Most of the 27 Ives songs selected for this recital showcase the composer’s sometimes-underrated lyrical and romantic side, while his better-known pricklier persona only appears now and then. Fortunately, Ives was one of the most imaginative songwriters who ever lived, and a superb setter of words, so there’s no concern for lack of musical variety. Tenor Andrew Childs has a small yet pleasant, well-focused voice, plus the kind of steady intonation that is absolutely necessary to make Ives’ tricky intervals clear, especially when the piano parts collide with the vocal line (The Children’s Hour, the middle section of The Things our Fathers Loved).
Childs is best in upbeat songs like The Greatest Man and Memories (its opening section, at least), to which he brings unselfconscious, golly-gee-whiz innocence. On the other hand, his lack of tonal heft and sustaining power undermines the potential for characterization that many noted Ives singers have brought to their recorded interpretations. For example, his earnest, well-thought-out readings of two of Ives’ German songs (Du alte Mutter and Feldeinsamkeit) yield to baritone Gerald Finley’s far more vibrant and gorgeously colored versions on Hyperion. We-Han Su handles the virtuosic accompaniments well, if not with the ultimate flexibility and stylish flair I’ve enjoyed in the work of Gilbert Kalish, John Kirkpatrick, Phillip Bush, and Julius Drake. Childs’ excellent diction more than compensates for the lack of texts or translations.
