REVIEWS OF OTHER VOCAL WORKS
London Financial Times (January 15, 2002), Richard Fairman
[Heggie's] short cycle, The Moon is a Mirror, to five poems by Vachel Lindsay was receiving its first UK performance at the Barbican. The poems are chosen well for setting to music, each a simple, distinct picture which can be turned, as Heggie remarks, into "as small piece of theater." Terfel and Martineau brought the songs vividly to life.
The Guardian (January 15, 2002), Tim Ashley
The cycle ("The Moon is a Mirror"), a series of monologues addressed to the moon, exploits the principle characteristics of Terfel's singing: vocal beauty, spontaneity, his ability to express wide-eyed naivety and gentle humour without sentimentality. The fourth song, "What the forester said," is outstanding. A brief sad nocturne, it consists of a tranquil monody underpinned by a wistful slow waltz. Terfel and his pianist Malcolm Martineau held the audience spellbound with it.
Dallas Morning News (February 26, 2002), Olin Chism
COMPOSER HEGGIE ALIVE AND THRIVING. Voices of Change recital honors the creator of "Dead Man Walking." The most immediately appealing of Heggie's works was a vocal cycle called "Songs to the Moon." These are witty, charming verses closely matched in tone by Heggie's music. The melodies are attractive and seem much closer to Broadway than to European art songs. By turns jazzy, folksy and bluesy, they are backed by clever and by no means predictable piano accompaniments. More sophisticated was the vocal cycle "The Starry Night." Much more serious in tone, they are impressive dramatic statements.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram (February 26, 2002), Wayne Lee Gay
Anyone who fears that the art song for voice and piano is dead, should listen to Heggie's work for evidence that that the form is very much alive. Heggie's "The Starry Night" (2001) presents a neatly devised anthology of texts by Anne Sexton, Emily Dickinson and Vincent Van Gogh, setting each emotionally packed phrase with straightforward, accessible effects. The sources may be diverse, but Heggie pulls his broad interests and inspirations into a convincingly unified whole.
Los Angeles Times (October 4, 1999), Daniel Cariaga
Heggie's recent "Anna Madrigal Remembers" is an engaging and touching 17-minute vocal monologue for [Frederica] Von Stade, handsomely supported by men's voices. The word-setting is masterly and flows naturally — Heggie handles the vernacular with a showman's touch and a poet's incisiveness. The performance proved lively, word-clear and richly intoned.
The Chicago Tribune (August 22, 1998), John von Rhein
"Songs to the Moon" is the third and latest in a series of song collaborations between the San Francisco composer and Von Stade. Musically the idiom slips in and out of classical, blues and jazz styles; song, speech, scat-singing and rhythmic clapping make surprisingly happy bedfellows... Heggie has captured Von Stade's personality as artist, entertainer and mother. The performances of the singer and pianist were just like the songs -- clever, charming, amusing, eager to please. The composer was present to share the audience's enthusiastic response. [recital at Ravinia]
San Francisco Examiner (December 14, 1996), Timothy Pfaff
With its world premiere of San Francisco composer Jake Heggie's "On the Road to Christmas ...", written for the [New Century Chamber] orchestra and mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, the ensemble gave the Bay Area a welcome musical gift. Heggie, who has composed a wonderful body of songs for some of the day's most esteemed singers has written that his goal was to transcend yet another arrangement of Christmas tunes. He clearly did ... his telling settings of texts by A.E. Houseman, his beloved Emily Dickinson, von Stade (in what he called "her debut as a librettist") and Heggie lend depth to this highly original piece. What makes the piece compelling is the way Heggie's orchestral writing runs counter to the familiar tunes and the composer's deft vocal line. The harmonies are dense and close -- yet fluid and emotionally moving as well. There is more in this music than could be absorbed in a single sitting. A savvy record company could build an eminently satisfying holiday CD around it. For that matter, New Century could have performed it twice in this concert opening its fifth season. It was easily the long evening's high point.
San Francisco Chronicle (December 16, 1996), Joshua Kosman
...any future biographer of the great mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade will have plenty to learn from Jake Heggie's song cycle "On the Road to Christmas", which had its world premiere in Herbst Theatre Friday night. Heggie's 20-minute piece, written for von Stade and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, does more than simply conjure up a sweet, snowy Christmas landscape. It also captures some of the essence of von Stade's distinctive flair as a singer ... Especially in the first song, 'The Car Ride to Christmas,' Heggie's bright, vivacious writing, reminiscent of Leonard Bernstein's, brings out the exhilaration of the moment while allowing just a note of present-day nostalgia to creep in. Von Stade's performance fairly glowed with the zest of it ... a feat of combinatorial magic that brought Bach to mind ... (April 29, 1997), Joshua Kosman
... the program's highlight was the world premiere of "Natural
Selection," the latest song cycle by San Francisco composer Jake Heggie.
Heggie's music is in vogue among a veritable pantheon of American singers, from
Frederica von Stade on down, and it's easy to understand why. The melodies are
flattering to the voice, the text-setting clear and idiomatic ... "Animal
Passion" is a masterpiece of dramatic pacing, uncoiling from a deceptively
languid introduction into a powerful blast, with fierce piano writing -- a kind
of "Kitten on the Keys" for a jungle cat -- and an air of erotic vocal
bravado that [Nicolle] Foland delivered in spades.
[Soprano Peggy Kriha Dye's] qualities came out in force during Heggie's beautiful four-song cycle [Songs and Sonnets to Ophelia], the finest music he's written as the company's composer in residence. As ever, his style is lyrical and sweetly melodic ... The new cycle is a muscular, streamlined affair. The first song, to an original text, shows the effect of Heggie's folk-song arrangements, with simple words and a magnificent, accessible tune that lingers for days in the memory. Heggie's cycle easily overshadowed the rest of the contemporary offerings [works by Previn and Argento]. (May 11, 1999 -- Joshua Kosman)
The last item on the program was "So Many Notes!," a hugely entertaining 10-minute score commissioned [by San Francisco Opera] from San Francisco composer Jake Heggie for an ensemble of 11 current and former Adler Fellows. With lyrics that speak touchingly of young singers' adulation of operatic stars ("Domingo just asked me the time!") and of their desire to join those lofty ranks, the piece captured the quality of the moment from its young performers' perspective. (September 6, 1997 -- Joshua Kosman)
The one recent creation -- a sumptuous, emotionally-charged setting of Millay's sonnet "What lips my lips have kissed" -- was worlds apart. Built around one distinctive and beautiful melody, it recast the rhythms of Millay's poetry with a gentle touch until word and tone were fused. The much higher calorie count of Heggie's more recent harmonic style was a small price to pay for such mastery. [Zheng] Cao sang the cycle with opulent tone and keen attention to the words, and [cellist] Emil Miland provided magnificent counterpoint. (April 28, 1998 -- Joshua Kosman)
This was no ordinary concert. The sense of occasion was palpable, the good will touching and the singing nothing short of brilliant. Love of the human voice was apparent throughout the evening. The promise of Heggie's vocal writing was unmistakable, the success of much of it exhilarating ... It was revelatory to hear how Heggie's music brought out the Flicka of old. Her instrument's recently steely edge seemed banished, replaced by the old von Stade vulnerability. In other words, Heggie's songs made the singer sound her best. That was the rule throughout the evening. (May 26, 2000 -- Octavio Roca)
Marin Independent-Journal (December 15, 1996), Janos Gereben
Sung with charm and brilliance, "On the Road to Christmas" is a signal accomplishment from the 35-year old San Francisco composer. The music is resolutely tonal, hard-to-pigeonhole, clever, pleasant-to-beautiful, ranging from a bit of Debussy (in its opening orchestral colors) to a devilishly original synthesis ... Throughout, Heggie exhibits a sense of fresh energy, great originality in melodies, harmonies and orchestration.
The Oakland Tribune (August 10, 1999), Stephanie von Buchau
The Heggie ["Anna Madrigal Remembers"] was triumphant entertainment.
The Sacramento Bee (April 27, 2000), William Glackin
A cycle of eight "Songs to the Moon" by the talented San Francisco composer Jake Heggie was wonderfully full of fun, both in the singing and in Heggie's exploration of the possibilities of the original poems, from "Fairy Tales for the Children" by the American poet Vachel Lindsay. The ideas are witty, both as comedy and music, and full of the unexpected. Lindsay, who believed in strong rhythms and gestures, would probably have been pleased.
The New York Times (April 30, 2000), David Wright
Mr. Heggie has become a favorite of singers like Frederica von Stade and Renée Fleming for his shapely songs, with echoes of Ravel, Barber and the cabaret.
A sensitive and facile pianist, (Heggie) gives the impression of someone to whom music comes easily. He certainly knows how to write floating, singer-friendly lines for the female voice. "To Say Before Going to Sleep" represents Mr. Heggie at his best. Befitting this Rilke poem in translation, the song is compact and direct; the melodic material is lyrical without being indulgently so. Its harmonic pungency is evidence of Mr. Heggie's ear working acutely. (May 6, 2000 -- Anthony Tommasini)
In the first half, [Brian] Leerhuber brought his robust voice and musical intelligence to a set of songs, "Thoughts Unspoken," by the San Francisco composer Jake Heggie, whose breezy, vocally graceful style is indebted to Broadway ... (January 19, 1999 -- Anthony Tommasini)
Jake Heggie's wistful "I shall not live in vain" is a gift to Ms. Fleming's voice. (June 2, 1996 -- Anthony Tommasini)
... The fun was sustained in the final work, "So Many Notes!", commissioned [by San Francisco Opera] for the occasion from a San Francisco composer, Jake Heggie. In this lighthearted piece, featuring 11 members of the young artists' program, the singers complain of the stage jitters that ensue from cramming music into their heads and facing an audience of operatic luminaries ... it was appropriately festive. (September 8, 1997 -- Anthony Tommasini)
Los Angeles Times (November 10, 1996), David Mermelstein
During the past year, Heggie's art songs have been performed by such opera divas as Frederica von Stade, Jennifer Larmore and Renée Fleming ... An emphasis on melody, with easy dissonances and unusual harmonies, characterizes Heggie's work. Von Stade lauds its romanticism, and Allan Ulrich, music critic of the San Francisco Examiner, calls it sensitive and fluid.
[Von Stade] closed with Jake Heggie's "Paper Wings," to her own texts written for her youngest daughter, Lisa. Filled with sly quotations, musical games and a genuine sense of wonder and affection, "Paper Wings" soared as art and autobiography. (May 19, 1998 -- John Henken)
The Washington Post (May 23, 1996) Tim Page
[Renée Fleming] was just as happy with three recent settings (by the young American composers Jake Heggie, Ricky Ian Gordon and Robert Beaser) as she had been in the Schubert and Strauss. It was good to hear an artist of Fleming's caliber sing music by some contemporaries, especially since all three songs were faithful to the letter and the spirit of Dickinson's poetry.
The Times of London (November 1995), Barry Millington
Encountertenor, a cycle of three songs by Jake Heggie, written for [Brian] Asawa, amusingly explored "what it is like to grow up in the United States as a countertenor." John Hall's lyrics wittily evoked people's "imagined memories of altered males," ... A nice conceit and engagingly delivered.
Contra Costa Times (May 27, 2000), Georgia Rowe
Heggie's music seems to make every voice sound gorgeous. Throughout the evening, [he] played with style and assurance, giving the singers excellent support and, in a quietly understated way, acting as the best possible advocate for his own music.
San Francisco Chronicle (December 30, 1996), Pat Steger
Those who attended "Die Fledermaus" Saturday were treated to Flicka von Stade, who sang a magnificent "La Vie en Rose," accompanied on the piano by Jake Heggie. "He's my Mozart," said Flicka ...
The Berkshire Eagle (July 1998), Andrew L. Pincus
In both words and music "Paper Wings" combines the charms of childhood with the sophistication of grown-upness. The music by Heggie occupies a happy middle ground between the pop tune and the art song. Von Stade and her pianist, Martin Katz, needed no firemen to extinguish the shower of sparks they ignited with the performance in sold-out Seiji Ozawa Hall. [recital at Tanglewood]