Gerald Finley's debut-album on Ondine is devoted to the music Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). It includes premiere recordings of orchestral versions of wartime works Six Romances on Verses by English Poets and the Scottish Ballad. The Six Romances was previously known only as a version for chamber orchestra arranged by the composer. However, the composer's original version for full orchestra was just recently discovered and is included here as a premiere recording.
Also included is a premiere recording of a very late Shostakovich masterpiece: the orchestral version of Suite on Poems by Michelangelo - sung for the first time in the original Italian. The work, composed in 1975, was one of the last pieces completed by Shostakovich.
Grammy-award winning Canadian baritone Gerald Finley has become one of the leading singers and dramatic interpreters of his generation, with award-winning performances and recordings on CD and DVD with major labels and performing at the world's major opera and concert venues in a wide variety of repertoire.
On this recording the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Thomas Sanderling, friend of the composer and a Shostakovich expert who has conducted award-winning Shostakovich premiere recordings. Sanderling was also personally involved in the process of the discovery of the versions included in this recording and conducted their premiere performances in connection to this recording.
ClassicsToday 10/10 rating
'Finley inhabits these songs completely and confidently, captivating and sometimes unnerving us with his affinity for the particulars of sound and language' - ClassicsToday.com
...Finley applies his consummate technical facility and unfailing interpretive instincts to elucidate each text in its special musical context...Finley inhabits these songs completely and confidently, captivating and sometimes unnerving us with his affinity for the particulars of sound and language.
This is one of those recordings that affirms its value not only by presenting something truly new and important from something familiar, but by doing it in such a way that it invites you to listen and then compels you to come back, not for a voice, or a tune, or a message, but to be moved by the whole experience of a great performance of timeless music.
- By David Vernier (c) 2014 ClassicsToday.com