Heggie: Unexpected Shadows - Matt Haimovitz, Jake Heggie, Jamie Barton

A CELEBRATION OF POWERFUL, EXCEPTIONAL WOMEN

Star mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton presents a recital of songs by American composer Jake Heggie, with the composer at the piano. UNEXPECTED SHADOWS is a celebration in words and music of powerful, exceptional women. The program contains four song cycles, a standalone art song, and an opera aria.

The Work at Hand, set to poetry of the late Laura Morefield, contemplates the brave fight against cancer that she, and millions like her, went through. Matt Haimovitz’ cello playing adds an extra layer to this profoundly moving song cycle. Iconic Legacies, with texts by Gene Scheer, offers four portraits of remarkable First Ladies. Scheer also wrote texts for Statuesque, inspired by five iconic sculptures of women and the deeply human stories within them. Of Gods & Cats, based on poetry by Gavin Dillard, offers playful parodies on religious allegories. Music, set to a text by Sister Helen Prejean, addresses the transformative, healing, and humanizing power of music, while the “Ice Cube Aria” from Heggie’s opera If I Were You, with a libretto by Gene Scheer, shows the female demon Brittomara reflecting on the delicious predictability of human nature.

Award-winning mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, just named BBC Music Magazine’s 2020 Personality of the Year, makes her PENTATONE debut. Jake Heggie has a vast discography with the label, including the opera It’s a Wonderful Life (2017) and song recital albums by Melody Moore, Lisa Delan and Joyce DiDonato. The same applies to Matt Haimovitz, who has released several albums on PENTATONE, from contemporary classical and jazz and rock covers to Bach’s complete cello suites.

1        "Music" From The Breaking Waves
Text By – Sister Helen Prejean
2:56
The Work At Hand
Text By [Poetry By] – Laura Morefield
(18:37)
2        Individual Origami    
3        Warrior I    
4        The Slow Seconds    
5        Ice Cube Aria: "I Don't Have To Do A Thing" From If I Were You
Libretto By – Gene Scheer
3:27
Iconic Legacies: First Ladies At The Smithsonian
Text By [Texts By] – Gene Scheer
(15:35)
6        Eleanor Roosevelt: Marian Anderson's Mink Coat    
7        Mary Todd Lincoln: Abraham Lincoln's Hat    
8        Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: White House Christmas Card, 1963    
9        Barbara Bush: The Muppets    
Of Gods & Cats
Text By [Poetry By] – Gavin Dillard
(6:32)
10        In The Beginning    
11        Once Upon A Universe    
Statuesque
Text By [Texts By] – Gene Scheer
(19:30)
12        Henry Moore: Reclining Figure In Elmwood    
13        Pablo Picasso: Head Of A Woman, 1932    
14        Hatshepsut: The Divine Potter    
15        Alberto Giacometti: Standing Woman, 1948    
16        Winged Victory: We're Through