Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Freiburger Barockorchester, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan - Lorraine Hunt Lieberson: A Tribute (2011)

Tracklist

CD1
01. Ariodante, HWV 33: Act I, Arioso, Quì d'amor (Ariodante)
02. Ariodante, HWV 33: Act I, Aria, Con l'ali di costanza (Ariodante)
03. Ariodante, HWV 33: Act II, Recit, E vivo ancora? (Ariodante)
04. Ariodante, HWV 33: Act II, Aria, Scherza infida (Ariodante)
05. Ariodante, HWV 33: Act III, Aria, "Dopo notte, atra e funesta" (Ariodante)
06. Theodora, HWV 68: Act I, Air, "Angels, ever bright and fair" (Theodora)
07. Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Recit, "O Thou bright Sun" (Theodora)
08. Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Air, "With Darkness" (Theodora)
09. Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Air, "Oh! that I on wings could rise" (Theodora)
10. Theodora, HWV 68: Act II, Duet, "To Thee, Thou glorious Son" (Theodora, Didymus)
11. Messiah, HWV 56: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion"
12. Messiah, HWV 56: "But who may abide the day of His coming"
13. Messiah, HWV 56: "He was despised and rejected of men"
14. Messiah, HWV 56: "I know that my Redeemer liveth"
15. Dido and Aeneas Z. 626: Act III, Thy hand, Belinda / When I am laid in earth (Dido)

CD2
01. Clori, Tirsi e Fileno, HWV 96: Part I, Aria; Va col canto lusingando (Clori)
02. Clori, Tirsi e Fileno, HWV 96: Part II, Aria; Barbaro! tu non credi (Clori)
03. Susanna, HWV 66: Act I, "On Joacim may every joy attend" (Susanna)
04. Susanna, HWV 66: Act I, "Bending to the throne of glory" (Susanna)
05. Susanna, HWV 66: Act II, "Lead me to some cool retreat" (Susanna)
06. Susanna, HWV 66: Act II, "Crystal streams in murmurs flowing" (Susanna)
07. Susanna, HWV 66: Act II, "If guiltless blood be your intent" (Susanna)
08. Susanna, HWV 66: Act III, "Guilt trembling spoke my doom" (Susanna)
09. Radamisto, HWV 12: Act III, Recit, "Oh Dio! (Zenobia)
10. Radamisto, HWV 12: Act III, Aria, "Qual nave smarrita" (Zenobia)
11. Ottone, HWV 15: Act II, Recit, "Ben a ragion"
12. Ottone, HWV 15: Act II, Aria, "Vieni, o figlio"
13. Giulio Cesare, HWV17: Act I, Recit, "Vani sono i lamenti"
14. Giulio Cesare, HWV17: Act I, Aria, "Svegliatevi nel core"
15. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32: Act II, Aria "Qual leon"
16. The Notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach (1725): Aria "Bist du bei mir", BWV 508

As a tribute to the artistry of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, this retrospective gathers together many of the finest recordings of arias and duets made during her acclaimed association with harmonia mundi. The booklet notes include tributes from her husband, Peter Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan and her obituary from Le Monde.

Lorraine Hunt - who became Lorraine Hunt Lieberson after her marriage to the American composer Peter Lieberson in 1999 - was born on March 1st 1954, in San Francisco. Her father was a music teacher and a conductor, her mother a contralto and a voice teacher. She played viola professionally until she was 26, when she found that her voice could be a better and richer way to express her musicality and secure her professional future. Lorraine would have a professional singing career of only 2 decades (1984-2006), interrupted twice by illness. She died from cancer on July 3, 2006, aged 52.

For harmonia mundi, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson recorded operas, oratorios and Handel arias, conducted notably by Nicholas McGegan. For Erato, she added the rôles of Rameau’s Phèdre and Charpentier’s Medea, under William Christie. Since her death, other taped live performances have been added to her discography, including two Wigmore Hall Live recitals and Peter Lieberson’s Rilke and Neruda Songs.

In 2009 harmonia mundi issued a recital given at the Ravinia Festival in August 2004 with pianist Peter Serkin. More recently, new label Philharmonia Baroque has issued Lorraine’s live performances of Les Nuits d’Eté and Handel Arias.

A formidable musician, a natural-born actress, she was at her best in roles of sacrificed victims, which didn’t prevent her from displaying a dark sense of humour. After having sung during the same evening Stravinsky’s Jocasta and Britten’s Phaedra, she once said: ‘Two suicides in one night! That’s right up my alley’.

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