THUMBS UP
Il Bel Sogno - Opera Arias
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta - La rondine [3:18]
Si, Mi chiamano Mimi… - La bohème [4:51]
Donde lieta - La bohème [3:17]
O mio babbino caro - Gianni Schicchi [2:37]
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Trahir Vincent - Mireille [5:44]
Voici la vaste plaine - Mireille [8:10]
Le Roi de Thule, (Air des bijoux) - Faust [11:15]
Il ne revient pas - Faust [5:40]
Jules MASSENET (1842–1912)
Allons! Il le faut... Adieu, notre petite table - Manon [4:39]
Dis-moi que je suis belle…(Air de mirror) - Thaïs
[7:50]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Addio del passato - La traviata [7:46]
È strano… Ah, fors'è lui… Follie! follie!… Sempre libera - La traviata
[11:45]
Inva Mula (soprano); Agim Hushi (tenor – tr. 12)
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra/Ivo Lipanoviç
rec. 4-7 March, 16-18 April 2009, Lesinski Hall, Zagreb, Croatia. DDD
VIRGIN CLASSICS 6 94538 0 [76:56]
Lyric-coloratura soprano Inva Mula has released an alluring recital of French
and Italian arias for the Virgin Classics label. ‘Courtesan’ might
be a more appropriate title for the disc as by my reckoning four of the heroine
roles operate in that profession.
Mula demonstrates her splendid credentials as one of the finest ‘French’ sopranos
of today performing two arias from Gounod’s Mireille alongside well-known
extracts from his Faust, and Massenet’s Thaïs and Manon.
The Italian repertoire is represented by standard arias of the repertoire
from Verdi’s La traviata to Puccini’s La bohème, La rondine
and Gianni Schicchi.
The Albanian-born Mula has been given the accolade of opening the 2009-10
season at the Paris Opera in the title role of Gounod’s rarely heard five
act Mireille. I suspect that there are many readers who have not heard
of this soprano so some biographical details are in order. In 1987 she won
the Cantante d'Albania competition in Tirana and the next year was
successful in the internationally renowned George Enescu Competition in Bucharest.
Mula was victorious in the 1992 Barcelona Butterfly competition and
in 1993 a prize-winner at the first Plácido Domingo Operalia competition in
Paris. It seems that prior to the mid-1990s the soprano was using the name
Inva Mulla Tchako.
In France, Mula has appeared in Bizet's Carmen and also in his rarely
staged La Jolie fille de Perth and Ivan IV. Other roles include
Bellini's I puritani, Puccini's Turandot, Berlioz's Béatrice
et Bénédict, Lalo's Le Roi d'Ys, Gounod's Faust and
Cherubini's Médée. In Italy Mula regularly worked in collaboration
with maestro Riccardo Muti, most notably at La Scala, Milan. Her Italian roles
have included Verdi’s La traviata, Falstaff and Rigoletto, Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Pasquale and L'elisir d'amore,
Puccini’s La bohème and Gianni Schicchi. For the Vienna State
Opera, Mula has starred in Verdi’s La traviata and Offenbach’s Les
contes d'Hoffmann with appearances in Germany, USA, England, Japan, Spain
and Canada.
Puccini’s wistful aria Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from La rondine
opens the release. Mula is imperious, confidently characterising Magda,
the sophisticated yet tragic Parisian heroine. A favourite opera of mine La
rondine deserves to be a staple of the repertoire. Declaring her love
of springtime the soprano gives a convincing portrait of the heroine Mimi
the frail Parisian seamstress in the set-piece aria Si, Mi chiamano Mimi
from Puccini’s La bohème. From the same opera as
a shivering Mimi in the aria Donde lieta uscì Mula displays that she
can build a climax equal to the finest star sopranos. Puccini’s one act Gianni
Shicchi is celebrated for the show-piece O mio babbino caro.
Mula’s attractive and demure depiction of Lauretta the heroine in love
with Rinuccio is quite delicious.
As the Provençal farm girl Mireille, Mula sings two arias from Mireille.
In the air Trahir Vincent I was struck by her formidable attack
in the closing bars. The splendid aria Voici la vaste plaine
is set in the fiery and arid Crau desert. Here Mireille sees a mirage of a
magnificent city close to a great lake. It is hard not to be impressed by
Mula’s clear, incisive and expressive tones. As Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust,
Mula is secure and expressive in her eleven-minute solo scene in Act 3 that
commences with Je voudrais bien savoir…then Il était un Roi de Thulé…and
Un bouquet!…O Dieu! que de bijoux! Mula’s appealing performance in the
conclusion of the scene, the show-stopping mirror aria known as the ‘Jewel
Song’ Ah! je ris de me voir is a true highlight of the disc. In Marguerite’s
aria Il ne revient pas I love the way Mula soars to the high notes
with such rapt assurance.
In Massenet’s Manon I was impressed by the soprano’s cherishable characterisation
of the young heroine Manon Lescaut in the aria Allons! Il le faut... Adieu,
notre petite table. Thaïs, a courtesan in Ancient Egypt is the title role
of Massenet’s opera of the same name. Ah! Je suis seule... Dis-moi que
je suis belle is another mirror aria that the confident Mula conveys with
considerable depth of feeling.
Arias from the Italian master Giuseppe Verdi close the disc. From the Verdi
masterwork La traviata the heroine is Parisian courtesan Violetta Valéry
who is suffering from tuberculosis. From Act 3 in Addio del passato where
Violetta is bidding farewell to life, Mula with splendid expression provides
all the necessary pathos the role demands. Violetta’s celebrated Act 1 arias
È strano… Ah, fors'è lui… Follie! follie!… Sempre libera are suitably
affecting with Mula demonstrating appropriate flexibility and a natural feel
for pacing.
One cannot fail to be impressed by the spirited and persuasive playing from
the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra under Ivo Lipanoviç. Recorded in Zagreb
at the Lesinski Hall I found the sound quality to be pleasing, reasonably
warm with a good balance. The well-written notes in the booklet would have
benefited from more detail. On the advertising blurb for the release I have
seen references to a digital bonus track of Verdi’s aria Caro nome from
Rigoletto. I couldn’t make any real sense of it and never found the
track. This is probably another tiresome ploy to get the listener to visit
the label’s website.
These are magnificent performances both spirited and radiant from Inva Mula
a soprano who can compare with some of the finest names in the recording world.
She has a rather distinctive voice and is undoubtedly comfortable with high
tessitura roles where she can soar upwards and float effortlessly like a seabird
in thermal. Few can rival the creamy timbre and tone colours of the divas
Fleming, Gheorghiu and Netrebko but Mula is blessed with superb poise and
wonderful assurance together with a remarkable gift to emotionally affect
the listener. Pleasurable from start to finish this Virgin Classics disc is
one for opera lovers to savour.
Michael Cookson
Mula is blessed with superb poise and wonderful assurance together with a
tremendous ability to emotionally affect the listener. ... see Full Review