Dorothy Dorow can be relied upon to shun familiar paths and well-beaten tracks. Her new record consists mainly, if not entirely, of pieces written for her and Aage Kvalbein, and arrangements made by her. It is nothing if not well varied, performed with characteristic strength of vocal character and firmness of line, and with a natural, open recording whose only, occasional fault is to bring the voice too close, turning a tendency to shrillness into positive harshness.
The absence of familiar names among the composers (Gershwin excepted) invites a justifiable degree of caution. Erik Bergman is not unknown, but his Lament and Incantation, done with great spirit by Dorow and Kvalbein, is an overlong exercise in chromatic, expressionistic routines, at best invoking the Berio or Maxwell Davies of the 1960s, at worst indulging in cringe-making effects that sound like a hungover Queen of Night. Even closer to Berio, and to the vocal style of Cathy Berberian, is Jacqueline Fontyn's Pro and Anti verbs. This also, overdoes the slides and squeals, but there's a compensating humour and simplicity, well brought out in this performance. I particularly liked Oistein Sommerfeldt's About love, plangent in Nordicstyle, and the Irish composer James Wilson's Runes are all the more attractive and characterful for their unpretentious economy.
Dorothy Dorow's own arrangement of I will give my love an apple is filled out with a rather desultory wordless interlude, but attractively sung. And in the three Gershwin arrangements she is no less wholehearted in her attempt to seduce the ear. Our love is here to stay is too fulsome. I got rhythm is more idiomatic, with a drier style, though the cello part becomes over-elaborate before the end. As for Summertime, you naturally miss the sustained shimmer of the usual orchestration, but it makes an appropriately unconventional ending to a highly unusual and often rewarding recital.'