Jamie Barton : Classic(al) Rock

From the thunderous piano works of Chopin to the gargantuan symphonies of Mahler, classical music has no shortage of exhilarating moments that shake to the core. Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton came to classical music as a fully fledged teenage metalhead, tuning into her local public radio station one day, simply out of curiosity. “I fell utterly in love with classical music that night,” she tells Apple Music Classical. “I had always loved the kind of music that sonically rocked me to my core, but I had no idea that classical music could rock so hard!” Classic(al) Rock is a playlist of works that, says Barton, “make you feel music from your roots up”, and they don’t come much more bombastic than the mighty “Dies Irae” from Verdi’s Requiem. “This piece has got everything I love most,” she reveals; “absolutely gorgeous music to sing, paired with some of the most core-vibrating orchestral and choral writing that exists.” Sometimes, however, the impact of a work can be all the greater if the composer first lulls you into a false sense of security. With Chopin’s Ballade No. 2 for solo piano, you get just that. “Lean in for the first two minutes of the piece,” suggests Barton, “and let this gentle lullaby rock you into the most peaceful of places. Then, hold on to your hats—the next bit comes at you like a roller coaster. It was completely surprising the first time I heard it.” A lifelong Metallica fan, Barton’s attention was understandably grabbed by the band’s collaborations with the San Francisco Symphony. Russian composer Alexander Mosolov’s 1927 orchestral work The Iron Foundry recreates the deafening, incessant mechanical hammering of a Soviet factory—heavy metal music in its most literal sense. This live performance marries the colossal forces of the San Francisco Symphony with the brute ferocity of Metallica’s guitar and drums for a brilliant, spine-tingling four minutes of sonic mayhem. “I wish I could have been a tiny little headbanging fly on the wall for that concert!” says Barton.