We Are Talking Now Of Summer Evenings

It was listening to an edition of BBC Radio 3's Building a Library feature on Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 that encouraged me to acquire this disk. It is the "winning" performance by soprano Dawn Upshaw with the Orchestra of St Luke's conducted by David Zinman. Knoxville is unusual since it is a setting of prose from an essay by James Agee as opposed to a setting of poetry. It works perectly though and one is in no way reminded of any lack of rhyme or rhythm in the text. Upshaw's voice and delivery contain just the right note of knowing innocence required for the subject matter of a child's musing on a lazy summer evening as the old order is on the cusp of passing. Barber's chamber orchestra setting is one of his most notable achievements. The disk is filled with other works from 20th century America. There is an aria and recitative from Gian Carlo Menotti's The Old Man and the Thief and settings of poetry from 16th century India by John Harbison in Mirabai Songs. Both of these occupy some kind of middle ground between art song and Broadway, given idiomatic performances but not strictly to my taste. The other notable work is an extract from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress with the recitative and aria No Word From Tom. I probably couldn't take a recording of the entire work but am glad to have this sample.