> ARIAS FOR SOPRANO, TRUMPET AND ORGAN ADW7223 [CH]: Classical Reviews- February 2002 MusicWeb-International

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ARIAS FOR SOPRANO, TRUMPET AND ORGAN
Pater Damian STACHOWICZ (1658-1699)

Veni, veni Consolator
Alessandro MELANI (1639-1703)

All’armi, pensieri
Alessandro SCARLATTI (1660-1725)

Vaga Cintia adorata (from "Endimione e Cintia")
7 Arias: Si suoni la tromba, In terra la guerra, Con voce festiva, Rompe sprezza, Si riscaldi il Tebro, Mio tesoro per te moro, Farò la vendetta

Henry PURCELL (1658-1695)

Sound the trumpet, Sound Fame thy brazen trumpet (from "Dioclesian")
ALDROVANDINI (1673-1708)

De torrente
Marie-Noëlle de Callataÿ (soprano), Alain Roelant (trumpet), Jan van Landeghem (organ)
Rec. Aug. 1990, St. Joseph’s Church, Saint-Niklaas

PAVANE ADW 7223 [48.03]

 

Experience Classicsonline

I very much enjoyed the trumpet and organ record (Pavane 7281) made by two of these same performers a couple of years later in the same church under the name "Duo All’Armi". From the notes to that disc I learn that the three of them subsequently took the name "Trio All’Armi", basing themselves presumably on the title of the second piece here (it means "To arms!", but it is not modern Italian). Since my comments on the excellence of the trumpeter and organist remain (and Landeghem does not succumb to the temptation of using over-heavy registrations when accompanying, but makes a very positive partner nonetheless), interest centres on Marie-Noelle Callataÿ. She has that very bright kind of high soprano voice, using minimal vibrato yet having enough body to the sound not to seem schoolgirlish, which blends ideally with the trumpet. She performs a whole disc of brilliant, high-lying arias with fine technical aplomb and very little sign of strain. My example from Scarlatti "Si riscaldi il Tebro" is virtually chosen at random, so even is her accomplishment . Occasionally she could bite a little more on her words, both in Italian and in English (she is good in both, except where in the latter she makes "war" rhyme with "far"). However, I do recognise that words are inclined to be a lost cause in the upper register and she manages better than many others.

I praised the trumpet and organ record for its varied programme, with some solo organ pieces slipped in. Maybe something similar should have been done here, for it is in the nature of the repertoire that the pieces are unfailingly bright and jubilant, and almost always in D major. The very fact that the Purcell pair are in C helps to differentiate them from the rest, though such a beautiful sound as this would surely stand out in any context . It is a tribute to the performers that potential monotony is largely avoided. The closing Scarlatti group are all splendid pieces. To sum up, the soprano-trumpet-organ combination is a popular one and some notable names have contributed to its discography. What the great names less readily provide is a regularly constituted trio which have built up their repertoire together, learnt it together and presented it in public together over a period of time. I think this shows in the sense of corporate character we hear on this disc. In other words, if you are looking for a soprano, trumpet and organ disc to add to your collection I don’t think you could do better.

Finally, this record is more than a decade old, so where are its successors? Searching through Internet, I see that Callataÿ has continued to build up her operatic repertoire above all in her native Belgium. During 2002 she is to give a number of performances of Rossini’s "Petite Messe Solennelle" and will sing Gluck’s Eurydice alongside Ewa Podles’s Orfeo (a step up: she sang Cupid in the Podles recording of the work). So perhaps we will hear more of her soon. Certainly, her singing of one of the few opportunities this disc gives her to show her more expressive side, the middle section of Scarlatti’s "Mio tesoro", whets the appetite for more.

Christopher Howell



 



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