"...The truly extraordinary singing of the evening came from a personified Spirit of the Land, an earth-mother figure, performed by Alexandra Loutsion. She filled the enormous room with gorgeous earth-mother sound, so deep and resonant that I thought her a contralto, then high (though the role is not writtenvery high), flowering without a break or a seam...
Not only is the voice beautifully colored and deeply moving, her words were so clear one did not need to consult the libretto, her consonants lashed with anger or molten with emotion...
Two small choruses, including members of eight Indian tribes, contributed a less European-sounding, more folk-ways, puzzled but peaceable crowd of Lenapes and eight greedy, hymn-singing Dutchmen, whose scrappy energy enlivened things considerably. The small orchestra, rather wind-heavy and string-light, was led with graceful enthusiasm by Sara John, and featured the plaintive, breathy sound of a native flute played by the purple-coated composer himself.
Davids’ music is what one might describe as tonal with benefits—the choral songs, in particular, reminded me of Benjamin Britten’s operas. Twisting harp and marimba, oboe and flute effects mimicked the birdsong of this forested scene and the breezes ruffling the trees (“valuable timber!” think the Dutch), twining into layers of not-quite-traditional string melodies..." (John Yohalem. Parterre Box; he’ll take manhattan. Nov 23, 2014).
READ MORE HERE!
Not only is the voice beautifully colored and deeply moving, her words were so clear one did not need to consult the libretto, her consonants lashed with anger or molten with emotion...
Two small choruses, including members of eight Indian tribes, contributed a less European-sounding, more folk-ways, puzzled but peaceable crowd of Lenapes and eight greedy, hymn-singing Dutchmen, whose scrappy energy enlivened things considerably. The small orchestra, rather wind-heavy and string-light, was led with graceful enthusiasm by Sara John, and featured the plaintive, breathy sound of a native flute played by the purple-coated composer himself.
Davids’ music is what one might describe as tonal with benefits—the choral songs, in particular, reminded me of Benjamin Britten’s operas. Twisting harp and marimba, oboe and flute effects mimicked the birdsong of this forested scene and the breezes ruffling the trees (“valuable timber!” think the Dutch), twining into layers of not-quite-traditional string melodies..." (John Yohalem. Parterre Box; he’ll take manhattan. Nov 23, 2014).
READ MORE HERE!
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