Tenth Muse Ensemble, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Kaisa Roose – From Sappho’s Lyre (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Tenth Muse Ensemble, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Kaisa Roose – From Sappho’s Lyre (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:16:03 minutes | 2,37 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Orchid Classics

The double-album project is the result of a multi-year collaboration between Greek Canadian composer Constantine Caravassilis (Toronto) and American classicist, author, and poet Jeffrey Duban (New York City).

The project’s focus is the poetry of and inspired by the ancient Greek poetess Sappho of Lesbos (7th and 6th centuries BC), in the words of famed British poet Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909), “simply nothing less—as she is certainly nothing more—than the greatest poet who ever was at all.”

From Sappho’s Lyre is a double-Album of music by contemporary composer Constantine Caravassilis, featuring poetry by Sappho, Sara Teasdale, and Jeffrey M. Duban, who also narrates. The first disc is devoted to From Sappho’s Lyre, a multimedia cantata for large chamber ensemble based on Sappho’s two major surviving poems: The Hymn to Aphrodite and He Appears to Me (Equal to the Gods). Conceived as a stage work to be accompanied by dance and action, the composition’s design lavishly fuses elements of ancient Greek theatre with Western ballet and opera. Caravassilis conducts Tenth Muse Ensemble, with narration by the poetry’s translator and interpreter, Jeffrey M. Duban. The second half of the release draws together several song cycles by Caravassilis, all inspired by or based on Sappho, starting with Five Duban Songs performed by mezzo-soprano Ariana Chris with the Tallina Kammerorkester conducted by Kaisa Rose. In My Life a Lyric City we hear settings of Sara Teasdale’s poetry, featuring soprano Jenni Klauder and pianist Maria Pikoula, while in Sappho de Mytilène, the first of his Sapphic inspirations, Caravassilis has orchestrated a translation into French of the poet Odysseus Elytis’s Greek.

Tracklist:
1-01. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 1, The Goddess Awakened (04:33)
1-02. Jeffrey Duban – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 2, Earthward Summoned (03:12)
1-03. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 3, Double Aria (05:38)
1-04. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 4, Fantasy (04:48)
1-05. Tenth Muse Ensemble – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 5, Pas de deux (02:53)
1-06. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 6, Incantation (02:55)
1-07. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 1 “Hymn to Aphrodite”: No. 7, Deathless Aphrodite (04:28)
1-08. Tenth Muse Ensemble – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 8, Invocation (02:54)
1-09. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 9, Rapture (01:53)
1-10. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 10, Seduction (02:07)
1-11. Jeffrey Duban – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 11, Conveyance (04:04)
1-12. Jeffrey Duban – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 12, Cosmic Canticle (05:28)
1-13. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 13, Aegean Recitative (03:17)
1-14. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 14, Zenith (02:19)
1-15. Tenth Muse Ensemble – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 15, Dream Within (01:53)
1-16. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 16, Apotheosis (04:38)
1-17. Carla Jablonski – From Sappho’s Lyre, Pt. 2 “Equal to the Gods (He Appears to Me)”: No. 17, Exodos (03:45)
1-18. Ariana Chris – 5 Duban Songs “Eros Sanctified” (Version for Voice & Orchestra): No. 1, The Gazing Gossamer (04:33)
1-19. Ariana Chris – 5 Duban Songs “Eros Sanctified” (Version for Voice & Orchestra): No. 2, Explore Me (04:03)
1-20. Ariana Chris – 5 Duban Songs “Eros Sanctified” (Version for Voice & Orchestra): No. 3, Doting Daphnis (03:43)
1-21. Ariana Chris – 5 Duban Songs “Eros Sanctified” (Version for Voice & Orchestra): No. 4, Lalage (04:20)
1-22. Ariana Chris – 5 Duban Songs “Eros Sanctified” (Version for Voice & Orchestra): No. 5, Communion (03:31)
1-23. Jeffrey Duban – My Life a Lyric Cry, Pts. 1-2 (Version for Voice, Narrator, Oboe, Cello & Piano): No. 1, The Twilight’s Inner Flame Grows Blue and Deep – No. 2, Twilight (08:00)
1-24. Jeffrey Duban – My Life a Lyric Cry, Pts. 3-4 (Version for Voice, Narrator, Oboe, Cello & Piano): No. 3, Am I That Sappho Who Would Run at Dusk – No. 4, Cried to Love (08:46)
1-25. Jeffrey Duban – My Life a Lyric Cry, Pts. 5-6 (Version for Voice, Narrator, Oboe, Cello & Piano): No. 5, Ah, Aphrodite, If I Sing No More – No. 6, I Have Pierced the Pain (05:38)
1-26. Jeffrey Duban – My Life a Lyric Cry, Pts. 7-8 (Version for Voice, Narrator, Oboe, Cello & Piano): No. 7, Ah, Never with a Throat That Aches with Song – No. 8, Beneath Thy Perfect Feet (05:51)
1-27. Jeffrey Duban – My Life a Lyric Cry, Pts. 9-10 (Version for Voice, Narrator, Oboe, Cello & Piano): No. 9, In Many Guises Didst Thou Come to Me – No. 10, My Life a Lyric Cry (09:33)
1-28. Ariana Chris – Sappho de Mytilène: No. 1, Mon chant (05:17)
1-29. Ariana Chris – Sappho de Mytilène: No. 2, Toujours Eros (03:15)
1-30. Ariana Chris – Sappho de Mytilène: No. 3, Vièrge (02:14)
1-31. Ariana Chris – Sappho de Mytilène: No. 4, Adonis (03:07)
1-32. Ariana Chris – Sappho de Mytilène: No. 5, Messager du printemps (03:09)

Personnel:
Tenth Muse Ensemble
Tallinna Kammerorkester
Constantine Caravassilis, conductor
Kaisa Roose, conductor
Jeffrey M. Duban, narrator

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