Natalie Dessay - The Miracle of the Voice

 

Release Date: 01/16/2007 Label: Virgin Classics Number of discs: 2 Composer: Various Performer: Natalie Dessay cd info/ buy

Review:

Natalie Dessay has been in the forefront now for well nigh fifteen years and it is not only the usual hype to entitle this album “The Miracle of the Voice”. She certainly has an astonishing technique: bell-like clarity, effortless top notes, sure-footed coloratura and a trill to match. Her pianissimo singing is ravishing and then her tone is smooth as satin. It is a light voice, though she can engender quite a lot of power and then she also finds a somewhat darker timbre. The Mad Scene from Lucie de Lammermoor shows her dramatic abilities and she is obviously a good actor. listening through this two and a half hours offering was a great pleasure and I soon forgot to conjure up memories of many a great singer from the distant – and not so distant – past who have excelled in this repertoire. She is definitely a miracle of her own and here are collected some of the most taxing arias ever written and they are impressively sung. It is a pity that the notes don’t give any clues as to when the recordings were made, how the voice has changed during the ten years this collection encompasses, but to my ears her voice seems to have been very consistent. The program is a fine mix and shows the many-sided talent of this fascinating artist.

 

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Igor Stravinsky - Oedipus Rex - Troyanos, Kozma, Crass, C.Abbado, RAI SO and Chorus

Release Date: September 14, 1999 Label: Opera D'oro Number of discs: 1 Composer: Igor Stravinsky Performer: Tatiana Troyanos, Claudio Abbado cd info/ buy

Review:

Tatiana Troyanos was a terrific Jocasta, and the lesser know Oedipus, Lejos Kozna, was good, if not up to her standard. Franz Crass is formidable and in excellent voice as Creon. As for Abbado's interpretation, it's very well controlled and involved but a bit smoothed out and mellifluous for what Stravinsky had in mind, a cool, distanced retelling of Oedipus's familiar tragic tale.Technically this recording leaves something to be desired since the score is so complex that being able to hear all the notes in different listenings is valuable. But the performance is stunning, especially Tatania Troyanos's performance of Jocasta. She really allows one to hear the background of Verdi that Stravinsky was surely thinking of in parts of this piece. The conducting is insightful. If only one could really hear it all. Still it is worth having and going back to now and then. Especially for Troyanos. Oedipus Rex, opera-oratorio in 2 acts Composed by Igor Stravinsky Performed by RLB Symphony Orchestra with Tatiana Troyanos, Franz Crass, Luigi Roni, Lajos Kozma Conducted by Claudio Abbado

 

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