Elliot Carter's "A Mirror on Which to Dwell", RAVINIA
with Ensemble Dal Niente   

"So, too, did Birsan trace the jagged intervals of Carter's six settings of Elizabeth Bishop poems with amazing clarity of diction, accuracy of intonation and fineness of expression, this despite the welter of splintery, mandarin instrumental detail that surrounded her. "A Mirror on Which to Dwell" also was a U.S. bicentennial commission; more dissimilar pieces than the Carter and Bernstein would be hard to imagine. But Thursday's performers made the rough places wondrously plain, and this music also galvanized one's attention. It proved a fitting homage to Carter, one of America's most distinguished composers, who died in November, at 103. Too bad Ravinia isn't doing much more Carter this summer."

 - John Von Rhein, Chicago Tribune, July 2013