MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: David Daniels - Serenade

* * * * * 5 Stars - BBC Music Magazine (June 2000)
* * * * * five stars - Classic CD (July 2000)

"Daniel's timbre is more vibrant and feminine than, say, that of Andreas Scholl; and more than any countertenor around today he commands the range of colour and dynamics and the sense of drama to mak questions of voice type irrelevant. Daniels is compelling."

"The world's two most marketable countertenors, Andreas Scholl and David Daniels, have both made waves with their recordings this year. But whereas Scholl has continued to explore the Baroque repertoire, Daniels has boldly ventured into territory scarcely charted by his ilk. In principle the countertenor voice, with its aura of sexual ambivalence or asexuality, according to taste, is all wrong for Romantic song. But if anyone can overturn preconceptions it is the young American, with his vibrant, 'feminine' timbre and his uncommon dramatic flair. Schubert's 'Nacht und Träume', phrased in long, seamless spans, is mesmeric in its purity and concentration; and Daniels is equally involving in a clutch of exquisite neglected Gounod settings and in, say, Vaughan Williams's rapt 'Hands, Eyes and Heart'." (reviewed June 2000)
Richard Wigmore BBC Music Magazine

David Daniels presents his third recital album on Virgin Classics.
'Serenade' is a popular collection of songs ranging from Italian bel canto, English folksong, and German Lied to 20th century art songs. For Serenade he joins his regular recital partner Martin Katz in a programme of German, Italian, French and English songs from Purcell to Poulenc that demonstrate not only the ravishing beauty of his voice but it's astonishing versatility.

NOTE: Cover may differ from that shown