Amy Levy: Songs Of Love And Loss
Neuma, 2025
9/10
Listen to Amy Levy: Songs Of Love And Loss
The composer and mountain dulcimer player Alex Lubet and mezzo-soprano vocalist Victoria Vargas come together for this first major musical project of Anglo-Jewish writer Amy Levy’s poetry.
“Prelude” starts the listen with the attentive dulcimer displaying both beauty and mystery, and “At A Dinner Party” follows with Vargas’ powerful and expressive pipes helping illuminate the poetic landscape.
Moving into the middle, “A Cross-Road Epitaph” pairs the distinct vocals with warm strings, while “To Vernon Lee” offers a mesmerizing backdrop amid Vargas’ booming pipes that illuminate the sophistication.
Arriving late in the listen, “Magdalen” allows for both firm and soft gestures to resonate across the album’s best selection, and “A Farewell” exits with harmonic and brighter ideas from the pair’s inimitable performances.
A very creative body of work that incorporates folk, classical, blues and experimental nods, there’s melancholy, rawness and vulnerability to be appreciated from beginning to end.
Travels well with: Adrianne Munden-Dixon- Vision Mantra; Peter Van Zandt Lane- Axils