Shirley Verrett, Leonard de Paur, Charles Wadsworth, Polyphonic Ensemble of Rome, Virtuosi di Roma / Renato Fasano. Newton Classics 4cds

£18.05 Ex VAT: £15.04

Release Date April 29, 2013

Singin’ in the Storm
Carnegie Hall Recital 1957
Spanish Songs
Sacred Works by Vivaldi

Shirley Verrett, mezzo-soprano
Leonard de Paur, conductor
Charles Wadsworth, piano
Polyphonic Ensemble of Rome
Virtuosi di Roma / Renato Fasano

One of the leading vocal artists of her generation, Shirley Verrett (1931–2010) began singing as a child in church and went on to study at the Juilliard School in Manhattan before winning the Metropolitan Council National Auditions. She made her début in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia in 1957, and the following year appeared in Kurt Weill’s Lost in the Stars at New York City Opera in 1958. European success soon followed, notably as Carmen, and Verrett steadily built up a career as one of the world’s leading mezzo-sopranos before in the late 1970s moving up to the soprano range.

Verrett was not just an opera singer but also a considerable artist in concert and recital whose deep musicianship and intelligence allowed her to explore a large repertory with commanding insight. Almost all the material on these discs, recorded relatively early on in Verrett’s long career, testifies to her artistry outside the opera house.

Newton Classics 4cds 8802167