Oksana Dyka (soprano)
In questa reggia
Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra/Constantine Orbelian
rec. 2019, Kaunas Philharmonic, Lithuania
Sung texts and English translations enclosed
Reviewed as download from press preview
DELOS DE3586 [68]
Ukrainian soprano Oksana Dyka graduated at the Kyiv Conservatory in 2004 and after a few seasons at the Kyiv Opera embarked on an international career that has taken her to many of the great opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she debuted in 2014 as Yaroslavna in Borodin's Prince Igor. I heard her as Tosca opposite Sergei Leiferkus’ Scarpia at the Dalhalla Opera Festival in Sweden in 2005 (review), was deeply impressed and predicted a great career. Considering her many successes during the last two decades it is surprising that we had to wait so long for her debut recording, but better late than never. Since I heard her, she has developed from a Tebaldi-like lirico spinto to a true high-octane spinto with explosive top notes capable to shatter glass. Her Turandot is impressive, not only for the penetrating and absolutely secure high notes, but also the intensity and involvement of her reading. To some listeners her tone can seem too bright, verging on acidulous, and occasionally her vibrato appears too wide and a bit uneven – a result, no doubt, of her taking on heavier roles. Sometimes her lowest notes are a little weak as well. All these details can be observed in the Turandot aria, but as a whole it is a strong reading of a notoriously demanding piece.
The reading of Vissi d’arte from Tosca is very much the same as I remember it from seventeen years ago: warm and inward. Amelia’s aria at the gallows hill in Un ballo in maschera is also well executed with deep involvement. The excellent oboe soloist should also be mentioned.
The aria from Nabucco is a voice-killer, but Ms Dyka manages it well, even though the opening phrases of the aria proper are a little shaky. The cabaletta is of course a stumble-block for any soprano, but Oksana Dyka has the full measure for it – even though she can’t erase the memory of Elena Souliotis’ totally uninhibited version on the legendary Gardelli recording from the 1960s.
Her reading of Butterfly’s Un bel di vedremo is one of the best things on this disc, and in particular the opening is really lovely with beautiful legato singing and tangible feeling. Here she is fully comparable to Tebaldi, which is the highest praise one can give. Pace, pace, mio Dio from La forza del destino is another aria where Tebaldi is my model, but here Oksana Dyka loses the battle: she is rather strained in the upper reaches, and this afflicts also to some extent the aria from Manon Lescaut. The intensity and the involvement are undeniable in both arias, however.
The three scenes from Macbeth, which conclude the recital, are real highlights. Her speaking voice in the opening of Nel di della vittoria is admirably intense and frightening and ominous and the singing is likewise appalling, which in this case is the highest praise. Verdi would have loved it, since he explicitly wrote to Salvatore Cammarano, who was producing the opera in Naples: “Lady Macbeth’s voice should be hard, stifled and dark” and “Lady Macbeth’s [voice] should be that of a devil.” Oksana Dyka cannot completely conceal that she has a beautiful voice, but she is nasty enough to be a convincing she-devil.
All is not perfect in this recital, but the overall impression is that of a great singer who wants to communicate the inner feelings of some great female characters. Constantine Orbelian is a pliable conductor, and the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra plays excellently under his direction.
Göran Forsling
Previous review: Michael Cookson
Contents
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 – 1924)
Turandot:
1. In questa reggia ([6:34]
Tosca:
2. Vissi d’arte [3:38]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813 – 1901)
Un ballo in maschera:
3. Ecco l’orrido campo [8:54]
Nabucco:
4. Anch’io dischiuso un giorno [10:01]
Giacomo PUCCINI
Madama Butterfly:
5. Un bel di vedremo [5:00]
Giuseppe VERDI
La forza del destino:
6. Pace, pace, mio Dio [6:06]
Giacomo PUCCINI
Manon Lescaut:
7. Sola, perduta, abbandonata [6:10]
Giuseppe VERDI
Macbeth:
8. Nel di della vittoria … Vieni! t’affretta [8:13]
9. La luce langue [4:32]
10. Una macchia è qui tuttora [8:55]
