All pink and grey and pretty, this nattily packaged 4 CD box set
collects four of Kiri Te Kanawa’s studio recordings made between 1988
and 1997. She is thus found here in prime vocal condition, singing in three
languages and under four different, distinguished conductors. Two of the
discs are devoted to Italian opera and there’s one each allocated to
French and German opera. The second disc is wholly devoted to the composer
whose idiom her creamy, radiant voice often suited ideally: Puccini.
Renowned especially for her singing of leading ladies in Strauss and
Mozart operas, the absence of the latter, with the exception of one aria for
Pamina, is noticeable here. No Countess, no Fiordiligi, no Elvira - and, for
that matter, no Desdemona or Amelia, even though we hear her sing three
other Verdi heroines from Il trovatore”, “La traviata” and
“La forza del destino”.
Still, there is no claim from Warner that this represents a
“Best of” collection or a comprehensive review of her career; it
is simply a convenient and attractive repackaging available at a bargain
price to admirers of a very un-diva-ish soprano star especially beloved of
British and American audiences.
The singing is not flawless; sometimes there is a hint of catch or
hoarseness on attempted pianissimo and also blank passages of
characterisation which play into the hands of those who accuse her of being
dramatically bland; the very evenness of her tonal emission and registration
throughout her range can sometimes create an impression of too much ease
where other singers have audibly to struggle.
Ultimately, however, the overwhelming impression is of a voice of
surpassing beauty. The ample, soaring top notes in the Verdi arias, the
tender, feminine quality so suited to Massenet’s plaintive melodies,
the unexpected power of her cries of “Azaël” in the aria
from Debussy’s rarely heard “L’enfant prodigue”.
Arias from Charpentier’s “Louise” and “Les
pêcheurs de perles” both indicate that this is a singer of
exceptional gifts and versatility. There are surprises here for those who
have forgotten how apt is her voice to the stately beauty of Gluck, but if
there is one aria which best typifies her supremacy in some repertoire, it
is Magda’s “Che il bel sogno di Doretta” from “La
rondine”, with its arching, stratospheric phrases so suited to her
voice. Yet she can draw, albeit sparingly, upon a trenchant lower register
and rise to the tragic nobility of Leonora and Elisabetta in their desperate
appeals to God. I must here put in a word for the beautiful cor anglais solo
preceding Marguerite’s aria from Berlioz’s “La damnation
de Faust”, played by the Royal Opera House’s Graham Salter.
The German album was the last recorded here but the top notes are
still pure and plangent, the lower register, following her earlier work on
strengthening it after some criticism, fully capable of doing justice to
"Totenreich" in the "Ariadne" aria. As always with Dame Kiri, there is some
hoarseness and discoloration on the "ee" vowel in the middle of the voice
and there is perhaps some very slight loosening of the vibrato, but neither
of these things in any way much compromises enjoyment. There is no question
whether she can do justice to the Wagner arias: the voice soars as it
should, at least as recorded, and makes me wonder why she didn't take on
more Wagner on stage. There is scrupulous musicianship and care for the
beauty of line here but as much as I enjoy the Weber and the Wagner, the
Strauss arias are the glory of this disc, particularly the rapturous
apotheosis of Daphne which forms the concluding scene of the opera. The
orchestral playing here is as beautiful as the singing; indeed the
Philharmonia play divinely under Julius Rudel. The recital ends with a
glorious account of Korngold's famous "Glück, das mir verblieb", sung
as serenely and beguilingly as any singer before or since.
Not just for Te Kanawa's fans, this set also provides a great survey
of the role of the soprano in 19
th and 20
th century
opera
Ralph Moore
Full contents list
BERLIOZ:
La Damnation de Faust: D'amour l'ardente flamme
BIZET:
Me voilà seule…Comme autrefois (from Les Pêcheurs
de Perles)
BOITO:
L'altra notte in fondo al mare (from Mefistofele)
CHARPENTIER
Depuis le jour (from Louise)
CILEA:
Ecco: respiro appena. Io son l'umile ancella (from Adriana
Lecouvreur)
Poveri fiori (from Adriana Lecouvreur)
DEBUSSY:
L'annee en vain...Cependent les soirs (from L'enfant Prodigue)
GIORDANO:
La mamma morta (from Andrea Chénier)
GLUCK:
Cette nuit … O toi qui prolongeas mes jours (from
Iphigénie en Tauride)
KORNGOLD:
Glück, das mir verbleib 'Marietta's Lied' (from Die Tote Stadt)
LEONCAVALLO:
Qual fiamma avea nel guardo!.... Hui! Stridono lassù (from I
Pagliacci)
MASSENET:
Il est doux, il est bon (from Hérodiade)
Je marche sur tous les chemins (from Manon)
Adieu, notre petite table (from Manon)
De cet affreux combat…Pleurez, mes yeux ! (from Le Cid)
MOZART
Ach, ich fühl's (from Die Zauberflöte, K620)
OFFENBACH:
Elle a fui, la tourterelle (from Les Contes d' Hoffmann)
PUCCINI:
Signore, ascolta! (from Turandot)
Tu che di gel sei cinta (from Turandot)
Senza mamma, o bimbo (from Suor Angelica)
Vissi d'arte (from Tosca)
Se come voi piccina io fossi (from Le Villi)
In quelle trine morbide (from Manon Lescaut)
Manon Lescaut: Intermezzo Act III
Sola, perduta, abbandonata (from Manon Lescaut)
Sole e Amore
Si, mi chiamano Mimi (from La Bohème)
Donde lieta usci (from La Bohème)
Un bel di vedremo (from Madama Butterfly)
Madama Butterfly: Intermezzo Act II, part 2
Chi il bel sogno di Doretta (from La Rondine)
Senza mamma, o bimbo (from Suor Angelica)
O mio babbino caro (from Gianni Schicchi)
Signore, ascolta! (from Turandot)
Tu che di gel sei cinta (from Turandot)
STRAUSS:
Es gibt ein Reich (from Ariadne auf Naxos)
Zweite Brautnacht! (from Die Ägyptische Helena)
Ich komme, grünen Brüder (from Daphne)
VERDI
Tacea la notte (from Il Trovatore)
Attendo,attendo.. Addio del passato (from La Traviata)
Pace, pace mio Dio! (from La forza del destino)
Toi qui sus le néant des grandeurs (from Don Carlos)
WAGNER
Allmächt’ge Jungfrau! (from Tannhäuser)
Dich, teure Halle (from Tannhauser)
O Sachs, mein Freund! (from Die Meistersinger)
Du bist der Lenz (from Die Walküre)
WEBER
Wie nahte mir der Schlummer … Leise, leise, fromme Weise (from
Der Freischütz)
Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle (from Der Freischütz)
rec. 19, 20, 23-24 June, 17-19 October 1989, No.1 Studio. Abbey Road,
London; 14-22 May 1996, Opéra National de Lyon; November, 1988, No.1
Studio. Abbey Road, London; 9-10, 13-24, 17-18 October 1996, 5, 7, 9-10,
12-13 March 1997, No.1 Studio. Abbey Road, London. DDD
