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Singer and songwriter Anais Mitchell wrote the first draft of her “folk opera” Hadestown in 2006 with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick. After numerous drafts and performances, it is set in stone here. Hadestown retells the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in an America of hard times economically, socially, and politically. (There is a hint of the great Depression as a setting, but only a hint.) The cast includes Mitchell as Eurydice, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone, Greg Brown as Hades, Ben Knox Miller (The Low Anthem) as Hermes, and the Haden Triplets -- Petra, Rachel, and Tanya) as the Fates. The large band includes Rob Burger, Jim Black, Josh Roseman, Nate Wooley, Todd Sickafoose, Marika Hughes, and Tanya Kalmanovich, to name a few.
Hadestown's narrative, like the myth, steeps itself in ambiguities more than dead certainties. It moves past dualities of good and evil, life and death, hope and despair, while examining how commonly held beliefs about class reinforce poverty, how our desire for security is complicit in giving away our freedoms, and what real generosity in love actually is. Nowhere is this more evident than a Brown showcase number, “Why We Build the Wall.” (With the cast/chorus unintentionally answering Woody Guthrie's “This Land Is Your Land” anthem that would make him weep with grief.) There isn’t a weak track here, but high points include “Our Lady of the Underground,” sung by DiFranco; the fierce, yet tender “How Long” with Brown and DiFranco; both parts of Vernon’s “Epic,” Mitchell's and Vernon’s “Doubt Comes In,” and “I Raise My Cup to Him,” by Mitchell with DiFranco. Everything here is ambitious, nothing is excessive. The music ranges with classic American folk forms: country gospel, ragtime, blues, and early jazz, to approximations of rock, swing, and avant-garde -- all of it immediate, accessible, and inviting. Vernon’s vocal range -- husky baritone to sweet falsetto -- does justice to Orpheus. Only a singer like this could write a song beautiful enough to rescue his lover from the Underworld. Mitchell doesn’t make herself the star, but is nonetheless. She is convincing as Eurydice; her lyrics are poetic, and her melodies unpretentious, yet sophisticated thanks to Chorney’s arrangements. This 57-minute work goes by in a flash. Artfully conceived, articulated, and produced, Hadestown raises Mitchell's creative bar exponentially: there isn't anything else remotely like it.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
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Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2018 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2019 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Ani Difranco, FeaturedArtist - Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Ben Knox Miller, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2020 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2021 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Greg Brown, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2022 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - The Haden Triplets, FeaturedArtist - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2023 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - The Haden Triplets, FeaturedArtist - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2024 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Ben Knox Miller, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2025 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Greg Brown, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2026 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Ani Difranco, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2027 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2028 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - The Haden Triplets, FeaturedArtist - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2029 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2030 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - Michael Chorney, FeaturedArtist - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2031 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Ani Difranco, FeaturedArtist - Greg Brown, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2032 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2033 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - Michael Chorney, FeaturedArtist - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2034 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Greg Brown, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2035 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Justin Vernon, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2036 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Ani Difranco, FeaturedArtist - Anais Mitchell, Composer, MainArtist - Todd Sickafoose, Producer - Candid Music Publishing, MusicPublisher - TRELEVEN MUSIC, MusicPublisher
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2037 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
Album review
Singer and songwriter Anais Mitchell wrote the first draft of her “folk opera” Hadestown in 2006 with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick. After numerous drafts and performances, it is set in stone here. Hadestown retells the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in an America of hard times economically, socially, and politically. (There is a hint of the great Depression as a setting, but only a hint.) The cast includes Mitchell as Eurydice, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) as Orpheus, Ani DiFranco as Persephone, Greg Brown as Hades, Ben Knox Miller (The Low Anthem) as Hermes, and the Haden Triplets -- Petra, Rachel, and Tanya) as the Fates. The large band includes Rob Burger, Jim Black, Josh Roseman, Nate Wooley, Todd Sickafoose, Marika Hughes, and Tanya Kalmanovich, to name a few.
Hadestown's narrative, like the myth, steeps itself in ambiguities more than dead certainties. It moves past dualities of good and evil, life and death, hope and despair, while examining how commonly held beliefs about class reinforce poverty, how our desire for security is complicit in giving away our freedoms, and what real generosity in love actually is. Nowhere is this more evident than a Brown showcase number, “Why We Build the Wall.” (With the cast/chorus unintentionally answering Woody Guthrie's “This Land Is Your Land” anthem that would make him weep with grief.) There isn’t a weak track here, but high points include “Our Lady of the Underground,” sung by DiFranco; the fierce, yet tender “How Long” with Brown and DiFranco; both parts of Vernon’s “Epic,” Mitchell's and Vernon’s “Doubt Comes In,” and “I Raise My Cup to Him,” by Mitchell with DiFranco. Everything here is ambitious, nothing is excessive. The music ranges with classic American folk forms: country gospel, ragtime, blues, and early jazz, to approximations of rock, swing, and avant-garde -- all of it immediate, accessible, and inviting. Vernon’s vocal range -- husky baritone to sweet falsetto -- does justice to Orpheus. Only a singer like this could write a song beautiful enough to rescue his lover from the Underworld. Mitchell doesn’t make herself the star, but is nonetheless. She is convincing as Eurydice; her lyrics are poetic, and her melodies unpretentious, yet sophisticated thanks to Chorney’s arrangements. This 57-minute work goes by in a flash. Artfully conceived, articulated, and produced, Hadestown raises Mitchell's creative bar exponentially: there isn't anything else remotely like it.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 20 track(s)
- Total length: 00:57:17
- Main artists: Anaïs Mitchell
- Composer: Anaïs Mitchell
- Label: Wilderland Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
(C) 2010 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers (P) 2018 Wilderland Records marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers
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