On an earlier offering from Cheryl Barker, a tribute to her
fellow-Australian Joan Hammond, one may notice a certain deterioration
of vocal qualities: widened vibrato, grittier tone. Here, recorded
almost a decade before that, she is in her vocal prime. With
Richard Bonynge approaching Puccini’s music with fresh eyes
– he had conducted fairly little Puccini – we are in for a very
attractive traversal of the Italian maestro’s ‘love affair with
the soprano voice’. It should be noted, though, that this is
not a complete traversal: there is no Minnie (La
fanciulla del West), no Giorgetta (Il tabarro)
and no Turandot – for obvious reasons. These are the three most
dramatic soprano roles in Puccini’s oeuvre and Ms Barker and
Melba wisely left them out as unsuitable for her voice. As compensation
we are offered two little songs at the end of the recital.
We start the journey in 1884 with Le Villi, a horrible
story based on the Giselle legend. Anna’s aria is sung
as a farewell to her beloved Roberto – or rather sung to his
suitcase – before he leaves on a long journey. It is an inspired
piece and the melody certainly points forward to the masterpieces
that were to pour out of his pen within a decade. It is brilliantly
sung. It took Puccini another five years to present his next
opera Edgar, which suffers from ‘the worst libretto
ever devised by the mind of man’, as Rodney Milnes drastically
puts it in his liner notes. Fidelia’s aria heard here is another
farewell to a beloved man, though in this case for ever since
he is supposed to be dead. In fact he isn’t, It’s a lugubrious
piece that gives the soprano opportunities to soar in powerful
phrases above the full orchestra.
Puccini needed four more years for his third opera and here
we have a work that has stood the test of time and is firmly
rooted in the standard repertoire, Manon Lescaut. Less
than ten years earlier Massenet had written his Manon,
based on the same novel by Abbé Prévost and Ricordi, Puccini’s
publisher didn’t like the idea since Massenet’s opera was already
established and very popular. Puccini persevered, however, and
the two works are now among the very few based on the same story
that have managed to co-exist. The two arias heard here are
both gems in the soprano repertoire. Sola, perduta
from the last act is sung when Manon realises that she is going
to die in the desert. It is given a deeply moving reading by
Cheryl Barker.
From La bohème we get both of Mimi’s arias. Actually
Sono andati from the last act is also an aria, kind
of. They are well sung. Si, mi chiamano Mimi is rather
restrained and conversational. This is no showpiece but from
Ma quando vien lo sgelo Barker expands gloriously,
possibly the most impressive singing on this recital. Musetta
is quite a different kind of person, carefree and frivolous.
Ms Barker’s reading of her waltz is too straight-faced. The
singing per se leaves nothing to be wished but I miss
the glint in the eye.
Vissi d’arte from Tosca is another impressive
reading with a mighty climax and beautiful scaling down in the
final bars.
Cio-Cio San – which is Japanese for Butterfly – is in effect
impossible to create convincingly on stage: a frail 15-year-old
girl requiring a Tosca voice! On records the problem is less
obvious. We can sit back and wallow in the soprano’s magnificent
outbreaks. The role is a kind of signature role for Cheryl Barker
and here we get three central excerpts from the opera.
Also from La rondine we get more than we are used to
hearing, not only Doretta’s dream but also the waltz Ore
dolce è divine. Both Senza Mamma and O mio
babbino caro are most beautifully sung. Liù’s two arias
from Turandot are worthy conclusions to this programme,
covering 40 years of composition. The bonus songs are charming
too. E l’uccellino was written in 1899 for the child
of a friend who died soon after his marriage and before the
child was born. Sole e amore from 1888 may be unknown
as a title but the melody was recycled by Puccini for the quartet
at the end of act III of La bohème.
This is a very attractive disc, well recorded and with excellent
orchestral playing. Admirers of Cheryl Barker need not hesitate:
Go out and buy!
Göran Forsling
Cheryl Barker (soprano)