Yes, I'm not only a lieder enthusiast but a singer of same.  I'm an
American soprano who sings music from Monteverdi to the present day,
and I'm particularly fond of Schubert, Alma Mahler (wonderful passionate
harmonically interesting stuff!) French repertoire from Berlioz to Poulenc,
Spanish songs, and have worked a lot with contemporary American composers:
Luening, Rorem, Cage, DeKenessey, Starer and many others.

I almost wrote to the list (I'm a new subscriber, and find this dialogue
very interesting but the volume of new mail utterly overwhelming) during
the discussion about buying CDs via internet.  As the executive producer
and principal performer on a new CD of music by Otto Luening and Robert
Starer, I'm quite frustrated by the mis-information put out by MUZE, the
major clearinghouse for info on CD's that is used by Amazon, CDnow, Tower,
and others.  They put out the wrong title, didn't even mention me in their
info links (my name's in the title, already!), and had the wrong catalogue
number, not to mention incomplete information on the disk's contents.  So
far, while a couple of the sales sites have been good about responding and
making corrections -- Amazon has been particularly good, and prompt -- most
others don't want to deal with information coming from anywhere but MUZE,
and MUZE is completely unresponsive.

So, web-buyers, if you are looking for an unusual CD, be prepared with
several types of information to try in your search:  it may be there after
all despite a failed first or second attempt -- under the composer, or on
the label's own website.

If anyone's curious about my own recording, it's called "She Walks in
Beauty:  Soprano Danielle Woerner Sings Chamber Music and Songs of Otto
Luening and Robert Starer" -- Parnassus Records # PACD-96012.  It's an
interesting compilation of music, featuring Robert at the piano in his own
pieces, by the way.  Robert writes music that is fairly conservative (i.e.,
lyrical) with interesting harmonic progressions, memorable melodies, and
quite idiomatic for the voice.  Otto -- a friend and mentor of mine for
16 years, til his death in'96 -- was best known for other aspects of his
output:  electronic music in the '50s and '60s, short orchestral pieces,
flute pieces.  The songs and chamber pieces are quite beautiful; one, from
1923, still sounds extremely modern in its combined use of twelve-tone and
diatonic techniques.  The other pianist in the lieder on the CD is Sylvia
Buccelli; Patricia Spencer and Marcia Gates are the flutists, Jean Kopperud
the clarinetist, and also the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Quartet.
If anyone on the list orders it, let me know how you liked it.

Will write again, sans personal p.r., when I have some digestion time with
all these posts!  Best wishes,

Danielle Woerner