No Orpheus Archive

MOHAMMED FAIROUZ: “No Orpheus” = Soloists – Naxos

by Audiophile Audition | Feb 14, 2016 | Classical CD Reviews

MOHAMMED FAIROUZ: “No Orpheus” = Refugee Blues; Jeder Mensch; No Orpheus; Three Fragments from ‘Ibn Khafajah’; The Stolen Child; After the Revels; We Are Seven; Annabel Lee – Kate Lindsay, mezzo-sop./Kiera Duffy, sop,/Christopher Burchett, bar./ ensemble – Naxos 8.559783, 61:39 (2/12/15) ***1/2: Another side to this young dynamic composer. I have followed the music and career of Mohammed Fairouz for several years now and have been consistently impressed with his writing and his philosophy on music as a reflective art form. Indeed, many of his works use his own culture and background to make strong, but often optimistic, statements about the melding of cultures and the need to use history to guide our thoughts and perspectives. He is very talented, gifted and personable young man with much to offer as he becomes of one of America’s brightest young stars. This collection of – essentially – art songs by Mohammed both proves his versatility but also raises an eyebrow or two along the way. Several of these selections in fact do not even really sound like the Mohammed Fairouz that I – and others – are familiar with. The music along the way sounds at times like straight up lieder, at […]