Paysages (2011)

Paysages, soprano Susanna Phillips' solo debut album, marks what seems destined to be an impressive career. Her voice has plenty of power and it's sweet and warmly rounded, with a seamless legato. The absolute security of her technique is apparent in this repertoire, and she seems undaunted even by the workout Messiaen gives her. She invests each phrase with a depth of understanding and personality that can't help but communicate with listeners. It's no wonder that she has been showered with awards, accolades, and ... Read More

Paysages, soprano Susanna Phillips' solo debut album, marks what seems destined to be an impressive career. Her voice has plenty of power and it's sweet and warmly rounded, with a seamless legato. The absolute security of her technique is apparent in this repertoire, and she seems undaunted even by the workout Messiaen gives her. She invests each phrase with a depth of understanding and personality that can't help but communicate with listeners. It's no wonder that she has been showered with awards, accolades, and prestigious performance opportunities in her brief career leading up to this recording.Happily, more and more sopranos are recording and performing Messiaen's remarkable 1936 song cycle, Poèmes pour Mi, long considered so difficult that it was a rarity in concert or on disc. Other sopranos have beautifully negotiated its interpretive eccentricities and extreme vocal demands, which veer from hammered declamation to extravagantly soaring melismas and compass an outrageous range, but Phillips... Read Less