Recordings

Turning Into Song

Music by Heggie, Moravec, Gill, Drucker, Brown and Wilson
Musica Solis MS202308
Released: 2023
David Shifrin, Susannah Woordruff, Yevgeny Yontov, Eugene Drucker, David Finckel, Mischa Bouvier and Seunghee Lee

“Musica Solis Records releases ‘Turning into Song,’ devoted to songs derived from the poetry of Lucy Miller Murray, set to music by American composers; all 15 tracks on the album represent world premiere recordings. ‘Turning into Song’ features the music of Jake Heggie, Paul Moravec, Jeremy Gill, Eugene Drucker, Michael Stephen Brown, and Richard Wilson. Featured on the album are newcomer Susannah Woodruff (mezzo-soprano); David Shifrin (clarinet); Yevgeny Yontov (piano); Eugene Drucker (violin and composer); David Finckel (cello); Mischa Bouvier (baritone) and Seunghee Lee (clarinet).” —OperaWire

Le Memorie Dolorose

Music by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer
Olde Focus Recordings FCR914
Released: 2019
TENET Vocal Artists & ACRONYM

“The recording is luminous. The singers of TENET Vocal Artists, both solo and tutti, exude a sense of refined pathos and rhetorical gesture apropos for the work’s original intimate courtly setting. The instrumentalists of ACRONYM more than match them in emotiveness; the continuo is warm, resonant, and supportive, the full ensemble beautifully unified.” —Early Music America

“The singing is glorious and the instrumental playing (including violinipiccoli and lirone!) outstanding. The whole has a very relaxed sense of pace – nothing seems rushed or over-dramatised. If anything, in fact, at points I wanted a little more anguish and pain in the voices; but I stick by my overall impression of the performance – the fact that I listened to it back-to-back three times should give an idea.” —Early Music Review

Sumeida’s Song

Music by Mohammed Fairouz
Bridge Records (BRIDGE 9385)
Released: 2012
Mimesis Ensemble
Scott Dunn, conductor

“As Alwan, Mischa Bouvier is authoritative and grand, with a soothing, cavernous baritone that can soar to heights of lyric beauty, as on the line 'I ask God to calm your agitated soul.'“ —Opera News

Carousel

Music by Richard Rodgers
BSO Classics
Released: 2012 (out-of-print)
Boston Pops Orchestra
Keith Lockhart, conductor

“Carousel has probably never been performed by a bigger or a better orchestra, and the sheer sound of the magnificent overture, as led by Keith Lockhart, sweeps you away and deposits you in the world of Carousel body and soul. And the cast is uniformly and individually excellent.” —Richard Dyer

“O barbaro Amore”

Music by Agostino Steffani
Musica Omnia (MO0711)
Released: 2018
Jory Vinikour, musical direction

“Amidst the bursts of enthusiastic rediscovery that have introduced Steffani and his work to modern audiences, his music has been revitalized by no artists more gifted than Deborah Fox, Jennifer Morsches, and Jory Vinikour. Directing these performances from the harpsichord, Vinikour paces each piece with masterful command of its musical and poetic nuances, both emphasizing the unique qualities of each duet and persuasively creating context within the cumulative narrative of the ten duets in succession…”

“…the circumstances of the composition and first performances of these duets are largely unknown. Unanswered questions about their inception give the duets an alluring aura of mystery, but the performances on this disc establish beyond any uncertainty that soprano Andréanne Brisson Paquin, mezzo-soprano Céline Ricci, countertenor José Lemos, tenor Steven Soph, and baritone Mischa Bouvier are a quintet to whose talents any composer past, present, or future would delight in tailoring new music…”

“…Brisson Paquin and Bouvier take the first steps on this journey with a traversal of ‘È spento l’ardore’ that establishes a charged atmosphere in which the relationships between text and music—and the alternating collaborations and confrontations between voices—conjure bitingly realistic tableaux of lovers’ rows and reconciliations. The brightly-polished patina of the soprano’s timbre soars above the darker hues of the baritone’s voice, but their sounds meld with surprisingly mellifluous homogeny.” —Voix des Arts

“A son très-humble service”

Music by Agostino Steffani
Musica Omnia (MO0802)
Release: 2019
Jory Vinikour, musical direction

“Jory Vinikour leads an acclaimed entourage of musicians, including vocalists Andréanne Brisson Paquin, Sherezade Panthaki, Reginald Mobley, Scott Brunscheen and Mischa Bouvier. Their performances are expressive and nuanced and succeed in seamlessly blending together the high drama of the opera house with the intimacy of the drawing room—an amalgam that could not be more apt for this wonderful, captivating repertory.” —Early Music

“In two duets Mobley is joined by bass Mischa Bouvier, whose precise agility evokes wafting breezes in the virtuoso solo opening of Aure, voi che volate (one of several duets receiving their first recording).” —Gramophone

“The lovely works are the beneficiaries here of first-class performances. All of the vocalists sing with tonal beauty, style, and expressivity, and are ably accompanied by the trio of continuo musicians. The recorded sound—intimate, detailed, and warm—is ideal for this repertoire. Colin Timms’s liner notes offer a wealth of fascinating detail, information, and analysis, including several excerpts from correspondence between Steffani and Sophie Charlotte. A delightful release, very much recommended.” —Fanfare

“One of the wonders of this set is to revel in those combinations of five voices that are all equally beautiful. When Sherezade Panthaki and Reginald Mobley combine in the sweet dissonances of Che volete, o crude pene? (What do you want, cruel pains?), the effect is one of exquisite pain, while the bass Mischa Bouvier gets a chance to shine in Aure, voi che volate (Breeze, you that waft), a piece that includes more solo opportunities (for both soloists) than most. Again, another timbral shading appears, now with countertenor and bass combined. It is notable that as Mobley moves towards the upper regions of his voice, there is no sense of strain or any thinning of tone. Bouvier shines again, once more paired with Mobley, in Sia maledetto Amor (Cursed by Cupid), arguably the most purely exciting item of the set.” —Fanfare

“These duets are some of the most intimate pieces of the early 18th century, and do much credit to Steffani as one of the best composers of the age. This one will certainly make my Want List for the year. Recommended most highly.” —Fanfare