Catalogue

Summary:

“There are so many jewels here…Wo die Schönen Trompeten blasen is outstanding, made so by Phan’s impeccable diction and pianist Myra Huang’s deft characterisation … Phan’s sheer sensitivity is a delight. An absorbing recital disc, and an ideal introduction to the joys of lieder. Beautifully recorded…” – The Arts Desk

“Few voices are as reliable (or beautiful) as Phan’s, which gives him freedoms he takes. In everything he sings, storytelling is paramount. Perfect diction, too, is a given, to which Phan adds a kind of around-the-campfire confidentiality that draws you into the tales rather than talking you through them. It’s a voice born to sing German Lieder …” – Bay Area Reporter

“With his wonderfully animated quality as a natural storyteller, Phan’s program could be a good way for a family to introduce children to lieder. Their performances of some of the dramatic songs have a spellbinding quality…[Phan] has a wonderful legato style and delivers clear articulation of the text. He packs intensity into the words with a commanding display of dynamic gradation and vocal color…” – American Record Guide

Best Recordings of 2017 – ” Phan possesses enough musical imagination and vocal daring to bring each story and character vividly to life, and Huang matches the tenor with pianistic arsenal of colors and attacks, controlled by her astonishing technique…Among many high points of the recital is Mahler’s Wunderhorn song, “Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen,”…Both artists sustain the magical nocturnal atmosphere, with generous phrasing and restrained dynamics in a sophisticated, beautifully felt and expressed performance…” – Opera News

“It is good to hear a male singer perform Brahm’s Es war ein Markgraf überm Rhein and Mendelssohn’s Hexenlied, and Huang’s fleet fingers make light of some fearsomely virtuosic accompaniments. At his best, Phan offers some exquisitely calibrated soft singing supported by a rich acoustic an crystal-clear sound” – BBC Music Magazine

“The voice is light, with a slight Schreier-like tang to it and a seductive pianissimo. It is heard at its best in the gentler numbers: he sounds delightfully fresh in the five songs that make up the ‘Knights and Kings’ section. This freshness of approach is matched throughout by the terrific playing of Myra Huang – listen to the bounce she brings to the introduction of ‘Ganymed’ or the brilliant sparkle of Beethoven’s ‘Song of the Flea’” – Gramophone

Grammy Awards 2017: Nominee – Classical Solo Vocal Album

Fulfilling a life-long fascination with myths and legends, tenor Nicholas Phan pairs with pianist Myra Huang for Gods & Monsters, exploring great Austrian and German Romantic composers’ meditations on the title subjects and their fellow-fantastical creatures such as witches, knights and kings. The wide-ranging programme of songs by Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, will be presented in Phan’s Wigmore Hall recital debut on 26 February 2017.

Tracklist:

•• MOUNT OLYMPUS ••

FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–2828)
1. An die Leier (4:07)
2. Ganymed (3:53)
3. Atys (4:04)
4. Der Musensohn (1:54)

•• KNIGHTS AND KINGS ••

FRANZ SCHUBERT
5. Der Sänger (6:26)

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
6. Es war ein Markgraf überm Rhein (3:21)

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911)
7. Rheinlegendchen (3:07)
8. Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen (7:13)

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
9. Aus Goethe’s Faust (2:07)

•• THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT ••

FRANZ SCHUBERT
10. Der Zwerg (5:06)

ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810–1856)
11. Waldesgespräch (2:14)

HUGO WOLF (1860–1903)
12. Der Feuerreiter (4:41)

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
13. Hexenlied (2:07)

•• FAIRY TALES ••

ROBERT SCHUMANN
14. Der Sandman (1:53)

HUGO WOLF
15. Der Rattenfänger (2:24)
16. Elfenlied (1:52)
17. Storchenbotschaft (3:50)

•• POSTLUDE ••

JOHANNES BRAHMS
18. Sandmännchen (4:02)

Total duration: 64.27

Nicholas Phan, tenor
Myra Huang, piano

Recording: 8 & 9 August 2016, Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm Ltd Company, Marin County, California
Executive producers: Melanne Mueller, Nicholas Phan & Philip Wilder
Producer, engineer, editing, mixing & mastering: Marlan Barry
Technical assistance: Dann Thompson