Miah Persson sings Michael Shapiro

It is always a delight when musicians invite me to watch a recording session and back in November 2024 I spent a day in Abbey Road with Miah Persson and the marvellous composer Michael Shapiro. The resulting recording is simply stunning.

Michael Shapiro has appeared three times on Harmonious World - in 2020, 2021 and 2024. He is an incredible composer and I travelled to Milan in October 2021 to see him conduct his score to accompany the film of Frankenstein. That was a complete joy!

It was only when Michael invited me to Abbey Road to hear the marvellous Miah Persson record some of his songs with members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra that I recalled where I had heard her before. Miah was outstanding as a soloist when Michael and I sat in the Royal Albert Hall in April 2024 to hear the RPO perform Verdi’s Requiem.

For this recording session in November 2024, Michael conducted the RPO while Miah sang his songs and it was breathtaking.

The ensuing album includes Shapiro’s Dublin Songs and Let Me Live. The latter aria is taken from Michael’s full length opera with Hannah McDermott The Slave adapted from the novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Beginning with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, this album is a fine example of contemporary classical music, particularly using the texts by James Joyce. With the voice of Miah Persson, this selection is a fabulous rendition of several of the poems written by one of the finest writers of the 20th century.

Shapiro’s orchestral writing is detailed and nuanced, with particularly effective use of wind and strings: I’ve always liked his use of clarinet, bassoon and french horns. Hearing these pieces recorded in the studio and now in their finished versions is very special.

One of my favourite tracks starts with the trumpet melody being picked up by the solo voice above the strings on Sleep Now. It really is wonderful when Miah exercises her operatic voice that is so fine and pure.

But, for me, the crowning glory both in composition and voice, is the heart-rending Let Me Live. When Michael mentioned that he was writing an opera based on Singer’s The Slave, I read the novel and if you don’t know the story, I urge you to read it, but Sarah’s song will tell you much of the tragedy. With Michael’s composition and Miah’s voice, a mother’s tragic plea is brought to life: wherever The Slave is performed, I want to be there.