Dawn Upshaw: The Girl with Orange Lips
This was a seminal recital album: Dawn Upshaw not only came of age artistically but showed  the world she wouldn't be maintaining the status quo repertoire. The program is a carefully sequenced  succession of darkly mysterious exotica, including Maurice Delage'sFour Hindu Poems,  Stravinsky'sThree Japanese Lyricsand Ravel'sThree Mallarme Poems, all abstractly  poetic and couching the voice in chamber ensembles with unusual instrumental combinations. What makes  Upshaw so perfect for this is that her clarity of voice and purpose keep it all from becoming puzzling and  obscure.--David Patrick Stearns