Barber: Complete Songs

Borgioni, Mauro, Dione Ezra, Leilah, Farinelli, Filippo, Lombardi, Elisabetta

96514

Few composers in the history of “art song” can compare to the figure of Samuel Barber (1910-1981), whose innate gift for lyricism found expression in his exceptional baritone voice, and who would perform any number of his songs accompanying himself at the piano.

Barber was encouraged to explore his early talent for song and the piano by his aunt Louise Homer, who was one of the Metropolitan Opera’s most famous contraltos. He was only 14 when he entered the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (where he would meet Gian Carlo Menotti, his future companion for much of his life) and soon dedicated himself to copious exercises in song writing. Barber possessed a cultivated erudition and a passion for the written word, both past and present: poetry, novels, autobiographies, diaries and the novelties of literary reviews of the time. This in turn assured that the texts chosen for his songs were always of the highest quality and variety, expressing facets of his complex character: a restless melancholy on the one hand, and an impish wit on the other. The texts stretch from Irish marginalia of the VIII/IX centuries to English “Georgian” poets, the French Symbolists and modernist poets writing in English who were affected by them – James Joyce amongst them –, as well as a considerable number of his American contemporaries.

Performed by three excellent Italian singers, Mauro Borgioni (baritone), Leilah Dione Ezra (soprano) and Elisabetta Lombardi (mezzo soprano), who won their spurs on the most important international stages.

This project is another triumph of Filippo Farinelli, indefatigable pianist and promotor of prestigious recording projects, such as the complete songs by Jolivet, Berg, Dallapiccola and Ravel, and instrumental projects by Koechlin, Jolivet, Hindemith and Debussy.

CD

1.03.2023

5028421965147