Here - Linda Eder

agents helped marvelously with the casting!
Linda's voice superbly portrayed the interesting duality found in Wendy: she is no longer a girl, but not yet quite a woman,
either, even though she has adult responsibilities. I asked Linda to sing very long phrases, sometimes even singing two
phrases together without any breath in between. She has superb control and was able to accomplish this with ease. And she
has a great sense of color in her voice. Her use of nuance is a great lesson for any singer.
Michael-Shawn Lewis (who performs
"Spring Will Come Again" with Linda on the
CD) and Linda share a laugh during a
recording session.
Daniel was wonderful as Captain Hook, and he completely ate up the part! In the
original book by J. M. Barrie, Hook is definitely evil, brutally so. But Bernstein's
music, in addition to portraying him as a nasty rapscallion, also shows him to be a
lonely, frustrated character. This is particularly evident in the "Captain Hook's
Soliloquy." Daniel conveyed the inside of Hook's soul with depth and gorgeous
musicality. And he has a huge range. Those sustained high "F"s require a singer
with a voice of power and control. Daniel is that kind of a singer, and he's a
wonderful actor, too!
I had a great time working with Linda and Daniel. We had a lot of fun along the
way, and worked hard and dug very deeply into the music to bring out all of the
beauty in each song. Everyone was tremendously excited to be a part of this
recording — the artists, the agents, the production group, everyone. I'm so very
thankful for their enthusiasm and dedication.
VOICE: Could you tell us more about the song "Spring Will Come Again" and why
you decided to include it on the PETER PAN album?
ALEX: "Spring Will Come Again" was a song intended for a musical version of
Thornton Wilder's THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, which was never finished. Bernstein
used material from this piece later on in his "Chinchester Psalms." I found the song
and thought it would be a fitting conclusion to the CD. Michael-Shawn Lewis came
over from Broadway and sang the song beautifully with Linda.
VOICE: What was the most rewarding aspect of the project for you?
ALEX: For me, the most rewarding aspect of this project was that I could bring
some beauty to people's lives through this wonderful and touching music. And
through this experience, I think all of us involved in this recording discovered
something really lovely within ourselves. But that has always been my own goal
and reason for being an artist — to touch people's lives in a deep, meaningful way,
and to help bring some beauty into our troubled world through the miracle of
music.
All About Alexander Frey...
From the stages of the Hollywood Bowl to New York's Lincoln Center, from London's Wigmore Hall to Egypt's new Cairo Opera
House and major international music capitals on five continents, Alexander Frey has received unanimous critical acclaim for his
"breathtaking," "visionary," "intense," and "thrilling" performances (Leonard Bernstein once referred to him as "a wonderful
spirit"). An extraordinarily prolific artist, each year finds him conducting many major orchestras and opera companies as well
as performing as soloist in leading cultural centers. In great demand as one of the world's most versatile conductors, he has a
long list of artistic triumphs in the opera house and concert hall, as well as in the music of Hollywood and Broadway.
Alexander Frey is currently conductor of Prague's historic Karlin Theater where he conducts 50 performances per season. The
Karlin Theater, typical of most major European theaters, offers an eclectic mix of repertoire from CARMEN to WEST SIDE
STORY, DIE FLEDERMAUS to JEKYLL & HYDE. Maestro Frey was Principal Conductor of the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra from
1996-2001. From 1992-1996, he was Music Director of Germany's most renowned theater, the Berliner Ensemble, founded by
Bertolt Brecht, where he collaborated with the celebrated stage director Peter Zadek. He was the first American to hold a
position at the Berliner Ensemble, as well as being the theater's first non-German Music Director; his historic predecessors
include the composers Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau.
Maestro Frey has also been Music Director for major productions at the Edinburgh International Festival (where he received a
Critics' Prize), the Vienna Festwochen (Theater an der Wien), Venice Festival (Teatro La Fenice), Holland Festival, Fifth
European Festival in Recklinghausen and the Heidelberg Festival. He was also Music Director of the Copenhagen Opera
Festival. His many recent guest conducting appearances in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and South America include
performances with the Rio de Janeiro Philharmonic, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Royal Symphony Orchestra, Sibelius