Singer Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, wife of composer Peter Lieberson is profiled in the current New Yorker by Charles Michener. Much interesting detail about her, including her development from San Jose violist to soulful international singer.
In 2001, her husband wrote for her Rilke Songs, a setting of Rainer Maria Rilke's Sonnets to Orpheus:
The composer’s choice of texts pointed up his wife’s strengths, especially in the final song, when the poet enjoins his muse, “And if the earthly has forgotten you, / Whisper to the silent earth: I flow. / To the rushing water say: I am.”
Hunt Lieberson's recent recitals where she sang the work have been reviewed by Richard Dyer "close, intelligent readings of the poem", Lloyd Schwartz "abstract yet powerfully emotional", Justin Davidson "music that flatters his spouse's lyric gifts", and Tom Service "dramatises Rilke's elusive imagery."
The work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2002. A CD on Bridge Records is planned.
