With musical parents,
Aga Winska studied piano and flute before transferring
to vocal studies in 1983, where her natural abilities found
their true métier as a coloratura soprano. It is very
much in this demanding fach that she is heard on
this disc, recorded in 1990. Tracks 1 and 2 give us the two
Queen of the Night arias from The Magic Flute and
it is immediately obvious that Aga Winska is an artist of considerable
ability. Yes, there are a couple of places where phrases are
abbreviated and breath gets short, but she encompasses the stratospheric
demands well; likewise in Konstanze's three arias from the Abduction
from the Harem. The demands of Marten aller Arten
have brought many a famous soprano down, but here Winska copes
well with the high-lying tessitura and articulates the coloratura
convincingly.
The demands of
Fiordiligi's Come Scoglio from Cosi are different
than those for Konstanze. The registers need to be well knit,
the passagio not lumpy and the declamatory phrases secure in
the chest register. Aga Winska meets these demands well and
brings good characterisation to the phrases. In the Exsultate,
where there is much high-powered competition on disc, she again
shows confidence and vocal strength although I did catch some
aspiration in the runs.
With vocal strengths
such as exemplified here, it is no wonder that Aga Winska has
found work under the batons of the likes of Harnoncourt, Cambreling
and Östman. Given the short timing of the disc and her
well supported 'mezza voce' with adequate heft, I would have
liked to hear her as Susana and Pamina. On the basis of this
disc I would have expected a developing career.
The recording is
first class, well balanced between voice and orchestra in a
true, clear and natural acoustic.
The brief notes
are in English and French, one not being a translation of the
other.
Robert J Farr
Aga Winska
(soprano) 