BEARDSLEE, BETHANY - TRIBUTE TO SOPRANO (CD)

Composer: Philip Norman Batstone, George Perle, Malcolm Peyton, Godfrey Winham / Performer: Victoria [soprano] Bond, Bethany Beardslee, Morey Ritt, Linda Quan, Malcolm Peyton / Conductor: John Dare / Orchestra/Ensemble: U. C. L. A. Chamber Ensemble "For many of us the name Bethany Beardslee will forever be associated with the vocal music of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern and the achievement of an artistic standard that few have been able to match since. What is surprising is that her initiation into this literature occurred not as a seasoned professional but was established when she and fellow Juilliard student Jacques Monod gave of the world premiere of probably the wildest and seemingly most chaotic of contemporary vocal music, Webern's Fünf Kanons Op. 16. What is even more astonishing, however, is that on listening once more to this performance, one immediately senses the consummate mastery of technique and style that leads the listener to the heart of this forbidding work. In my experience, Miss Beardslee is to date the only musician to have done so. One might then consider the date of that performance, May 8, 1951, the moment that Bethany Beardslee became a force in the performance of 20th century music. From that point on, Miss Beardslee's name has been indissolubly associated with the music of our time." (label info)