Mary Bevan : The Divine Muse
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Signum
Magazine Review Date: 03/2020
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 65
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: SIGCD606
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Arianna a Naxos |
Joseph Haydn, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
(12) Lieder für das Clavier, Book II, Movement: Geistliches Lied |
Joseph Haydn, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Ganymed |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
(Die) Götter Griechenlands |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Gott im Frühling |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Marie |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Son fra l'omde |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Vedi quanto adoro ancora ingrato! |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
(6) Alte Weisen, Movement: Wie glänzt der helle Mond |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Goethe Lieder, Movement: Ganymed |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Seufzer |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Auf ein altes Bild |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Schlafendes Jesuskind |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Zum neuen Jahr Kirchengesang |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Gebet |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Mörike Lieder, Movement: Gesang Weylas |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Spanisches Liederbuch, 'Spanish Songbook', Movement: Die ihr schwebet um diese Palmen (wds. L. de Vega,bel) |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Joseph Middleton, Piano Mary Bevan, Soprano |
Author: Mark Pullinger
Mary Bevan is not just an exceptionally fine soprano. She’s also a superb actress, whether performing on the operatic stage or on the recital platform. Those dramatic qualities – and her keen care for diction – shine in her latest album, ‘The Divine Muse’, with pianist Joseph Middleton. The idea for the programme was drawn from Middleton’s desire to tap into Bevan’s interest in mythology and the history of religion, focusing on people who lived ‘within the spheres of myth and divinity’. The Virgin Mary looms large, along with characters from Classical mythology in works by Schubert, Wolf and Haydn.
There is plenty of drama in two of Schubert’s Metastasio settings, ‘Vedi, quanto adoro’ and ‘Son fra l’onde’, Bevan imbuing her performance with operatic fervour. There’s drama too in Haydn’s brilliant scena Arianna a Naxos, especially the despair and anger in Ariadne’s abandonment by Theseus. It is more difficult to let rip in the version with piano accompaniment than with orchestra (this album was released on the same day as Kate Lindsey’s new disc with Arcangelo, which includes Arianna – Alpha, 2/20), but Bevan nevertheless builds a strong sense of character, particularly in the final aria, ‘Ah, che morir vorrei’.
They include two settings of Goethe’s ‘Ganymed’, contrasting the intense yearning of Wolf’s against Schubert’s happier, more contented Lied. Bevan is very good at colouring notes beautifully – ‘Die Götter Griechenlands’ is tremendous – and floats her top exquisitely in Schubert’s ‘Marie’. She is at her best in the sprinkling of Wolf’s Mörike Lieder, including an ecstatic ‘Gebet’. Middleton’s playing is always sensitive, never overwhelming the singer.
Richard Stokes’s booklet notes are exemplary, scholarly but always accessible, such as his explanation of the dissonance in ‘Auf ein altes Bild’ where Mörike, contemplating a painting of the Virgin Mary and Child in pastoral landscape, notes that also in that forest grows the tree which will provide the wood for Christ’s cross.
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