Conspirare Goes to the Barber

Last September, Conspirare presented a concert of vocal music by Samuel Barber &ndash now forever associated with the movie Platoon &ndash and sang it with such care and artistry that you wanted to reconsider his standing in the pantheon of composers. Now the company of voices' ear-opening interpretation of Barber has been preserved on disc.

To celebrate the release of Samuel Barber - An American Romantic from Harmonia Mundi, Conspirare is holding a CD signing today, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 5-7pm, at Waterloo Records, 600A N. Lamar. Conspirare Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson and soloist Mela Dailey will be on hand to perform some of Barber's songs starting at 5:15pm, after which you can get your copy of the recording autographed.

And as someone who heard the material live last year, trust me when I say you'll want a copy. Not only does it include Robert Kyr's outstanding new reinvention of The Lovers, set to the poetry of Pablo Neruda, for choir and chamber ensemble, but it also features some astoundingly gorgeous lesser-known works such as "The Virgin Martyrs" and the triptych Reincarnations and even that everybody's Barber fave, "Agnus Dei" ("Adagio for Strings" for choir).

One more thing: Get to Waterloo early. You'd be surprised how many people turn out for a Conspirare CD release party. In the past, it's been enough to put the company of voices almost at the top of the store's weekly CD sales chart.