Classical Editor: Rob Barnett                               Music Webmaster Len Mullenger: Len@musicweb-international.com


TRIO VIVACE - Maiden Voyage
DELIBES 
Dome Epais
MOZART
Ah guarda sorella
OFFENBACH 
Belle Nuit
BACH
 Andante
HANDEL
O thou that takest; Rejoice greatly; He shall feed
REGER
Maria Wiegenlied
ADAM
O holy night
YON
 Gesu Bambino
TRAD (Spanish) La Pedida de la Posada
SAINT-SAENS
Come, Blessed Saviour
MENDELSSOHN
I waited for the Lord
VIVALDI
 Laudamus Te.

Trio Vivace: Ruth Arnett (mezzo), Anna Bjarnson-Carson (soprano) and Anne Young (piano).
[no number] [55.04]
www.triovivace.com e-mail chicksforchrist@juno.com  ordering details below

 

This CD stands as a showcase for the talents of a trio of two singers and a pianist. They were founded in 1999. It is, as the imaginatively designed card packaging declares, 'a journey through some 300 years of sacred & operatic duets.' The disc presents 14 tracks one of which is for piano alone.

Trio Vivace is Ruth Arnett (mezzo), Anna Bjarnson-Carson (soprano) and Anne Young (piano). Both voices are strongly operatic (try track 1 with the famous duet from Lakme) and are not held back. I would have liked to have had a sense of really quiet singing alongside such power. The recording is unforgivingly close-up and this characteristic is accentuated by what is for me a typical church hall acoustic.

Ruth Arnett's enunciation is delightfully precise (as is Anna Bjarnson-Carson's) with a trace of accent (we all have an accent) discernible on words such as 'God'. Of the two voices hers gives the greater sense of vibrato but it is, in any event, mild.

This is a strong trio who clearly abound in musical values. They would however have been better served by a more distant and less 'imperial' recording balance. It is difficult to tell how much attention the two singers can give to really quiet singing when the microphones are so close.

The triumvirate come across as tempestuously dramatic interpreters who will surely continue to make for themselves a successful career.

On the debit side the playing time is short for a classical CD.

I can imagine this disc making a pleasure-giving addition to family listening at any time of year.

I do hope that the trio will delve much deeper into the repertoire.

Further information about Trio Vivace can be found on www.triovivace.com. The site is your source for ordering copies.

Rob Barnett

Ruth Arnett
Business Manager for Trio Vivace
chicksforchrist@juno.com

http://www.triovivace.com
To listen to Maiden Voyage:
http://www.mp3.com/triovivace
To order Maiden Voyage:
http://www.earBuzz.com/triovivace

A Note from Ruth Arnett

Our online distributor is http://www.earbuzz.com/triovivace (credit
cards, checks accepted) -- the price is $16. If people would rather
not use the Internet, discs can be ordered from me directly at:
Trio Vivace
425 Naples Street
Chula Vista, CA. 91911-1908
USA

The price is $20 (and that includes postage).

I've got a "funny" accent because I was born in England and haven't managed to dispense with it! How much music should one put on a CD? The classical CDs I have usually have anywhere from 55 to 60 minutes on them; although I understand that in Europe, 70 to 80 minutes is becoming more standard. Thanks for the nice review on the packaging -- my graphic designer will LOVE it. I really wanted to propel classical music
packaging into the new millennium. Just a few things I wanted to share with you about the "imperial" recording balance. I believe this was a result of doing a remote recording (which was decided on because we had access to the church sanctuary and the grand piano there. This turned out to be a much more economical way to go; as we were paying for the recording ourselves, this seemed to be a smart move!) Our recording guy is also a "purist"; he doesn't monkey around. Editing is reserved to "how much of take 1 do you want inserting in take 2". There is one thing about this approach -- what you hear on the recording is what you will get live. We won't be any worse than what you hear on the disc! The music is the art; not the editing/recording job!

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