Wayfaring – A New Album From Umberto Clerici And Karen Schaupp

Cellist Umberto Clerici and guitarist Karin Schaupp have together recorded a new album Wayfaring on the ABC label (ABC 481 6811).  The album launch will accompanied by a national concert tour.  The Sydney concert will be on Wednesday 28 March at 11 am, at the Independent Theatre North Sydney, under the auspices of Musica Viva.

On Wayfaring, the Italian-Australian Clerici and the German-Australian Schaupp take a musical journey through a rich tapestry of cultures, ages and emotions. The two musicians discovered a musical connection when they first played together at the biennial Musica Viva Festival several years ago. ‘It was a magical connection, as if we just knew each other musically, even though we hadn’t met before,’ says Schaupp. ‘It’s something very rare. We played a few pieces and decided we simply had to do this again. Last year we gave some recitals and built a program. Then we decided to make this album, and built a whole new program.’

They settled on the linking idea of ‘songs that trace a path from birth to death, with everything in between’: a ‘wayfaring’ through life. Spending long hours in libraries combing through repertoire, they gradually whittled down their options: the final list expresses joy, grief and every emotion between.

The repertoire stretches from the early baroque of Monteverdi and Caccini, to the present day, with contemporary works by two Australian composers: Elena Kats-Chernin’s Eliza Aria and A Flower’s Purpose by Katie Noonan, the singer-songwriter with whom Schaupp has toured and recorded. They also cover music by Dvořák, Rodrigo (a stunning song adapted by the composer himself from his beloved Concierto de Aranjuez), Rachmaninoff, Schubert and more.

Wayfaring was recorded in the Eugene Goossens Hall, ABC Ultimo, Sydney and is available as a single CD and digitally. The album launch will accompanied by a national concert tour.

Umberto Clerici is the principal cellist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and an acclaimed soloist; Brisbane-based Karin Schaupp is an ARIA-winning guitarist. Between them, they have recorded more than a dozen albums; this is their first together. The artists clearly couldn’t be happier at having found one another. ‘It’s as if we feel the music intuitively the same way,’ says Schaupp. ‘Several times in rehearsal Umberto’s playing even moved me to tears. It’s such a gift to be able to play music and make albums.’

The tracks
1. DVOŘÁK Lasst mich allein (Let Me Be Alone)
2. BRAHMS Es steht ein Lind (There Stands a Lime Tree)
3. TRADITIONAL Wayfaring Stranger
4. RACHMANINOFF Ne poy, krasavitsa, pri mne (Do Not Sing, My Beauty)
5. RUTTER Shadows
6. CACCINI Amarilli
7. MONTEVERDI Lasciatemi morire (Let Me Die)
8. NOONAN A Flower’s Purpose
9. FALLA Jota
10. CASALS Song of the Birds
11. SCHUBERT Lob der Tränen (In Praise of Tears)
12. RAVEL Kaddisch
13. FALLA Polo
14. KATS-CHERNIN Eliza Aria
15. SCHUBERT Frühlingstraum (Spring Dream)
16. RODRIGO Aranjuez, ma pensée (Concierto de Aranjuez: Adagio)
17. TRADITIONAL Wild Mountain Thyme
18. RUTTER Close Thine Eyes