Poems of Love and War

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JACK BODY
Poems of Love and War
Robert Easting (narrator) David Greco (bar) Somara Ouk, Budi Putra (vocals) Martin Riseley (violin) / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Young

[ Naxos / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 28 March 2014

Recorded at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, New Zealand, 28-30 April 2011

Jack Body is one of New Zealand's leading composers. His fascination with Asian traditional music has had a profound impact on music which often tells 'dark stories of repression and unjust political imprisonment' (New Zealand Listener).

Body's opera Alley tells the extraordinary life of Rewi Alley, whose powerful experiences in China are reflected in these specially orchestrated arias. Palaran: Poems of Love and War draws on the subtleties of Javanese gamelan and traditional vocal styles, while Poems of Solitary Delight gives a musical context to Japanese poet Tachibana Akemi's light-hearted meditations on solitary pleasures. In contrast My Name is Mok Bhon references Cambodian traditional music to express the trauma and anguish of the Khmer Rouge years.

NZ MUSIC AWARDS 2014 - CLASSICAL WINNER
NZ LISTENER BEST CLASSICAL Recordings 2014

"Three Arias from Alley (China), My Name is Mok Bhon (Cambodia), Poems of Love and War (Java) and Poems of Solitary Delights (Japan) are works of immense skill and real communication that in these fabulous performances will give him a worldwide audience. Even the splendid Meditations on Michelangelo for violin and strings - not Asian in influence - really catches the ear. Don't pass on this." (John Button Dominion Post)

Tracks:

Alley
David Greco (baritone)

My Name is Mok Bhon
Somara Ouk (vocals)

Palaran: Songs of Love and War
Budi Putra (vocals)

Meditations on Michelangelo
Martin Riseley (violin)

Poems of Solitary Delights
Robert Easting (narrator), Amitai Pati (tenor)