For some years now, Barbara Hendricks has had the blues. The great soprano has sung Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and many others onstage in the world’s greatest opera houses. Despite all of this, she still loves coming back to this genre which has its roots in the songs of slaves and reflects their suffering and their hopes. On The Road to Freedom, Hendricks revisits traditional blues, soul and gospel songs that served as the soundtrack for civil rights struggles in America in the fifties and sixties, as well as gems written by Ry Cooder, Curtis Mayfield, J.B. Lenoir, Thomas A. Dorsey and many others. Paired with the soprano’s angelic voice, these classics are presented in a new light whilst all the while maintaining their natural charm. Intense. © Clotilde Maréchal/Qobuz.