Barbara Hannigan & the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra: An American Dream?
Alpha Classics

It's the question mark that gives pause. Is Barbara Hannigan commenting ironically on the less-than-perfect state of the union the country's come to or perhaps nostalgically recalling a time when the dreams to which it aspired were still within reach? Or is the title, as she herself clarifies, her way of expressing admiration for the brilliance of American composers who pursued their visions with single-minded tenacity (which doesn't necessarily explain the question mark). There is, in fact, another side to that coin, as she also states that with this project she wanted to express her “sadness in observing what seems to have been lost” under the current administration. Such ambivalence is reflected in the cover image of a carousel, which symbolizes childish joy but is here depicted gloomily and with humans absent. There's memory and nostalgia, yes, but also collapse and ruin.

Regardless, this latest recording by the Canadian soprano-and-conductor and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra features splendid performances of works by George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Richard Rodgers, and Bill Elliott, Hannigan herself credited as co-collaborator with the latter. She's obviously chosen well, given how emblematic Gershwin and Copland are of America. Yet while the inclusion of Porgy and Bess isn't a huge surprise, the choice of Copland's Dance Symphony over pieces more directly relating to America such as Appalachian Spring or Lincoln Portrait is. Augmenting those two with The Carousel Waltz, the overture to Rodgers' Broadway musical Carousel, makes sense, as does the inclusion of the Hannigan-Elliott suite At the Fair for its incorporation of beloved American songs and themes. That the work features powerful vocals by Hannigan on “Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?” and “Don't Rain on my Parade” makes the release all the more special.

Beyond the terrific rendering of Gershwin's material by the orchestra, Robert Russell Bennett's Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture (1942) appeals for its inclusion of some of the less well-known parts of the score (to be clear, it was conductor Fritz Reiner who made the selections and determined the track sequencing before having Bennett assemble the piece). Yes, there's “Summertime” as well as “Bess, You Is My Woman Now” and "Oh Lord, I'm on My Way”; the suite includes, however, bits less seldom heard, among them “Catfish Row” and “Oh, I Can't Sit Down,” which makes for a fresh take on the “folk opera.” A sinuous woodwinds intro imbues “Catfish Row” with a vivid sense of place, as do the “Strawberry” horn voicing and alto saxophone swoops. “Clara, Clara” gently blossoms thereafter in anticipation of lyrical readings of “Summertime” and “Bess, You Is My Woman Now.” Contrasts of dynamics and tempo occur throughout when episodes alternate between slow, peaceful passages and blustery, high-energy ones, the orchestra's resources used to maximum advantage by Bennett (the addition of banjo to “I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'” is a nice touch). Its bluesy take on “There's a Boat That's Leaving Soon for New York” shows it to be comfortable playing in a non-classical idiom too.

Dance Symphony (1929) isn't as immediately recognizable as Copland than Rodeo or Billy the Kid, and it's certainly darker in tone. That's attributable, in part, to the fact that its writing was inspired by Murnau's classic silent film Nosferatu, which Copland saw in Paris at the time of its release and which his teacher Nadia Boulanger suggested he use as the basis for a composition. The ballet he created with his friend Harold Clurman wasn't a success, so Copland decided to recast its material as Dance Symphony. Some echo of the earlier version remains in the three-part work, however, when the suitably gloomy opening movement retains an allusion to coffins being paraded before the vampire and their corpses reanimated (in the finale, the corpses take revenge on the creature). Gradually the mood lightens and hints of dance rhythms emerge to animate the material. A solemn, quasi-mysterious slow movement (almost Shostakovian in its darkest moments) precedes a closing “Allegro vivo” that perhaps most conspicuously carries Copland's signature. The work ultimately registers as a legitimate symphonic expression by him, if one less melodically enticing than others in his catalogue.

Presented in an arrangement by Don Walker and featuring Hannigan and company in full ‘pops' mode, The Carousel Waltz (1945) provides an appealing scene-setter for At the Fair, particularly when the nine-minute overture's romantic folk melodies and waltz rhythms are so winning. To create their suite, Hannigan reunited with the Tony-Award winning Elliott, with whom she partnered on 2018's Crazy Girl Crazy release. Her singing adds greatly to the work's impact, obviously, and the voice is unmistakably hers. Some might find the two vocal performances overly theatrical and florid, but the style of singing is in keeping with the material. “Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?” is affecting for its melancholy and a delivery that's deliciously slow; also famously sung by Barbra Streisand and the well-known show-stopper from Funny Girl, ”Don't Rain on My Parade”(Hannigan even appears to channel Streisand in her articulation of “putter” and “butter”) ushers the album to a frenzied, high-stepping close. In between, there's the Ivesian “An American Dream,” which squeezes into its robust two-and-a-half minutes excerpts from Carousel Waltz, Seventy-Six Trombones, America the Beautiful, The Star- Spangled Banner, and others, the result a blink-and-you'll-miss-it collision.

June 2026