Maureen Batt - Lady of the Lake (2017) [Official Digital Download 24/88]

Canadian soprano Maureen Batt will be releasing her debut album „Lady of the Lake“ in collaboration with independent label Leaf Music​. Batt has joined forces with pianist Simon Docking, bass-baritone Jon Paul Décosse as well as the Halifax Camerata Singers to record two exciting song cycles based on the epic poem ‘Lady of the Lake’ by Sir Walter Scott.

Noted by Opera Canada as a “young, lovely and captivating soprano,” Batt is passionate about sharing Canadian contemporary music with the world. She is co-artistic director of Essential Opera, now in its seventh season, and has performed throughout the world in opera roles and as a recitalist.

The recording features a rare recording of Franz Schubert’s Op. 52 song cycle Sieben Gesänge aus Walter Scotts “Fräulein am See” (Seven songs from Walter Scott’s “Lady of the Lake”) combined with a newly composed cycle by Nova Scotia composer Fiona Ryan. While the Schubert cycle includes the famous melody ‘Ave Maria,’ the work is rarely heard in its full context among six lesser-known Schubert songs.

Ryan’s work includes a ‘Prayer’ inspired partly by Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as a strong influence of folk traditions. She writes: “I draw upon Scottish (and Nova Scotian) folk music traditions in my songs. Some movements are very obviously influenced by Scottish folksongs, such as ‘Soldier’s Farewell’ (which could be as much at home at a folk music session in a pub as in a concert hall) and others draw inspiration from rhythmic patterns, ornamentation, and droning sounds found in Scottish bagpipe music.”

TRACKLIST

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

1 Ellens Gesang I, Op 52 No. 1, D. 837 07:28
2 Ellens Gesang II, Op 52 No. 2, D. 838 03:16
3 Bootgesang, Op 52 No. 3, D. 835 01:38
4 Coronach, Op 52 No. 4, D. 836 "Todtengesang der Frauen und Mädchen" 05:41
5 Normans Gesang, Op 52 No. 5, D. 846 03:00
6 Ellens Gesang III, Op 52 No. 6, D. 839 "Ave Maria — Hymne an die Jungfrau" 05:49
7 Lied des gefangenen Jägers, Op 52 No. 7, D. 843 02:54

Fiona Ryan

8 Lady of the Lake: No. 1, Soldier Rest - Hunter Rest 04:55
9 Lady of the Lake: No. 2, Prayer 05:12
10 Lady of the Lake: No. 3, Battle Cries and Prophecies "Roderick" 01:47
11 Lady of the Lake: No. 4, Battle Vignette "A Warrior's Farewell" 04:08
12 Lady of the Lake: No. 5, Battle Cries and Prophecies "Blanche" 02:04
13 Lady of the Lake: No. 6, Song of a Warrior Woman 04:25
14 Lady of the Lake: No. 7, Battle Cries and Prophecies "Brian" 01:54
15 Lady of the Lake: No. 8, The Prisoner's Lament 04:28
16 Lady of the Lake: No. 9, Reconciliation - Mémoire 04:21

PERSONNEL
Maureen Batt, soprano
Simon Docking, piano
Jon Paul Décosse, bass-baritone
Halifax Camerata Singers