I have loved the songs of Samuel Barber for a long time. Barber's lyrical writing and strong sense of text make a nice respite from the spiky, 12-tone music of his 20th century composing contemporaries. So when BBC Music Magazine highly recommended a new recording of Barber's songs by Canadian baritone Gerald Finley, I knew how I was going to spend part of my Amazon.com gift card. I'm so glad I did, because there is a lot to admire in Hyperion's Songs by Samuel Barber, with Finley and pianist Julius Drake.
This is a selection of Barber songs, and in that even are some unusual choices. "Hermit Songs" is a collection of 10 songs to poems by Irish and Gaelic monks, and it is usually song by sopranos. Mr. Finley makes a fine case for it being a cycle for the male voice, though. I don't know if he sings it in the same key as the sopranos, but he displays a smooth legato and an ease in the upper register that will win me over every time. Also notably sung on this disc is "Dover Beach", long a part of the baritone repertoire. But none of the selections on this recording are less than good, and many display recital singing of the highest caliber.
I've heard Mr. Finley sing live on one occasion, he portrayed Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams's opera Dr. Atomic at Lyric Opera of Chicago last season. Finley's singing, particularly the aria "Batter my heart, three-personed God" (based on the poem of John Donne) at the end of Act I, was a high-point of the production for me.
Songs by Samuel Barber
Gerald Finley, baritone
Julius Drake, piano
released by Hyperion
Gerald Finley, baritone
Julius Drake, piano
released by Hyperion
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