“If you enjoy the direction that contemporary American music is going these days you are probably familiar with the music of Gwyneth Walker, who has written over 130 commissioned works for orchestra, band, chorus and chamber ensembles. Michelle Areyzaga, soprano, is a champion of modern music and has presented the songs on this CD over WFMT. Areyzaga was the first singer to present Walker’s The Sun is Love in 2002. which is the last group of songs on the album.
All the songs in the album are based on the poetry of e. e. Cummings, Mary Swenson, and Jelaluddin Rumi.
Areyzaga sings opera at such spots as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre and Light Opera Works and has appeared with the Grant Park Symphony. She has been the soloist in a recent Lord Nelson Mass with the orchestra of London’s Royal Academy of Music and the St. Charles Singers. Areyzaga can cast her voice two ways singing in both a classical and popular style which is no easy feat.
Winter nights are a perfect setting for listening to these intimate songs and Areyzaga has just the right kind of songstress voice to communicate the magic of each offering. The poetry is as pleasing as the music. “I would love to kiss you. The price of kissing is your life”.
—Jim Edwards – Sun-Times News Group – Dec 13, 2007 (CD “The Sun is Love”)