HERE / AFTER

SONGS of LOST VOICES

Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer’s NEW 2-CD set of songs released Oct 21

Features Talise Trevigne, Joyce DiDonato, Stephen Costello & Nathan Gunn

October 21 marks the release of HERE/AFTER: Songs of Lost Voices, a two-CD set of recent songs and music by Jake Heggie, “the finest American art song composer of his generation” (John von Rhein, Classical Review), to texts by the Grammy Award-nominated Gene Scheer.

The generous PentaTone Classics collection features more than two hours of music from the composer and librettist of the operas Moby-Dick and Three Decembers, with performances by some of the foremost exponents of their work, including soprano Talise Trevigne, mezzo Joyce DiDonato, tenor Stephen Costello, baritone Nathan Gunn, flutist Carol Wincenc, and the Alexander String Quartet. Recorded at LucasFilm’s Skywalker Ranch and produced by Grammy Award-winner Steve Barnett, HERE/AFTER seeks to give voice to silenced individuals whose stories deserve to be heard, including victims and survivors of 9/11 (Pieces of 9/11) and the great French sculptor Camille Claudel (Camille Claudel: Into the Fire). The composer explains that he and Scheer set out to capture “the hope and newness that can come from grief,” and, as the Associated Press recently recognized, HERE/AFTER succeeds in transmuting “memories of grief into survivor songs – some of them surprisingly joyous.”

Heggie and Scheer’s projects together have included numerous songs as well as the highly acclaimed operas Three Decembers (2008), “a modern masterpiece” (Opera Now), and Moby-Dick (2010), proclaimed “an undeniable success” (New York Times), “a triumph” (Dallas Morning News), “one of the most satisfying new operas I’ve seen” (Washington Post), and “a great American opera” (Opera Now).

There’s a lot more about JAKE HEGGIE in FanFaire.

Watch a couple of video trailers from the making of HERE/AFTER at the Skywalker Ranch recording studios:

With star mezzo-soprano JOYCE DI DONATO singing the song “The Gossips” from the composition entitled “Camille Claudel: Into the Fire”.

The following showcases Talise Trevigne’s performance of the song “Lessons” from the composition entitled “Pieces of 9/11: Memories from Houston”.

Below is a full track listing:

HERE/AFTER: Songs of Lost Voices
by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer
2CD-set from PentaTone Classics

Release date: October 21
Featuring Talise Trevigne, soprano; Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Costello, tenor; Nathan Gunn, baritone; Carol Wincenc, flute; and the Alexander String Quartet

CAMILLE CLAUDEL: Into the Fire (2012)
Prelude: Rodin
La Valse
Shakuntala
La Petite Chatelaine
The Gossips
L’Âge Mûr
Epilogue: Jessie Lipscomb visits Camille Claudel, Montdevergues Asylum, 1929
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano; The Alexander String Quartet
PIECES OF 9/11: Memories from Houston (2011)
Prelude; Lauren
Lessons
Phone Calls
That Moment On
Beyond
An Open Book
Talise Trevigne, soprano; Nathan Gunn, baritone
Ekaterina Gorlova (Prelude, An Open Book) & Ashley Traughber (Beyond, An Open Book), sopranos
Dawn Walker, flute; Dawn Harms, violin; Marc Teicholz, guitar; Emil Miland, cello
SOLILOQUY for flute and piano (2012)
Carol Wincenc, flute; Jake Heggie, piano
FRIENDLY PERSUASIONS: Homage to Poulenc (2008)
Wanda Landowska
Pierre Bernac
Raymonde Linossier
Paul Eluard
Stephen Costello, tenor
Carol Wincenc, flute; José González Granero, clarinet; Emil Miland, cello; Jake Heggie, piano
RISE & FALL (2007)
Water Stone
Incantation Bowl
Angels’ Wings
The Shaman
Talise Trevigne, soprano; Jake Heggie, piano
A QUESTION OF LIGHT (2011)
The Light of Coincidences [Magritte] Eccentric Flint [Ancient Maya] Yellow Roses in a Vase [Caillebotte] Place de la Concorde [Mondrian] El hombre [Tamayo] Watch [Murphy] Nathan Gunn, baritone; Jake Heggie, piano
FURY OF LIGHT (2009)
Fast; Elegy; Meditation; Very Fast
Carol Wincenc, flute; Jake Heggie, piano