RECORDINGS

LORI’S SOLO CDS

On the ALBANY RECORDS LABEL:

Lori’s fourth CD of solo vocal works, Within These Spaces, (Amazon, iTunes) was released May 1, 2009. The recording features artists Jennifer Check, Karyn Friedman, Amanda Gosier, Sari Gruber, Warren Jones, Lori Laitman and Randall Scarlata. The CD contains 34 new songs, all composed since 2000 to poetry written between the years of 1612 and 2008.

“This is music of depth and richness that connects with the soul.” (American Record Guide); “Her affinity for the voice…is beyond doubt…her songs represent outpourings of great beauty.” (Fanfare Magazine)

Lori's third CD, Becoming a Redwood (Amazon, iTunes), was released October, 2006. The songs on the recording are compositions in partnership with contemporary poets Mary Oliver, Thomas Lux, Dana Gioia, Paul Muldoon, Anne Ranasinghe, Karen Gershon and C.G.R. Shepard. The CD features sopranos Jennifer Check, Sari Gruber and Barbara Quintiliani; mezzo-soprano Patricia Green; tenor Robert McPherson; baritones Lee Poulis, Randall Scarlata and William Sharp; bass Gary Poster; cellists Thomas Kraines and Marcy Rosen; violinist Juliette Kang; and pianists Warren Jones and Lori Laitman.

"An extraordinarily impressive achievement…[which indicates] increasing evidence of a major talent. Lori Laitman's beautiful, sensitively crafted songs deserve to be performed widely."(Gramophone Magazine)

 
Lori's second solo CD - Dreaming - The Songs of Lori Laitman (Amazon, iTunes) - was released on May 1, 2003. The CD features singers Jennifer Check, Patricia Green, Sari Gruber, Randall Scarlata and William Sharp; doublebassist Gary Karr; and pianists Warren Jones and Lori Laitman.

"This is a stunning collection of widely varied songs by one of the finest art song composers on the scene today...Lori Laitman deservedly stands shoulder to shoulder with Ned Rorem for her uncommon sensitivity to text, her loving attention to the human voice and its capabilities, and her extraordinary palette of musical colors and gestures.” (The Journal of Singing)

The first CD comprised entirely of Lori's compositions, Mystery - The Songs of Lori Laitman (Amazon, iTunes), was released August 1, 2000 on the Albany Records label, and features singers Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Lauren Wagner, and William Sharp.

"Composer Lori Laitman knows how to let the voice soar and explore…spinning lyrical neo-romantic vocal lines over shifting post- modern sonorities." (Opera News)

 
On the NAXOS RECORDS LABEL:

Lori’s “The Seed of Dream,” a Holocaust-themed song cycle based on the poetry of Vilna Ghetto survivor Abraham Sutzkever, was commissioned by Music of Remembrance, and released in April, 2008 on the CD For A Look or a Touch (Baritone Erich Parce, cellist Amos Yang and pianist Mina Miller perform Lori’s work, which Dr. Sharon Mabry, in The Journal of Singing, declared “a masterpiece not to be missed!”

Also on the CD is Jake Heggie’s song cycle “For A Look or A Touch” and Gerard Schwarz’ In Memoriam, scored for solo cello and string quartet. (Amazon, iTunes)
 
“Laitman has an uncommon ability to breathe new life into a text with her music without obscuring its original essence, and she demonstrates that sensitivity here to a remarkable degree….Baritone Erich Parce sings these songs with understanding and great care, and he has invaluable collaborators in MOR founder Mina Miller at the piano and Amos Yang on cello. These three musicians achieve remarkable magic here and these beautiful and important songs deserve nothing less.” (The Journal of Singing)


Music of Remembrance’s Brundibar recording on Naxos was named as one of the top ten opera recordings of 2007 by Opera News. On the same CD is the premiere recording of Lori’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly, as arranged for soprano with clarinet. Maureen McKay and clarinetist Laura DeLuca perform this work on this December 2006 release. (Amazon, iTunes)

“[The six songs] are performed beautifully here by soprano Maureen McKay and clarinetist Laura DeLuca. The poems show that the children were well aware of their surrounding, and perhaps their fate; and the songs have a haunting quality that stays with the listener.” (American Record Guide)

Unsleeping: Songs by Living Composers, Patricia Green’s new CD, pays tribute to living composers from England, Canada, Hungary, Germany, Puerto Rico and the United States. The CD contains the premiere recording of the mezzo-soprano version of Lori’s Mystery and was released January 2009 on the Blue Griffin label.

“The teaming of composer Lori Laitman and poet Sara Teasdale in Mystery results in five songs of generous lyricism and propulsive ardor.” (Gramophone Magazine)


Songs of Life includes the 3 songs from Lori’s “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” with soprano Eileen Mager and bassoonist John Friedeman.
 Released in 2008.

 
Soprano Melanie Mitrano’s CD, Songs in Transit: An American Expedition (Capstone Records, iTunes) includes the premiere recording of "Money" and a new recording of "The Hour,” with Lori at the piano. Released 2006 by Capstone Records.

Lori Laitman's setting of Dana Gioia's “Money” is one of her best. (New Music Connoisseur)

Soprano Janeanne Houston has recorded 2 CDs with Lori’s songs: So Much Beauty (released in 2004), which includes Lori’s “Two Dickinson Songs” and The Shining Place, which features 2 previously unreleased songs from The Metropolitan Tower cycle (released in 2006).

“Even more effective are the two songs by Lori Laitman, who sets two Sara Teasdale texts with the discerning sensitivity that we have come to expect from her. She has a truly exceptional gift for conveying the profoundest meaning of her texts, yet also taking care that the texts be perfectly understood.” (The Journal of Singing, in a review of The Shining Place)


Mezzo-soprano Virginia Dupuy includes two Laitman settings "If I..." and "They might not need me," on her CD Emily Dickinson in Song. This CD was released June of 2004 on the Gasparo label.

Soprano Sonya Baker’s CD She Says, from 2004, features art songs of American women composers, and includes five of the six songs from Lori’s Days and Nights.

American Song Recital, released February 2000, was the first recording to include Lori’s works. With soprano Lauren Wagner and pianist Frederick Weldy, on the Channel Classics label.

“Lori Laitman was specifically asked by Lauren Wagner to compose a song. She chose a text by Sara Teasdale and the CD is worth owning for this song alone: magnificent!” (Phonogram Magazine, 1994)


INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC:

Roger McVey’s new CD, American Journey, was released in 2009, and features the premiere recording of Lori’s Nocturne, for solo piano.

SHEET MUSIC

Distributor

The primary distributor of Lori Laitman's music is Classical Vocal Reprints (CVR), headed by Glendower Jones at 1-800-298-7474 or NYC 718-601-1959.

Publishers

Please see the song list for detailed information about the available songs and cycles.

• Published by ARSIS PRESS http://www.instantweb.com/a/arsispress/Vocal.html.
  • I Never Saw Another Butterfly
    Glendower Jones of Classical Vocal Reprints carries all versions (1-800-298-7474).
• Published by ENCHANTED KNICKERS MUSIC and distributed by CLASSICAL VOCAL REPRINTS: http://classicalvocalrep.com/ 1-800-298-7474 or NYC 718-601-1959. Glendower Jones.

All other compositions are published by ENCHANTED KNICKERS MUSIC and are available or will be available soon from http://classicalvocalrep.com/.