Danielle Buonaiuto - Marfa Songs (2020)

The debut album of soprano Danielle Buonaiuto presents the premiere recording of 19 songs from 4 emerging composers. These lovely, gorgeous songs will appeal to those who enjoy accessible melodies and traditional vocal beauty. "This excellent album is a truly remarkable addition to the singer/piano repertoire" (Phyllis Bryn-Julson). The recording opens with James Young's immediately engaging Marfa Songs. Bryn-Julson praises the "outstanding beauty of sound, sensuality, dance rhythms, and wonderful new ideas" in Cecilia Livingston's Kalypso and Penelope, and observes that in Natalie Draper's haunting O sea-starved, hungry sea, "the final 'Full fathom five' section of the Postlude is simply gorgeous." She refers to Douglas Buchanan, composer of the immediately appealing Scots and Waters, as a "skilled composer who reveals his own distinctive voice." "I am totally impressed with not only the quality of the compositions, but also with the talents of the two artists."