CD Reviews

CD Review: Were I With Thee, Michelle Areyzaga, soprano;
Dana Brown, piano.
4Tay Records Catalog No. CD4066
Review by John Campbell: "One of the finest art song CDs ever."

Were I With Thee is a ground-breaking art song CD of twenty-first century sensibility. Published by 4Tay Inc., the disc features the sensuous voice of soprano Michelle Areyzaga with sensitive accompaniment by pianist Dana Brown. Texts of the poetry set by various composers can be found at https://wereiwiththee.com/.

All texts are by women. Of the composers, two are women, including three settings by soprano Patrice Michaels from her amazing composition The Long View: A Portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Nine Songs that includes Anita's Story, text by Anita Escudero, and Epilogue—The Long View, Questions Answered, text by RBG herself. Fifteen of the twenty-six songs have texts by Emily Dickinson, including three settings of Wild Nights, each reflecting a composer's personal understanding.

The mystery of how a reclusive spinster came to write such a passionate poem as Wild Nights needs further exploration. What did she know of consummating sexual love when she wrote this poem that beautifully describes the experience of such fulfillment? Recent scholarship has given us a new view of Dickinson's secluded life and her 114 poems published four years after her death. Her sister Lavinia edited them with Thomas Wentworth Higginson who was known in his day for his savage attacks on Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde and who had advised Emily not to publish her “remarkable though odd” poems while she was alive.

Dickinson wrote 1,776 poems. It would not be until 1955 that readers would be able to see the texts as she wrote them. In our time, cultural changes allow us to examine the question in a more open way. Was she a quiet lesbian? Earlier editions edited out references and dedications to her brother's wife, Susan Gilbert Dickinson, who lived next door. Her poetic metaphors really might indicate flesh and blood passion shared with Susan. The 2018 film Wild Nights with Emily tallies with our present knowledge of expressions of energy by creative people, inside and outside the bedroom.

Her letters were published in 1958. Here is an example so you can decide for yourself if this is only metaphor: “Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me as you used to?...I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you—that the expectation once more to see your face again, makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast—.” Quoted from Emily's 1852 letter to Susan Gilbert Dickinson (Intimate Matters by D' Emilio and Friedman, Harper and Rowe, 1988).

So what has changed in my view of Emily Dickinson since I last encountered her poems set to music? The romantic myth of unfulfilled love has given way to seeing her poetry as fulfilled love. Her powerful clarity,as described in metaphor, leaves little doubt of the intensity she experienced in her life. Pragmatic, fulfilled love is exquisitely described by a flesh and blood fellow traveler. Be in touch if you want my footnotes or watch the film; your feedback is welcome.

The first setting of Wild Nights (repeated twice so we will not miss her point) is by Richard Pearson Thomas (b.1957) who highlights how confident the lovers are in sharing their love, with no melodrama about it. The second composer is Lee Hoiby (1926 – 2011) who uses a rippling piano and more dramatic singing, working toward capturing the bigness of the idea of “mooring tonight in thee.” The third setting, re-titled Passion by the composer Gwyneth Walker (b. 1947) is the most dramatic of all: “Winds don't matter to a heart in port.” The song's climax expands, only to end in a tender caress in the piano. Ms. Walker's seven-song cycle, titled Emily! (from New England) closes the CD. Her setting never obscures the text and here, as in all of the album, Ms. Areyzaga's singing is a clear communication of the poet and composer. These performers bring Emily's words to life; she is indeed a flesh and blood, passionate woman.

The CD begins with two songs that highlight women's love for their male companions. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's How Do I Love Thee, set by Eduardo Lippé (1884-1956), gives us our first experience of Ms. Areyzaga's beautiful, creamy voic, here singing of deep love. It is followed by Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672) To My Dear and Loving Husband, set by Wayland Rogers (1941-2020). It offers words of the delight of everlasting love.

After the three Dickinson songs by Thomas we heard three more songs by Rogers: Tres Poemas de Gabriela Mistral sung in Spanish. My favorite, El Ángel Guradián, is sung in an enfolding, warm voice, has a passionate conclusion and a supportive, tuneful piano. The first and last songs speak of love, the first of a father's and the last, a mother's for the child sleeping in her arms. Another Mistral text, this one set by Walker, has a perky tune that connects love with ethereal light, and ends with a long-held note.

Hoiby's other Dickinson settings include a grand, formal setting of The Shining Place and the intriguing The Letter that shows Dickinson's agnostic and practical understanding of life, followed by There Came a Wind Like a Bugle that describes a sudden storm and how we survive.

Hoiby offers the singer a tour-de-force of expression in The Waltz (text Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967), a bit of fun at the male dance partner's expense, but don't be surprised if he drops her in the final dip! John Duke (1899 – 1984) set Edna St. Vincent Millay's nostalgic poem of remembrance of past lovers, What Lips My Lips Have Kissed.

The journey through this remarkable collection of American songs also included one by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). A Julia de Burgos is bluesy, over-the-top storytelling in Spanish with text by Burgos that contrasts a proper, lordly lady with a natural woman. Here Ms. Areyzaga's singing is most passionate, accompanied by Mr. Brown who has been a superb collaborator in this 74 minute musical exploration.