Songs for Murdered Sisters • Press Coverage
Critical Acclaim
“Atwood’s precise, heartfelt language elicited a profoundly empathetic score from Heggie; the music — tender and twinkling, haunted and sad — embodies a sibling’s love being forced to incorporate sorrow. In a riveting filmed performance, Hopkins ricochets among the stages of grief. The film’s terrific soundtrack is also available.”
The New Yorker
“The piece builds skillfully, and Mr. Heggie, who writes lyrically and idiomatically for the voice, unerringly finds the musical kernel of each. One is reminded of Schubert’s “Winterreise” and of Schumann’s “Dichterliebe,” both mental journeys of grievous loss, particularly in the way that a song may begin in one emotional register, then take a sudden turn.”
Wall Street Journal
“Heggie’s seasoned writing skills are also on display throughout, especially in the setting of texts, the skillful use of Hopkins’ vocal register and colours, the compelling dynamic choices, and, most powerful, the deafening silences.”
The Whole Note
“Heggie responds to the innate musicality of Atwood’s poems with a combination of lyrical sweep and angular incisiveness, offering long phrases of heartbreaking beauty, moments of sensitivity and grace, and a vehicle for the deep fury born of powerlessness. With his glowing, velvety baritone, Hopkins gives a soul-baring performance that is gut-wrenching, cathartic, and a model of pinpoint focus. Hopkins’s performance is so masterful, the material so personal, that it’s hard to imagine anyone else singing this work, but it deserves many performances by many interpreters. Heggie and Atwood have created a superb, timeless song cycle that resonates universally in the tradition of Kindertotenlieder and Winterreise. By avoiding despair, Songs for Murdered Sisters offers consolation, hope and, for those willing to heed it, a call to action.”
Opera News
“[Atwood and Heggie’s] joint creation is Songs for Murdered Sisters, eight pieces of starkly simple, singable poetry by Atwood set with simple, singable, mood-enhancing eloquence by Heggie, and brought to wrenching life by Hopkins in the film (directed, also with moody simplicity, by James Niebuhr).”
Opera Canada
“This striking and moving piece was prompted by the murder of Nathalie Warmerdam, the sister of Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins. The resulting work, Songs for Murdered Sisters, is at once powerful and tender, and also prompts a remarkable vocal performance from Hopkins. Heggie’s settings are richly tonal and on occasion also mingle effectively with Schubert’s own musical language.”
BBC Music Magazine
“The sensitive interpretation of Hopkins and Heggie is like perceiving the breath and the pain of the many victims who have suffered and suffered damage of every kind. While listening to this music it is possible to grasp the fascinating compositional invention while highlighting how much the music seeks to express in the intentions of the work.”
GBOPera
“The score, inspired by the murder of Hopkins' sister and dedicated to all victims of femicide , is an important addition to the repertoire. In short, a masterpiece.”
Le Devoir
“The wonderful new Heggie/Atwood song cycle was the star of the evening. The eight poems effectively encapsulate the range of emotions generated by such a horrible event: loss, anger, hope, sadness, confusion and more. Each gets a fitting setting from Heggie. So much verbal and musical complexity is packed into these 25 minutes.”
Bachtrack