We’re nice admirers of the younger composer Rodrigo Ruiz. We final interviewed him for the Classical Archives weblog again in March, 2021 on the event of his new launch “Behold the Stars.”
Rodrigo has been busy since then. One in every of his tasks has been composing a brand new track cycle, “Venus & Adonis” for soprano and piano. Signum Classics has simply launched a CD of this new cycle, carried out by soprano Grace Davidson and pianist George Herbert. We’re excited to report that this new recording can be out there on Classical Archives within the subsequent few weeks.
The Signum recording brings us a stunning efficiency of a really stunning track cycle. You possibly can hear only a contact of Schubert in it, with trendy harmonies and melodies which might be all the time beguiling. We’ve been listening to it for greater than per week now and in right this moment’s weblog, we want to invite you to hearken to it too.
About Venus & Adonis
Rodrigo explains, “Venus & Adonis is a track cycle for voice and piano impressed by Shakespeare’s masterful retelling of the gripping fable of a younger man who spurns the goddess of affection and flees her embrace to hunt a boar who kills him. It’s a story from historic Greece, retold by an Englishman greater than 400 years in the past. Is it nonetheless related to us within the twenty-first century, far-off from gods, woods and boars? Probably not, you would possibly say. Delusion, nonetheless, isn’t literal. Once we understand Venus because the precept of affection, the woods as our thoughts, the boar because the archetype of lust, and Adonis as ourselves —and never as literal gods, woods, raging beasts or half-divine mortals— we start to grasp its immediacy, its significance. I’d love so that you can uncover the unimaginable world of residing fable by the music on this new and thrilling album.”
Launched to have a good time William Shakespeare’s 460th anniversary, this album is a tribute to the poet’s unmatched inspiration. These seventeen songs, carried out by British duo Grace Davidson (soprano) and George Herbert (piano), exemplify the big number of expression that Ruiz is ready to conjure in his writing, making of Venus & Adonis a very thrilling and refreshing addition to the artwork track custom.
Concerning the Artists
Composer Rodrigo Ruiz has been hailed as ‘an astonishing composing expertise’ (Apple Music). His music, streamed in 150+ international locations within the 5 inhabited continents of the globe, fills a void left by most new music. This ‘unabashedly tonal’ (BBC Music Journal) and ‘impeccably crafted [music]’ (Apple Music), immediately appeals to musicians and audiences alike, however doesn’t put on after repeated listening. Maybe this explains why it’s in excessive demand amongst high artists and ensembles around the globe. Rodrigo’s award-winning compositions are revealed by Common Version, with current commissions coming from soprano Grace Davidson, violinist Kerenza Peacock, violist Ismel Campos, and Mexico’s Nationwide System of Musical Endowment (SNFM).
Soprano Grace Davidson, whose voice has been referred to as “mild, vivid, agile and pure,” excels in performances of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. Her discography consists of over a decade of recordings, a lot of which function her as a soloist: Handel’s Jephtha, Acis and Galatea, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, the Lutheran Lots of J. S. Bach, and works by Purcell, Vivaldi and different Baroque composers. You possibly can hear her in various performances on Classical Archives, together with a stunning efficiency as soprano soloist within the Fauré Requiem on the LSO Reside label.
Pianist George Herbert was born in Manchester in 2001, and his ardour for music was kindled when he turned a chorister at Manchester Cathedral. He’s now the Assistant Organist at New Faculty, Oxford, the place he accompanies and helps to coach New Faculty Choir in its every day companies, in addition to its recordings and excursions. George spent 4 years at St John’s Faculty, Cambridge, first as an organ scholar finding out Music and German, and later as Assistant Organist. He spent 5 months as Deputy Organist at Westminster Abbey alongside common work as a coach and choir-leader for Pimlico Musical Basis, Tiffin College and as Assistant Director of Music at His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, Hampton Courtroom Palace. George lately performed within the ENO orchestra for performances of Britten’s Peter Grimes and Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Story.
