 Love Sublime |
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Personnel:
Renee Fleming: vocal, Brad Mehldau: piano
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Tracks:
Songs from The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God Brad Mehldau / Words by Rainer Maria Rilke
German Translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna R. Macy
1. Your first word was light
2. The hour is striking so close above me
3. I love the dark hours of my being
4. I love you, gentlest of Ways
5. No one lives his life
6. His caring is a nightmare to us
7. Extinguish my eyes, I’ll go on seeing you
Songs from The Blue Estuaries
Brad Mehldau / Words by Louise Bogan
8. Tears in Sleep
9. Memory
10. A Tale
11. Love Sublime
Brad Mehldau / Words by Fleurine
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Brad Mehldau/Renee Fleming
Love Sublime
This CD is a stunning work of art, a bit of genius rendered by two enormously gifted and passionate musicians. If you love pure music, and the mystery and discovery of sounds that are not bound by expectations and genres, capped by performances and musical compositions that are on an astonishingly high artistic and technical level, then this recording is for you. I believe words fall short in describing the music here; one must hear and experience the sounds created by these two giants of music. Do not expect to hear a vocalist scatting over changes.
The first seven tracks are poems written by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) and are brilliantly set to music composed by Mr. Mehldau. Rilke is considered to be the greatest poet of the German Language within the twentieth century. His life, like many notable poets, included a troubled childhood and rocky beginnings. His poetry is deep and probing, religiously questioning, and a perfect source for the compositional explorations of Mr. Mehldau.
Renee Fleming sings here in a flawless, beautifully intoned, and rapturous style demonstrating why she is the best of the best. Ms. Fleming is a two time Grammy winner, one of which was for her recording, “The Beautiful Voice” (Decca). She has received numerous awards, among them Vocalist of the Year from Musical America (1997) and Female Artist of the Year (2003). The eminent conductor Sir Georg Solti, describes Renee’s ability best: "Quite apart from the sheer lyrical beauty of her voice, she has an innate musicianship which makes every performance a great joy."
Mr. Mehldau is equally as accomplished, notably in the jazz idiom; He has displayed a technical and compositional expertise which is of the highest caliber, owing in part to his refusal to be bound by a singular style of music or constrained by the opinions and expectations of contemporary music critics.
The task of setting poems to original music is a rather daunting one. The composer must be in union with the poet, his words, his philosophy, and just exactly what thought process and emotional state of mind prompted the poetic verse to be written – a subjective response to be sure, and therefore one that requires a commitment to the poet’s work and a creative musical interpretation of the written word. I remember writing a motet based upon some of John Milton’s poetry and it was an exhilarating experience but a difficult one. Hearing what issues forth from this CD I find the word “majestic” comes to mind – the recording is of that quality. Brad Mehldau “talked out” all of the poems prior to and during the compositions. That explains the deep and thoughtful harmonic accompaniment and melodic content. The verses are all contained in the liner notes; this provides an insight to the link between the printed word and the musical compositions. One must appreciate the difficulty of the compositional response to the apparent static content of the medium and the ability to elucidate the verse in musical form.
Quoting Mr. Mehldau, “ My deep love of the genre of art song informs everything I wrote here. Other sources of inspiration, specifically for the rhythmic phrasing of the vocal line, came from singers that I admire who are not beholden to a literal interpretation of a music text”.
Three of the tracks are based upon poems by 20th Century poet Louise Bogan from “The Blue Estuaries”, a compilation of Ms. Bogan’s poems in the latter years of her life. In Brad’s description, “even on its own, her poetry seems musical to me; simply reading the lilting iambic tetrameter of A Tale, for example suggests song”. Louise Bogan (1897-1970) was born and raised in Maine. Her parents had a “volatile” relationship; her mother had several extramarital affairs. This unpleasant childhood memory must have had an emotional impact upon her which, in part, seems likely to have influenced her poetry. Read an excerpt from “Tears in Sleep”:
“In the false light, false grief in my happy bed.
A labor of tears, set against joy’s undoing.
I would not wake at your word, I had tears to say.
I clung to the bars of the dream, and they were said,
And pain’s derisive hand had given me rest
From the night giving off flames, and the dark renewing.”
(Louise Bogan)
This is powerful writing; one can see that it required extraordinary musicians such as Mr. Mehldau and Ms. Fleming to pull it off, and they have done so in compelling fashion.
The last track, “Love Sublime”, is one that I recognize from a previous Mehldau recording. It was originally an untitled track on his CD “Places”, and here it is set to lyrics by the talented singer/lyricist Fleurine. It is a beautiful piece, haunting and wrought with emotion in both music and lyrics. An excerpt:
“Love Sublime.
You will find no tomorrow there
nor a yesterday.
Free from time we’ll spread our wings
and lit with love, I’ll fly with you…
Die close to you.”
(Fleurine)
I strongly recommend this CD. The only thing better would be to hear these two musicians in person. They truly make the poetry come alive. Like classical music the performances and music here are timeless, artistic, and worthy of repeated listenings.
John Ferrara
April 2007
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