INTERVIEW: Tenor Brian Giebler charts new territory with ‘a lad’s love’ solo album
Photo: Brian Giebler’s new album is a lad’s love. Photo courtesy of J. Demetrie Photography / Provided by Kathryn King Media with permission.
American tenor Brian Giebler is making the most of a bad situation. Although his singing career has hit the same obstacles as other musicians and performers, given the current COVID-19 pandemic, he has stayed productive and continues to look for a better future. He recently debuted his first solo album, a lad’s love, which has been met with critical acclaim, and he can also be heard on a new recording of rare 17th century instrumental and vocal works, called Cantica Obsoleta.
For Giebler, the chance to record the solo album was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, and he hopes it will launch a successful career of interpreting early music and more modern tunes as well.
“For the relatively short career I’ve had thus far, I’m pretty much known for early music and for modern new music, and I thought why don’t I do something a little different that people don’t know me for, something I have a passion about,” Giebler said in a recent phone interview. “I had sung Ivor Gurney’s ‘Ludlow and Teme’ during my master’s degree recital at the University of Michigan. … And I said, you know, that’s a piece that’s near and dear to me. There are not many recordings of it. Why don’t I give it a go, and see if we can’t find something that pairs with that.”
With “Ludlow and Teme” as his inspiration, Giebler started to look for other compositions that would pair well with the early 20th century piano quintet. He landed on tunes by Benjamin Britten, John Ireland and Roger Quilter.
“Over the course of about a year we ultimately decided what type of rep we wanted to pursue, and it was interesting because we didn’t really think of the theme,” he said. “The theme kind of just developed on its own. … It was difficult, of course. It was something I’m not quite used to. I’ve done a couple of recordings with different ensembles before, so I was used to the process of recording and being in the studio and making sure we get it right. I was not used to the process of editing, so that process probably took me a little longer.”
Giebler, who has performed with The English Concert and Boston Baroque, eventually finished the recording process in the summer of 2019 and landed a deal with Bridge Records. Here’s how that connection to Bridge came about: “Earlier in the year I had done a recording with the amazing producer Adam Abeshouse, who is Joshua Bell’s recording producer, and I called him immediately. And he set me up with people on his team, and so we actually did the recording sessions. And then I mastered with Adam, and when I was talking with Adam, at that point I did not have a label. And he recommended going with a publicist over a label at the time, and it was actually my publicist who I got in touch with who said, ‘No, let’s find you a label. Let’s get you on a label.’ And we contacted several different labels and ultimately decided to move forward with Bridge. That actually didn’t happen until April of this year.”
One of the most resonant tunes on a lad’s love is the song “Because I Liked You Better,” which Giebler found because of his connection to the Ivor Gurney Society in England.
“When I was looking at the Ivor Gurney Society in England, the person who runs that society is Ian Venables,” Giebler said. “I contacted him about whether or not the Ivor Gurney Society would be interested in either helping fund the program or helping to advertise it once it’s out. … So he sent me over some music, and I immediately fell in love with this piece, ‘Because I Liked You Better,’ because I just felt like it was a perfect ending stamp on this journey that we were going on through the CD. And the interesting thing is I didn’t get that piece until a month before we were recording, so the strings and I threw that together last minute to add on to the CD.”
The result of these efforts is a finely crafted album that showcases Giebler’s impressive tenor voice — a fitting introduction for what promises to be a growing fan base.
And a bonus for fans who want to catch Giebler in performance: On Thursday, Sept. 17, he will appear as part of Surge Amica Mea, a program on TENET Vocal Artist’s T()night, a series of virtual mini-concerts. Also, on Saturday, Sept. 26, Giebler’s performance with the Cleveland Orchestra will stream on Cleveland’s WCLV; the piece that listeners will enjoy is Stravinsky’s “Threni,” with the tenor as a soloist.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Brian Giebler’s debut solo album is a lad’s love, which is out now from Bridge Records. Click here for more information.
