Centaur's Songs of Charles Ives features tenor Andrew Childs in 27 songs of the cranky Yankee reckoned as America's greatest composer of art songs. Childs has taught at Yale, which served as Ives' own alma mater, and is on the voice faculty of Missouri State University. While this by itself seems to indicate a pedigree of academic orientation over one of performance, Childs is a frequent flyer in opera productions and has appeared as a featured soloist with a number of orchestras. This is a very well-planned recital, with ...
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Centaur's Songs of Charles Ives features tenor Andrew Childs in 27 songs of the cranky Yankee reckoned as America's greatest composer of art songs. Childs has taught at Yale, which served as Ives' own alma mater, and is on the voice faculty of Missouri State University. While this by itself seems to indicate a pedigree of academic orientation over one of performance, Childs is a frequent flyer in opera productions and has appeared as a featured soloist with a number of orchestras. This is a very well-planned recital, with the 27 songs organized into three groups of nine reflecting some of Ives' thematic concepts: childhood, parenthood, and philosophical/political convictions. Childs' singing is very clear and direct and one can understand every word of the text; no texts are included, nor are any needed if you speak English. Additionally, Childs' sense of pitch is spot on. Childs' way of handling Ives' more vaguely defined directions as to the singer's role in more non-conventional songs is creative,...
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