Album Notes

Sarah Bryan Miller, Classical Music Critic - St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes about Marilyn DeStefano in preview from Lullaby Sweets:

"There is no more basic form of music than the lullaby,
the expression of the universal urge to calm a fretful
infant into restful sleep. Different cultures find different sounds, but the aim is always the same. So is the quiet pleasure of soothing a baby with song, just as our mothers did for us.
Soprano Marilyn DeStefano writes, "I was encouraged
to do a lullaby CD after singing several Italian lullabies at a Christmas concert last year. I listened to every lullaby recording I could find, and after listening to over a dozen - everything from strictly ethnic lullabies to Olivia Newton John - I thought our project had a wonderful variety of music, from original compositions to classical music, with colors and sounds I had not yet heard."
Her aim is not necessarily to put people to sleep, but to
offer a variety of beautiful songs done in a lullaby fashion. Some of them may make you drowsy; some may stir your heart. All are here to be enjoyed."

Soprano, Marilyn DeStefano, a native Chicagoan, has been a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Chorus as well as the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. Her solo debut with the company came in 1985 as the Virgin in Handel's Samson which starred Jon Vickers and June Anderson. She has had the privilege of working with many of the opera world's greatest singers, including Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Kiri TeKanawa, Dame Joan Sutherland and Jesse Norman. Ms. DeStefano also appeared in the European premiere of Penderecki's Paradise Lost at La Scala, Milan. The Chicago Opera Players heard her as the First Lady in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and her debut role for Hinsdale Opera Theatre, Illinois was Lucy in Menotti's "The Telephone".

This, Ms. DeStefano's first CD, called "Lullaby Sweets", is a recording of classic lullabies like "That's an Irish Lullaby", "Summertime", and "Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel" as well as nontraditional songs like "Simple Gifts", "God Bless the Child" and an original lullaby, "Sweet William", she wrote for her son.

Also available, Ms. DeStefano's most recent release, a live recording (performed at Baker Methodist Church, St. Charles, Illinois) titled Reve d'amour is a collection of French love songs with Claire de lune by Debussy, Mandoline by Faure, and Ravel's Cinq Melodies de Grecques as well as French Chansons by other great composers.

Currently, Ms. DeStefano is working on several other recording projects including a CD of Christmas songs, a CD of wedding music and a collection of opera arias.