The
Cardiff Singer of the World competition has been a springboard
to fame for many present day stars. One need only mention names
like Karita Mattila, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Bryn Terfel and Lisa
Gasteen. Last time, in 2005, the winner was California-born
soprano Nicole Cabell, who was immediately signed up by Decca
and recorded her debut recital in December that year. With the
London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis
backing her the conditions of the project are the best possible.
The playing is certainly superb, further enhanced by the excellent
recording.
As
for the singer, her first phrases of the well-known waltz aria
from La Bohème made me sit up. Here was a voice with
a personal timbre: bright, vibrant and with a ring that one
more associates with heavier repertoire. It soon turned out
that it was not just a voice: her phrasing was so natural, carefully
judged no doubt but not in that calculated way that cries out:
Listen! How good I am! This was something that came from
within, from conviction rather than complacency. What I also
felt though was a certain coldness. True, Musetta is a calculating
woman but she is also warm and flirtatious, which didn’t quite
come through in this reading. The tempo was certainly on the
slow side but the singing wasn’t alluring enough. The next aria,
also in ¾ time, the quick and virtuoso waltz from Roméo et
Juliette, revealed that Ms Cabell’s trill and coloratura
technique is in perfect shape. It was a true pleasure to hear
this music sung with such full tone yet with elegance and lightness,
but even here I missed some warmth.
Recitals
of this kind tend to centre upon roughly the same hackneyed
standard arias. This is natural enough, but Cabell was bold
enough to include several rare numbers. The beautiful aria from
the late lamented Gian-Carlo Menotti’s The Old Man and the
Thief was an inspired choice and here, singing in her mother
tongue, she appeared as warmer while retaining some steel in
the voice. Indeed this was great singing, expressive and with
well judged pianissimos. The dramatic act 4 aria from Roméo
et Juliette also suited her better than the fairly empty
waltz and here she created a character with face. She delivered
a beautiful O mio babbino caro but, as with the Musetta
aria, a little short on charm. For Les filles de Cadix
she lightened the tone, it was lively and bouncy, impeccable
singing but again that last ounce of charm, of caressing the
phrases, was missing.
As
Clara in Porgy and Bess she sang the famous lullaby with
exquisite shadings, elegant portamenti and a slightly laid back,
jazzy feeling. The same can be said of her excellent reading
of How can I cherish my man in such days from Michael
Tippett’s A Child of our Time, where she demonstrated
her fine breath control. I haven’t seen the aria from Benvenuto
Cellini included in a recital for ages, so this was another
good choice. This three-part piece sets the soprano to severe
test, especially the fast cabaletta-like third part. She came
out of it with flying colours, showing off a perfect trill in
the cadenza. It’s a far cry to the inward Louise aria,
which she sang in long phrases and scaled down towards the end
to a near whisper. Impressive!
The
long aria from I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Bellini’s “Romeo
and Juliet” opera, though not based on Shakespeare, opened with
Timothy Brown playing the beautiful horn solo delivering an
exquisite round tone. Ms Cabell’s opening phrase presented us
with a nervously trembling Juliet. Then when the horn came back
for a duet with the soprano there was a nice contrast between
the mellow instrument and the bright voice. Helen Tunstall’s
harp accompaniment to the aria proper should also be mentioned.
Overall this aria was one of the most successful in the whole
recital.
She
may not have the creamy tones one ideally wants in Doretta’s
dream but it was still a well considered reading with sensitive
phrasing. The concluding aria, Norina’s entrance piece from
Don Pasquale, was lively and up to the demands on nearly
all accounts. Vocally it couldn’t be bettered, but I missed
a smile in the voice – it was too straight-faced. But she is
at the very beginning of her career and more stage experience
will certainly add to her already well endowed armoury of expressive
means. For pure singing she is full-fledged already. Indeed
it is a remarkable voice and I am already longing to hear more
from her – why not a complete opera? There is for example some
Menotti to be recorded.
Göran
Forsling
Nicole Cabell
(soprano) 
