Here’s an example of a recording in which a nice idea involving some very fine performers just fails to make an impact–or even to coalesce as it theoretically should. The two singers, each with impressive artistic credentials and a stack of fine recordings and concert performances to their credit, never seem to be fully in tune or spirit with these songs, none of which will ever be mistaken for a masterpiece but nevertheless stand as prime examples of a popular style that (as these things tend to do) exhibit a somewhat crude manner in the guise of sophisticated, refined musical forms. The singing often comes across as trying to impart some higher importance to what ostensibly is light entertainment, and the instrumental accompaniments, while very competent and sensitive, have an odd physical/spatial detachment from the vocal performances. Ultimately, there seems little point to this program, which gathers together a bunch of unrelated but very similar-sounding songs/arias that for the most part are musically unremarkable. I’ve been extremely impressed with these performers before–but this isn’t one of their more notable achievements. John Eccles’ “I burn, my brain consumes to ashes” comes pretty close to describing my feelings after spending an hour with this well-intentioned but ultimately disappointing effort.
