoky melodic accessibility... Although this album is much less ornate, I'm reminded in places of Amitava Chatterjee's equally rich modernizations of Indian classical music. Highly recommended!

The Subtle Same, Thank God.......2001-10-20

I consider Micus to be one of the preeminent composers of our time, Genius in its truest and brightest meaning. I live at the western edge of the High Desert of the Basins and Ranges and have come to love the desert more than I had ever imagined possible. Capturing the stark beauty of stark places is one of the most difficult things which can be done - one must turn inward to see outward, the further inward you are able to see, the greater the panorama of your outer vision. While others have commented that this is 'more of the same' and that this is 'not a bad thing' - I have to disagree - in the stark places of the world, just as in the stark places of the Soul - the beauty, the Mystery, lies in the subtle differences. I own all albums and while I may find some more favorite than others, each has it's own subtle beauty. I would rank this album within the top five, and possibly the top three of my favorite Micus albums. The Subtle Beauty, just as the subtle difference, is there if you have the ear to hear. A very good album from an exceptional creator.

THERE ARE TEN THOUSAND WAYS TO BOW AND KISS THE EARTH..........2001-10-11

Stephan Micus' latest offering is indeed, as one reviewer has stated, 'more of the same' -- but in Micus' case, that's not such a bad thing. Over the past 25 years, he has recorded 16 albums -- amazing, beautiful examples of the path he has chosen to honor the earth and its diversity of cultures. Just inside the booklet that accompanies this release, Micus has placed a quotation from Rumi (c.1270) -- it is a very telling choice: 'There are ten thousand ways to bow and kiss the earth'.

The pieces on this disc are absolutely beautiful -- Stephan Micus makes some of the most evocative music I have ever heard. I have been a staunch fan since the release of his first album, 'Archaic concerts', in 1976 -- his only release not available on cd. He has never made any claim to be classically schooled in the various traditions from which he draws his inspiration and sounds -- but his respect for them, his empathy for the cultures, beliefs and values they represent, could not be more apparent.

There are instruments on this disc from places as far-ranging as India, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, the West Indies, Japan, Egypt and China. The vocals -- in Micus' trademark style using sounds without the constraints of language, include also a traditional Georgian chant from a.d.1250. Rather than seem out of place (or time), it fits seamlessly into his music.

I have always found the work of Stephan Micus to be both stimulating and relaxing -- a way of travelling by sound that honors our planet's diversity without pretending to replicate its traditions note-for-note. There is a gentle, meditative spirit present in his recordings.

In today's troubled times, I think it could even bring us a little closer to understanding and appreciating the differences that make this planet a wonderful place, instead of being frightened by them.

more of the same.......2001-05-09

I wish I could be quite as enthusiastic about Micus's latest release as the other reviewers seem to be, but I'm not. Mostly, because it breaks no real new ground. The individual cuts on the CD (which is a bit short at about 46 minutes long, by the way) were recorded over a four-years period, which is usually not a good sign when it comes to unity of vision. Several cuts sound very much like other material he has already released. (In fact, I would venture to suggest that much of this material may be last-minute rejects from his last CD, the very powerful "Garden of Mirrors.") But that's the negative side of things. On the positive, there are some new experiments, like vocals with *real* words, for one. Also, Micus seems to have been listening to Arvo Part of late--the second cut, "Adela," in fact sounds more like a Part composition/performance than it does like Micus. And, though he still is making heavy use of the same exotic instruments as appear in other of his works (e.g., the dilruba, shakuhachi flute, nay, steel drums, and flowerpots), there are several new ones introduced here as well. Overall, this is Micus sounding like Micus--which is a very good thing, because that means a continuation of the unique sensitivity, intelligence, and emotional subtlety his music has displayed for over twenty years. This may not be his best or most distinctive release, but it is still a very satisfying one. For those who are new to Micus's music, I would suggest starting with the abovementioned "Garden of Mirrors" and perhaps "Darkness and Light," "The Music of Stones," "Ocean," or "To the Evening Child."

more of the same.......2001-05-09

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