Kim Leeds, Mezzo-Soprano
Dani Zanuttini- Frank, Lute

Recorded February 2023

"Sorrow, Stay" by John Dowland

Lamento D'arianna by Claudio Monteverdi

Kim Leeds, Mezzo-Soprano
Jon Mendl, Theorbo
Amy Brodo, Viola di Gamba

Recorded March 2023 by Swineshead Productions

Lamento D'Arianna by Monteverdi

Come Cheerful Day by Thomas Campion

Kim Leeds,  Mezzo Soprano
Jon Mendle, Lute

Recorded March 2023 by Swineshead Productions

Come Cheerful Day by Campion

Never Weather-Beaten Sail by Thomas Campion

Kim Leeds, Mezzo-Soprano
Jon Mendle, Lute
Amy Brodo, Viola di Gamba

Recorded March 2023 by Swineshead Productions

Never Weather-Beaten Sail by Campion

Love Arms Himself In Celia's Eyes by Henry Purcell

Kim Leeds, Mezzo-Soprano
Jon Mendle, Lute
Amy Brodo, Viola di gamba

Recorded March 2023 by Swineshead Productions

Love Arms Himself In Celia's Eyes by Purcell

"Come again, sweet love doth now invite" by John Dowland

Kim Leeds, Mezzo-Soprano
Dani Zanuttini-Frank, Lute

Recorded January 2023 at Futura Productions

Come Again, Sweet Love Doth Now Invite by Dowland

Si dolce è'l tormento
Music by Claudio Monteverdi; text by Carlo Milanuzzi
Arranged by Ashok Gupta

Performers: Patrick Terry, countertenor;  Ashok Gupta, piano
Recorded by Tom Mungall, April 2023

This is an arrangement I wrote for countertenor and piano of Monteverdi's beautiful song

English translation © Nicholas Cornforth
So sweet is the torment
That lies in my heart,
That I can live content
With unfeeling, infatuating beauty. 
In this earthly paradise 
Vanity grows
And piety fades:
Yet like a rock 
Against the wave of pride
My faith will always hold fast. 

False hope
Turns away from me,
Neither pleasure nor peace
Descend upon me,
And the unholy woman I adore
Does not grant me the relief
Of her favour: 
Amidst infinite pain
Amidst forlorn hope
My faith will live on. 

From fire and ice
I have no respite 
but at heaven’s gates
I will find peace…
if the fatal blow
of an unwavering arrow
pierced my heart,
overturning my fate
brought by death’s dart 
I will heal my heart… 

If the flame of love
Has never yet been felt
By the hard heart
That has stolen my own,
If I am shown no pity
By the cruel siren
That has enchanted my soul: 
Then let it be that one day,
Languishing in pain and repentance,
She will sigh for me.

Si dolce è'l tormento Claudio Monterverdi arr. Gupta

With her "vivid, deeply satisfying sound" and “rich, smooth mezzo soprano”, Kim Leeds engages audiences in her exploration of life’s essence through music. As a soloist, she has sung with the Bach Society of St. Louis, the Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Choir, American Bach Soloists, and has performed with the Carmel Bach Festival as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow. Ms. Leeds has performed a wide range of repertoire from Zelenka and Barbara Strozzi, to Janacek, Irving Fine, and Poulenc and has sung premieres of works by Ronnie Reshef and James Kallembach. 

As a choral artist, Ms. Leeds has toured with Helmuth Rilling in Eastern Germany as a member of the Weimar Bach Academy and toured Northern Italy and Southern Germany with the Junges Stuttgart Bach Ensemble. In the US, she has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival and this season joins the Handel and Haydn Society under the direction of Harry Christophers.

Elsewhere in the Boston area, Ms. Leeds has appeared as a soloist with the Commonwealth Chorale, Cantata Singers, Music at Marsh Chapel, and can be heard on the 2017 Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of Jeremy Gill’s “Before the Wresting Tides.” Ms. Leeds holds degrees from Mannes College of Music and the Boston Conservatory.

New tracks tagged #Lutesong