Dawn Upshaw's Ayre, her new collaboration with Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov, is part-tribute to mezzo Cathy Berberian, who was as content to sing Monteverdi as she was to go sonic voyaging with her husband Luciano Berio or baroquing up the Beatles.
The core of the disc is Berio's Folk Songs,
written for his wife in 1964, arrangements spanning from Black is the color through familiar Auvergne folk songs to a wild dervish turn of an Azerbaijan number that Berberian transcribed from an obscure 78.
This version won't have me throwing away Berberian's classic 1968 recording, although Upshaw does stamp her personality on the score; the American songs are affectingly natural, Ballo nimbly skittish.
The ear is ensnared by the vibrant sound, thanks to producer Gustavo Santaolalla. A song such as Motettu de tristura could simmer on the darkest of David Lynch soundtracks.
Santaolalla, described by Golijov as an Argentinian Elvis Costello, is very much an equal partner for Golijov's Ayre cycle. Here are 11 songs, predominantly traditional and either Arab or Sephardic, transformed for a gutsy Upshaw and her snazzy 11-piece working under Bunuelian guise of The Andalucian Dogs.
Santaolalla's individual miking creates a soundscape that redefines atmospheric.
In the first three tracks we move from a florid flamenco-tinged revenge song through elegiac lament to a delirious Sardinian number that is given a treatment somewhere between Wimoweh and Sephardic R'n'B. Upshaw whoops, wails and shrieks - imagine the Linda Blair character in The Exorcist doing a spot of Cajun singing.
In just under 10 minutes, the range of the cycle has been defined and Goliojov and Upshaw explore it, brilliantly. If you want gentle, Nani goes direct to the heart; Santalaolla's hacienda number reminds us that Golijov is a Piazzolla fan.
As the set progresses, the songs lengthen, climaxing in a nine-minute hymn to Ariadne. Indian seems to merge with Arabic and all is mysterious and trance-like, with Upshaw boldly venturing where few other singers would dare.
In an age where crossover is so often the refuge of the vocally challenged and taste impaired, Ayre is a lusty breath of hope.
* Dawn Upshaw, Ayre (Deutsche Grammophon 477 5414)
