This 2023
Rubicon Classics
release, which made classical best-seller charts in the autumn of that year, is an example of an album that accomplishes something slightly different from what it set out to do.
Homelands
, as the title suggests, centers on the very Romantic theme of exile, bringing together familiar examples of the genre by
Schubert
and
Schumann
as well as less common pieces by
Henri Duparc
and even a Korean art song composer,
Dong-Soo Shin
. The category is big enough to be rather nebulous, and although there is nothing wrong with the rather loose connection to the theme of some of these songs, there have been more cohesive programs. However, there is a second virtue to this album. It is one of those, not unprecedented but not so common, that offers a group of singers, with a veteran surrounded by newcomers whose careers will presumably benefit from the exposure. The veteran is tenor
Ian Bostridge
, who kicks off the proceedings with
Mahler
's gorgeous
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
(a song about the desirability of exile rather than the opposite) but otherwise mostly cedes the stage. Those wishing a sampling of some up-and-coming art song performers should turn promptly to this release. To these ears, the biggest find is the rounded, relaxed bass of
Wonsick Oh
, heard in
Rachmaninov
, as well as
's
Oh Mountain
, sung in Korean. Hear his absolutely distinctive version of
Wanderers Nachtlied, D. 768
. Others may be drawn to soprano
Jennifer France
in songs by
Duparc
(groups of songs by the same composer are given to the same singer) or baritone
James Atkinson
in romantic (and Romantic) readings of a group from
Liederkreis, Op. 39
. Accompanist
Aron Goldin
, also a relative newcomer, devised the program and has a rare facility for setting the mood and parameters of a song with its piano introduction.
Rubicon
's church sound is murky, but this release is essential for close followers of the vocal scene and attractively varied for anyone. ~ James Manheim