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Product Description
Review
Over the past two decades, pianist Brad Mehldau has been consistently inventive, notably with his own trio. His eclectic taste led him to perform compositions by Nick Drake and Radiohead alongside his own music. In contrast, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is renowned for her operatic roles and performances of lieder. She has recorded with Elvis Costello and made an album of Abba covers, but has shown no previous inclination to sing jazz.
This pairing is not an immediately obvious one, initially looking like a project dreamed up by record company executives. It actually arose out of the pair’s mutual respect which led to Mehldau writing the song cycle Love Songs for her to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2009. Following that, they decided to record together.
Love Songs is an album of two very different discs. The first one contains an extended version of that song cycle, for which Mehldau set seven love poems to music, including five by lyrical poet Sara Teasdale plus one each from Philip Larkin and E. E. Cummings.
Von Otter’s performances emphasise vocal purity over the content of the verses, giving them a chilly beauty. She injects most emotion into the Teasdale poems Because and Did You Never Know?, and they are the better for it. Mehldau mainly acts as accompanist, with only the occasional piano break hinting at the scope of his talent.
For the second disc, the pair suggested favourite songs to each other, unsurprisingly coming up with a varied list of show tunes, chansons and popular songs that balance European and American material. The songs’ common denominators are their strong melodies and emotions. Von Otter sings them all expressively, making this disc warmer and more engaging than the first. She is noticeably more emotive on the songs sung in French, such as Jacques Brel’s Chanson des Vieux Amants. Mehldau gets more space to shine than on his song cycle.
Meetings of jazz and classical musicians run the risk of pleasing no-one. Love Songs strikes a balance that should appeal to fans of either musician – and to neutrals too.
--John Eyles
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Financial Times, (Mike Hobart), November 20, 2010
(5 stars) The Swedish mezzo-soprano's rounded diction lifting powerfully over Mehldau's jazz-flavoured accompaniment enchants.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Love Songs is an interesting and varied collaboration between Brad Mehldau and Anne Sofie Von Otter, two artists you wouldn't automatically think had much in common. CD 1 contains a 7 song cycle written by Mehldau, and it all takes itself a bit too seriously to be honest. Von Otter does the best she can with the material and never sounds less than sublime, but Brad is all thundering chords and classical posturing, making it sound more like a Brahms lieder collection that anything else.
CD2 finds the pair working through 13 largely well-known songs from a range of masters of the craft, and it's a joy. A million miles from the laboured efforts of CD1, you can spot craftsmanship at work here, from the lyrics and melodies of these beautiful songs, through the accompaniment from Mehldau who proves more than up the task, and Von Otter's sumptious voice, which is absolutely stunning on some material here. Occasionally, a little bit of the ice-maiden in the voice just stops full engagement in the meaning of the songs, but overall it's wonderful stuff.
Two tracks alone make this worth the purchase price: Michel Legrand's What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life? and Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time". Mehldau and Von Otter bring their album to a close with this song, and it's poignant and lovely enough to bring the hairs up on the back of the neck, such is the intensity of emotional delivery.
Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much from this album, but CD2 alone lifts it to 5 star status. Simply beautiful music.
CD2 finds the pair working through 13 largely well-known songs from a range of masters of the craft, and it's a joy. A million miles from the laboured efforts of CD1, you can spot craftsmanship at work here, from the lyrics and melodies of these beautiful songs, through the accompaniment from Mehldau who proves more than up the task, and Von Otter's sumptious voice, which is absolutely stunning on some material here. Occasionally, a little bit of the ice-maiden in the voice just stops full engagement in the meaning of the songs, but overall it's wonderful stuff.
Two tracks alone make this worth the purchase price: Michel Legrand's What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life? and Leonard Bernstein's "Some Other Time". Mehldau and Von Otter bring their album to a close with this song, and it's poignant and lovely enough to bring the hairs up on the back of the neck, such is the intensity of emotional delivery.
Truthfully, I wasn't expecting much from this album, but CD2 alone lifts it to 5 star status. Simply beautiful music.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this CD primarily as a Brad Meldau and jazz fan. I also have many hundred classical CD's so am not immume to the attraction of that style either.
Anne Sophie Von Otter has a superbly controlled vocal range and a warm timbre but as is often the case when opera singers apply themselves to jazz or pop music there is very little emotion or soul on display in the way she sings here.
In trying to match styles here Brad Meldau (again technically superb) rather stilts his own improvisational style. He should have chosen a singer more used to this genre to make the most of this material.
I should give this double album a miss and spend your money on two CD's instead, one each of these seperate artists performing in their own fields where they are both superb. This CD is a waste of two great talents.
Reminder to self, do not buy jazz albums sung by professional opera singers again, never heard a good one yet.
John Cracknell
Anne Sophie Von Otter has a superbly controlled vocal range and a warm timbre but as is often the case when opera singers apply themselves to jazz or pop music there is very little emotion or soul on display in the way she sings here.
In trying to match styles here Brad Meldau (again technically superb) rather stilts his own improvisational style. He should have chosen a singer more used to this genre to make the most of this material.
I should give this double album a miss and spend your money on two CD's instead, one each of these seperate artists performing in their own fields where they are both superb. This CD is a waste of two great talents.
Reminder to self, do not buy jazz albums sung by professional opera singers again, never heard a good one yet.
John Cracknell
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Lovely...
15 Nov 2010
Format:Audio CD
...but why couldn't they put all the music on one CD? I believe they could have gotten all of that music on there!
Setting questionable presentations aside, I happen to like the CD very much. As a collaborative effort, I find "Love Songs" w/Von Otter much more convincing and less "mannered" than the Mehldau/Fleming effort, IMHO. With each listen, I find myself becoming a fan of Mr. Mehldau with his precociously emotional approach to the piano. (Check out, for example, his solo on McCartney's Blackbird!)
My two cents.
Setting questionable presentations aside, I happen to like the CD very much. As a collaborative effort, I find "Love Songs" w/Von Otter much more convincing and less "mannered" than the Mehldau/Fleming effort, IMHO. With each listen, I find myself becoming a fan of Mr. Mehldau with his precociously emotional approach to the piano. (Check out, for example, his solo on McCartney's Blackbird!)
My two cents.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
ELEGANTEMENTE HERMOSO
16 Dec 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Esta vez tanto la Von Otter como Brad Meldahu han conseguido la perfeccion. Dos Cd para dos tipos diferentes de acercamiento musical a la belleza. En el primero nos encontramos a una Von Otter denrto de su registro de mezzo soprano, que como siempre esta magnifica. Lo curioso es que canta temas compuestos por Meldahu que demuestra una especial sensibilidad que nos remite a un clacicismosin estridencia muy cercana a los lieder post romentico. Sobrio y perfecto convierte esta experiencia en un autentico placer.
El segundo CD Esta compuesto por versiones de cancion francesa e incursiones a standars americano e incluso una version de los Beatles. Aqui Anne Sophie Von Otter esta simplemente genial. Su voz natural, la belleza de su fraseo, la intimidad del acompañamiento convierte este proyecto en una obra maestra. Si buscan un disco para reflexionar, para olvidarse de las vulgaridades mundanas, no lo duden, es este.Sera muy dificil encontrar ese tandem entre lo clasico, lo contemporaneo y la musica popular mas perfecto y elegante. Un triunfo sin paliativos y lo que es mas dificil desde la humildad mas interiorizada. Perfecto
El segundo CD Esta compuesto por versiones de cancion francesa e incursiones a standars americano e incluso una version de los Beatles. Aqui Anne Sophie Von Otter esta simplemente genial. Su voz natural, la belleza de su fraseo, la intimidad del acompañamiento convierte este proyecto en una obra maestra. Si buscan un disco para reflexionar, para olvidarse de las vulgaridades mundanas, no lo duden, es este.Sera muy dificil encontrar ese tandem entre lo clasico, lo contemporaneo y la musica popular mas perfecto y elegante. Un triunfo sin paliativos y lo que es mas dificil desde la humildad mas interiorizada. Perfecto
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
nice album not your usual standard love songs...
10 Nov 2010
Amazon Verified Purchase
I am glad that this album come out....it has nice love songs without it being the same old standards....like the fact that the songs are in English, French and German..the only song that I didn't feel worked was "Child, Child" its just a hot mess....not pleasent on the ear at all....One of my favorites is Marcie and Bagdad, calling you. Thank you for coming out with this work.
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