Everything You've Ever Lived

Baden Powell, Vinicius de Moraes: Canto de Ossanha; Ravel: À la manière de Borodine, M. 63 (Arr. for Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); Seiber: Four French Folk Songs: No. 1, Réveillez-vous; Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Miguel Llobet, Rev. Emilio Pujol) No. 3, Asturiana, No. 5, Nana No. 6, Canción; Rodgers, R: Blue Moon (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); Bacharach: A House Is Not A Home (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by James Girling); My Brightest Diamond: Have You Ever Seen an Angel (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras) Asencio: Collectici íntim: No. 3, La Calma; Claude Debussy, Paul Bourget: Deux Romances, L. 79: No. 1, L’âme évaporée (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Tilman Hoppstock); Sinéad O’Connor: Jackie (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); Ravel: Cinq mélodies populaires grecques (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); No. 1, Chanson de la mariée, No. 4, Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques; Claude Debussy, Grégoire Le Roy: Les Angélus, L. 76 (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Tilman Hoppstock); Caroline Polachek: Go as a Dream (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); Benjamin Britten, Robert Devereux: Gloriana, Op. 53: The Second Lute Song of the Earl of Essex (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Julian Bream); Âşık Veysel, Carlo Domeniconi: Uzun ince bir yoldayım (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras); Cardoso, J: 24 Piezas Sudamericanas: No. 24, Milonga; Barroso, P: Para ninar (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Laurindo Almeida); Armando Soares: Sodade (Arr. for Voice and Guitar by Dimitris Soukaras);

Lotte Betts-Dean mezzo-soprano Dimitris Soukaras guitar
Delphian DCD34348
https://www.delphianrecords.com/

One of the joys of being a music critic is the eclectic array of recordings that arrive for review. Sometimes it's pure pleasure to put on a new disc and think: Ah, something genuinely different. This is precisely one of those albums.

Australian mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, whose ethereal, "starkly beautiful" voice has won widespread acclaim, joins forces with outstanding Greek guitarist Dimitris Soukaras for their first duo recording. Together, they've created a captivating collection of songs exploring nostalgia, childhood memories, and the liminal state between waking and sleeping.

Through borrowing, gathering and reimagining, this eclectic programme wanders effortlessly between genres, taking us from Ravel and Britten to Burt Bacharach and Sinéad O'Connor. It's an ingenious disc where Richard Rodgers's Blue Moon sits comfortably alongside Bacharach's A House Is Not a Home and Britten's The Second Lute Song of the Earl of Essex. Remarkably, it works brilliantly from every angle.

Dimitris, who shares Lotte's heritage of growing up in a musical family, has repeatedly returned to his dreams for inspiration. "They usually involve people who are no longer with me – my grandparents, for example," he explains. These dreams transport him backwards through time, and that sense of yearning permeates the entire album.

Betts-Dean's voice proves perfect for this repertoire, fitting the material so wonderfully. Soukaras is equally impressive – his playing is wonderfully atmospheric and warm, as in his haunting arrangement of Caroline Polachek's Go as a Dream. His accompaniments provide the perfect cushion; they are sensitively played, and he contributes three solo pieces that are equally mesmerising. Jorge Cardoso's Milonga from 24 Piezas Sudamericanas is particularly beautiful – though that description could apply to everything here.

The album is a disc I've played repeatedly during the evening. Its evocative theme runs through like a fine thread, and everything is so eloquently performed. As Megan Stellar writes in her perceptive notes, Lotte observes that music passes "from parent to child, from teacher to student, from artist to artist. It's an ancient tradition, the way we share ideas and music and feeling with one another." And there are feelings that don't need teaching or even explaining but somehow get passed on anyway.

It's a tremendous album and something genuinely different to listen to as you settle down for the evening, getting ready to drift off into sleep and dream.