… And the Lang bandwagon just keeps a-rollin’ along! Mainstream critics, musicians, and sensitive listeners everywhere have already climbed aboard, and are enthusiastically singing the praises of Lang’s all-but-forgotten art songs. These lovely and beautifully-crafted works are getting their best-yet shot at rediscovery, thanks to Delos recent pair of glowing releases devoted to them: Love is Everywhere (DE 3407) and New Love Must Rise (DE 3410). The terrific performers, tenor Donald George and pianist Lucy Mauro, will not rest until Lang’s songs of have been restored to their rightful place in the American art song repertoire. Considering both their thorough research AND their ravishing performances, Lang could hardly have asked for better champions.
And other big-name exposure never hurts. So we’re overjoyed to report that Lang’s music is gradually coming to the attention of some of our leading movers and shakers in the music advocacy business. I speak specifically of superstar baritone Thomas Hampson – who has probably done more in the overall service of American song than any other artist, past or present. In addition to performing many of the genre’s finest examples with aching sentiment and burnished vocal beauty, he serves as the expert and congenial host to a most excellent radio show: Song of America.
Beginning March 4, we’ll be treated to a broadcast of the show’s latest chapter: There is no Gender in Music. This one is the ninth of thirteen in Hampson’s intriguing 13-part series that explores the American art song – its creators as well as its leading practitioners – in exquisite detail. This installment’s theme is the considerable body of first-rate vocal music from America’s women composers, both past and present – and one of the featured selections will be a particularly sweet number by Lang (Ojalá), excerpted from Vol. 1 in Delos’ Lang series (DE 3407).
You can catch the show on some NPR stations, or on many WFMT network stations, including some that offer a live-streaming internet audio capability. Check out the show’s excellent website – where you can peruse station lists and broadcast schedules, as well as a very detailed and informative press release about this marvelous program. While you’re there, click on explore their section on Lang for a short essay and audio tracks.
So be sure to tune in and ENJOY … and learn something about the seldom-explored history of American women composers while you’re at it!
Listen to the new Delos Radio Track:
Music from Al’s Breakfast – I. Coffee?
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