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Music : Bright Eyed Joy: The Songs of Ricky Ian GordonIn association with Amazon.comby: Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Todd Ellison, Judy Blazer, Ted Sperling, Kenneth Burward-Hoy, Jesse Levy, Lawrence Feldman, Darius de Haas  Amazon.com's Price: $18.98 Prices subject to change.Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Binding: Audio CDEAN: 0075597962628 Label: Nonesuch Manufacturer: Nonesuch Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Nonesuch Release Date: April 24, 2001 Studio: Nonesuch Sales Rank: 120428 Disc 1:
Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Along with Michael John LaChiusa and Adam Guettel, Ricky Ian Gordon is one of the Young Turks of New York's musical theater. Like them, Gordon shuns both the accessible pop of a David Yazbek and the bombast of a Frank Wildhorn, preferring instead to write post-Sondheimian art songs. The numbers here (with lyrics by Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Dorothy Parker, James Agee) span two decades. They are marvelously interpreted by the likes of Audra McDonald, Dawn Upshaw, Darius de Haas, and Judy Blazer. Blazer ambles through "Resumé/Wail/Frustration" with delicious jazz-age wit, while Upshaw once more proves that she's a classical singer with an uncanny flair for the nonclassical repertoire. Note that anyone who's expecting anything resembling a beat is advised to look elsewhere. --Elisabeth Vincentelli Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Stephen Holden's NY Times Review of "Bright Eyed Joy" at Lincoln CenterMarch 15, 2001 CABARET REVIEW Ricky Ian Gordon: Bursting With Effervescence, Skipping Among Genres By STEPHEN HOLDEN If the music of Ricky Ian Gordon had to be defined by a single quality, it would be the bursting effervescence infusing songs that blithely blur the lines between art song and the high-end Broadway music of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. A composer versed in the harmonic idiom of Samuel Barber and Benjamin Britten, Mr. Gordon also ... Read More Rating: - A Gordon FanA heavenly recording Talented singers interpret the songs of Ricky Ian Gordon Audra McDonald (left) and Darius de Haas flank composer Ricky Ian Gordon. (by Alice Arnold) by Greg Varner Seven talented singers lend their voices to Bright Eyed Joy (Nonesuch), a superb collection of songs by Ricky Ian Gordon. The composer himself provided text for two of these pieces; the others are his settings of poems by Langston Hughes, Dorothy ... Read More Rating: - Phenomenal!Ricky Ian Gordon is a very talented composer and poet, and the songs on "Bright Eyed Joy" display his magnificent gifts. There is not a contemporary composer who has his talent of fitting text to music, and the singers on this disc bring his compositions alive. Track 17, "Once I Was," will make you weep! Rating: - IncredibleThis is an incredible CD, from the sparkling orchestrations which are chamber but in the way they are mixed everything dances out at you, to the vocal interpretations which are so innovative for a recording of this type...settings of poetry but sung by regular, albeit, extraordinary regular people (except people like Dawn Upshaw and Audra McDonald who have already established themselves as major vocal artists)so that the songs feel personal. There is about this CD an incredibly meaningful air...moving, ... Read More Rating:  - Quite an enjoyable CDBeing a fan of Mr. Gordon's, I couldn't wait until this CD came out. And I was not disappointed. The music is a cross between classical art songs and standard Broadway fare. Perhaps most enjoyable are the tracks sung by Audra McDonald, some of which were previously released on her first solo album, Way Back to Paradise, but which were supplimented with some additional tracks that really suit her dramatic voice and extensive range. Two other highlights include "Afternoon on a Hill", "Souvenir", and "Once ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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