Dark Spring
Oehms, 2021
8/10
A very accomplished collaboration between the composer Hans Thomalla and the poet Joshua Clover, this 11 scene song-opera premiered live in Germany during the pandemic, and features performances from Shachar Lavi, Anna Hybiner, Christopher Diffey, and Magid El-Bushra for a meshing of American popular song tradition and musical and theatrical avant-garde.
“This dress is not too short” opens the listen with the soaring mezzo-soprano of Lavi, and this segues into the playful keys and bouncy climate of “Song: Boys! Boys!”, as well as the layered voices of the emotive “Melchoir Gabor, he told me once he does not believe in anything”.
Deeper into disc 1, “Song: I am telling you this place is a dark wood” finds a dreamy place to reside in its stirring delivery, while “I passed, I passed, I passed!” moves swiftly, initially, before finding a sublime place to reside.
Disc 2 opens with the vivid storytelling of “Don’t You Sleep?”, which offers a bit of tension, too, and further down the line, “What are you hunting, what have you lost?” showcases divine singing amid light percussion, a chilling atmosphere and firm keys. The album exits on “Be cheerful, Wendla, be cheerful!”, where the 7 minutes covers a lot of ground from lush and majestic, to gentle and intimate.
Recorded over 5 live performances, Dark Spring captures the unparalleled skill of the performers with Hans’s precise instrumental techniques and strong nods to European composers that makes for a powerful and emotional listening experience.
Travels well with: Andrew Lloyd Webber- Symphonic Suites; Apollo Chamber Players- With Malice Towards None