James Adler: That Star in the Picture
Albany Records

The lines separating art song and musical theatre blur in this thoroughly appealing recording of songs by American composer and pianist James Adler. That Star in the Picture presents a sampling of his work, ranging as it does from material written in the '70s to recent songs, “‘Hope' is the thing with feathers” and “Beyond Night.” Lyrics for them come from Emily Dickinson and Rosalie Calabrese, respectively, with words by James Griener, Mae Richard, and Carmel Friedman the source texts in others. Adler does double duty as composer and lyricist on “What About Tomorrow?,” the only song to feature two singers. Lyrical, tender, poignant, and yearning, Adler's settings consistently beguile on this modest thirty-one-minute collection.

Further collapsing the gap between the classical and theatre stage are singers associated with both worlds, from Broadway denizens Michael Buchanan (tenor), Kennedy Kanagawa (tenor), and Perry Sook (baritone) and cabaret singer Shana Farr (soprano) to Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood and classically trained soprano Elizaveta Ulakhovich. Ably supporting them are Adler himself on piano, French hornist Kyle Walker, cellist Adam Fisher, flutist Denise Koncelik, clarinetist Francis Novak, and oboist Brian Shaw, though not all at the same time. The songs were recorded live at the Yamaha Artist Service Piano Salon in NYC, which adds to the immediacy of the performances.

Adler's accomplishments are many. Certainly one of his most noteworthy compositions is Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem (a new chamber treatment of its seventh movement, “Pie Jesu,” appears on the new release), and his output includes works for chorus, vocalists, and instrumentalists, and works for symphonic band and orchestra. He's created pieces for the Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, and the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps symphonic band. In addition to the Albany Records-released That Star in the Picture, Adler's material has appeared on recordings from Capstone, Navona, and Ravello Records.

Accompanied by Walker and Adler, married singers Ulakhovich and Sook inaugurate the album with a stirring rendition of “What About Tomorrow?,” an early work by the composer that instantly shows his gift for rapturous melodies. The yearning tone that gives the song such a goosebumps-inducing ache carries over into many of the other seven songs. After Novak and Fisher join Walker, Adler, and Livengood for a powerful rendering of “Pie Jesu,” the composer teams with Koncelik and Buchanan for a magnificent performance of “Beautiful Garden” (from the musical Reflections). With flute and piano establishing a suitably pastoral ambiance, the tenor waxes longingly for a place where “love is free to know how to grow / And find nature's tender care.” As affecting is the endearing “Growing” (from Spirits), where a beautiful vocal by Kanagawa graces a song that's playful and innocent yet deeply touching too. Created as a stand-alone concert aria and delivered with passion and conviction by Farr, “That Star in the Picture” conveys the myriad emotions one experiences upon viewing photos of oneself at different times, be it as a child (“But I'm still that child now / Feeling wild now / I am older / So much bolder…”), a young bride, or a celebrated performer.

October 2023