Review of Maureen Batt's Performance of Ross' "The Passive-Aggressive's Guide to Mother Goose"!

Classic Concerts NS recently reviewed the Halifax performance of Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred, featuring soprano Maureen Batt and pianist Cheryl Duvall. I was very excited to see a fun and favorable review of the duo's performance of my comedic song cycle, "The Passive-Aggressive's Guide to Mother Goose".

"On the second half there was another really cool dress – dare I say with “bat” wings attached to the hem – topped with a big retro gleaming necklace. Classy! It worked well with the Nursery Rhymes, Chicago composer Ross Crean’s really funny piece, The Passive-Aggressive’s Guide to Mother Goose. Batt took on various characters, including “Jill” who sang virtuosically about “Jack” being a bit of a baby/misogynist, while Batt as Hickory Mouse ate cheese as the pianist tapped out the “Docks” on the edge of the piano, ending the Mouse’s aria with a decisive Big Ben on the piano. (She really did not want to strike one at all, it seems…)

Have I mentioned that Batt can sing really high?

She also has a great sense of both comic and dramatic timing. Little Miss Muffet is a Hipster (“who wears a hoop skirt these days?”) was tragi-comic with tongue firmly in check (or maybe that was a chicken nugget – you had to be there). These songs must be tricky and they are all virtuosic – Batt makes them sound easy, singing them expertly and with a great deal of confidence. This woman is theatrical. I’d love to see her in musical theatre (but only if she got to sing really really high). And I love her diction – it is such a treat to attend a concert where you don’t have to strain to understand the text – thank you."

 

To read the complete review, click HERE!

Leave a comment