The Work at Hand • Press Coverage
Critical Acclaim
“Arguably the most sublime work ever from the prolific vocal pen of San Franciscan Jake Heggie is Work at Hand, a beguiling 22-minute feast for mezzo-soprano and orchestra. A sonic sculpture with dazzling beauty, as sung ineffably by the ethereal mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.”
ArtsSF
“The full scope of [Heggie and Barton’s] genius is on display.”
San Francisco Classical Voice
“The highlight of [Barton’s] album is the deeply moving cycle, The Work at Hand. Set to the writings of the late poet Laura Morefield, it describes coming to terms with an inevitable departure. Barton’s interpretation is highly evocative, but it is the instrumental writing that captures what the beautiful words at times cannot. The dynamism of the instrumental texture is balanced by the more static writing of the vocal part that explores the other side of the emotional experience: reflection, realization, and resignation.”
The Classical Review
“The Work at Hand sensitively explores a terminal cancer diagnosis.”
BBC Music Magazine
“The Work at Hand is a cycle of three songs to poetry by Laura Morefield that bear witness to her experiences following a cancer diagnosis at the age of 47. Bitterness and anger in the rapid music of the first song give way touchingly to tenderness as the poet lists the people important to her. Determination to see things through characterises the second poem, though anger again seems even more evident in the music. In the third song, following without a pause, resignation is portrayed in diatonic terms that contrast strongly with the chromatic dissonance of much of what has gone before. The work is scored for soprano, piano and cello, with the cello given equal importance to the voice. Matt Haimovitz is a most eloquent collaborator.”
Music Web International
“As gripping as Shostakovich.”
Financial Times
“Heggie’s style is melodic and immediate, now a touch of blues and scat, now exultant and climactic. He’s in the tradition of composer-pianists who know exactly how to play their own music.”
The Guardian
“The way Heggie rises to the words ‘I want to start this project early’ is so typical of his sixth sense of knowing when the music needs to deliver emotionally. ‘Warrior One’ is thrillingly heroic, the Hebraic floridity of the vocal line finding real kinship with the solo cello (Matt Heimovitz) whose beautiful transition into the ‘other’ realm of ‘The Slow Seconds’ is one of those moments in text-setting when no words are necessary; just reflection.”
Gramophone