Yesterday afternoon at 4:00 under the auspices of the Santa Fe Concert Association composer Jake Heggie played a recital of some of his songs, accompanying tenor William Burden, soprano Heidi Stober and mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, all of whom are singing with the Santa Fe Opera this summer.
The only set of songs that I had heard before was a cycle set to some texts written by Sister Helen Prejean, the inspiration for Heggie’s first opera DEAD MAN WALKING, beautifully sung at the end of the program by Miss Mentzer.
The rest of the material was new to me (including one song performed by a surprise guest, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, who is a great friend of the composer, and for whom he is writing GREAT SCOTT, commissioned by the Dallas Opera, and scheduled to open the season in the fall of 2015.) Read more →