A Strange, Wild Song

Soprano Rebecca Wascoe Hays is an avid promoter of contemporary American composers and her enthusiasm is evident in this recording of music by the esteemed composer Libby Larsen. Wascoe Hays has chosen two major works (The Magdalene and De Toda La Eternidad) interspersed with two arias from Larsen's operas and two songs. The Magdalene is a setting of Chapter 33 verses 1-12, 14-18 and 30-35 from the Pistis Sophia, a Gnostic text that comes from the third century. De Toda La Eternidad is a song cycle sung by a lover caught in an agonizing suspension of time — a time in which the lover perceives everything from beginning to end, even before the affair begins. Ms. Wascoe Hays has twice been a winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation Award and has been recognized as a finalist or semi-finalist in many international competitions. She is on the faculties of Texas Tech University and Music in the Marche. Her collaborator, pianist Jeffrey Peterson, has appeared in recitals and master classes on five continents. His concert and recital appearances have taken him around the world.