Customer Reviews

Andreas Scholl - Heroes / Norrington

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a mezzo who loves singing the Mozart and Gluck trouser repertoire I am naturally suspicious of counter tenors, but after many playings of this wonderful recital of arias, every one of which I covert for myself, I finally admit to loving this wonderful counter tenor in the shape of Andreas Scholl. I discovered this disc after hearing Venga Pur, Minacci e Frema played on Classic FM. Determined to include this aria in a recital as soon as possible I quickly tracked down the recording, as well as a very expensive Barenreiter score of Mitridate - worth every penny! However, many more treats were in store. Every aria on this CD is sung with elegance, refinement, brilliance, and the most staggeringly impressive technique. My only slight reservation is Che Faro - but again, this may well be pure prejudice since I have just sung that wonderful role and consider it my own (and maybe Janet Baker's!). Whatever your position on the counter tenor voice, you must hear this recording, and if you love Mozart, Handel and Gluck, it is required listening.

I met my first countertenor a few years ago and I had the priviledge of singing beside him in our choir. The incredible purity of the countertenor voice is something that I, as a Baroque music lover, can only dream of achieving. I think that Andreas Scholl is one of the most incredible countertenors today. The purity of his sound and the passion of his performances speaks to me in ways that only music can. I own several of his albums, and this is my favorite. Nothing is quite incredible as in 'Pallido Il Sole' when he dips into his natural baritone register for a few notes and comes back up again. There is something mystical and beautiful about male altos and we, as the female counterparts, should try to emulate.

That's how I would describe Scholl's voice, absolutely mezmerizing. I cannot stop listening to this CD. This is a voice that melts the stress away. One part I particularly enjoy is nearly 3 1/2 minutes into track 10, Artabano, where Scholl's falsetto dips into a baritone. It makes me wonder where he'd be if he stayed there. Would we hear any more from him? Best to not mess with what works. In my mind there are no "worst arias" on here. As far as "Where'er you Walk" goes, I liken that to the countertenor renditions I've heard of Thomas Morley's "It Was A Lover And His Lass". Granted, it lacks passion, but is there any call for passion? Having never heard a tenor tackle "Where'er you Walk", I'd be hard pressed into changing my way of thinking that anyone other than Scholl could quite put across the beauty that I observed. Scholl's artistry is superb!

This CD confirms my previous feelings towards Andreas Scholl, whilst it reveals something new about him.

The confirmation of my previous feelings is centred around Scholl's Handel arias. As was demonstrated in 'Ombra Mai Fu' (Harmonia Mundi), Scholl's voice really is not what is required in Handel opera. Scholl's voice just is too pure and innocent sounding to carry off these passionate and dramatic arias with conviction. What is required here is a voice which is robust, sensuous and earthy. If there is any current countertenor with such, it is David Daniels.

'Con rauco mormorio' and 'Aure, deh, per pietà' are very beautiful sounding, but this is beside the point. Handel concieved these arias for flesh and blood heroes, not angels. In 'Vivi Tiranno!' Scholl does demonstrate that he has some of the necessary fire and bravado, but when he does ornamentate the da capo, it it too little too late.

The worse aria, is "Where'er you Walk' (Semele). This was orginally written for tenor, but was transposed up in this recording. It just lacks passion, becoming nothing more than a vapid yet pleasant little ditty. What is particularly annoying about Scholl's singing, is the fact that when he hits the top notes, he has a piping falsetto sound. This often sounds absurd, particularly in the faster arias.

That said, the two arias from Saul are very well done. 'O Lord Whose Mercies' is heart rending and intense. This demonstrates once again that Scholl's strengths lie with the contemplative, rather than dramatic. It is not surprising that 'David' was written for a countertenor, rather than a castrato.

But, the revelation is the arias by Hasse, Gluck and Mozart. Here, I feel, Scholl is in his element. The clean-limbed simplicity of the music seems to suit his voice. The Hasse 'Palido il sole' is fantastic in its portrayal of fear and doom: this aria is for me the highlight. The Mozart pieces are done just as well too, especially 'Venga Pur' in which Scholl characterises the aria with brilliance. The Gluck is very fine as well.

Why not a perfect album?
Because, even if Scholl's Handel arias are good, his Mozart and Gluck are even better, and this album should have chosen more excerpts from these two other composers, especially Mozart.
I don't understand why people say that Semele's 'Where'er you walk' is a tenor aria. Certainly, tenors have recorded this piece, two recent ones being Bostridge and Padmore. Well, personally, I would choose Scholl's version to the other two, simply because Scholl is more able to use his voice to convey the musical nuances, even if his English may not be as idiomatic as the other two English speakers.
'Ombra Mai Fu' is a repeat of his earlier Harmonica Mundi recording. It ranks among one of the best versions ever recorded.
As for Gluck and Mozart, Scholl demonstrates that he has the real 'punch' for these two 'classical' composers' works as much as in his baroque repertoire.
Especially impressive and expressive are his two Mozart Arias, taken from Ascanio in Alba and Mitridate, Re di Ponti, two less popular of Mozart's earlier operas, both of the opera seria genre.
Those who claim that Scholl's voice is bland certainly have not listened to this album in full. His later tracks are full of drama and expressiveness, and Scholl has the requisite vocal skill to deploy a range that for mezzos may be too wide, especially in the middle to lower registers. His ability to use messa di voce to shape a musical line has no rival in fellow countertenors, and even few mezzos are able to match.
It is a pity that Andreas Scholl has not, to-date, recorded any more Mozart. An outing in Mozart's early operatic works would most certainly be a great treat to music lovers, whether Scholl fans or otherwise!

BRILLIANT CD of Andreas Scholl, NATURAL sounding Alto Male Tenor voice
(countertenor), probably the BEST there is! Superb collection of
familiar Baroque castri arias and a few less familiar--all great
addition to any Baroque music lovers collection!
If they had rating of more than 5 stars, I would keep adding
more stars for this CD!!!!!

I'm no expert in classical music and found my way to this album by a rather circuitous route. I hadn't heard a countertenor before listening to a snippet of Andreas Scholl singing Ombra Mai Fù on iTunes and finding his voice very intriguing. I did a little research on the countertenor voice, not sure whether I actually liked what I heard or not. Eventually I decided to try a CD and I picked "Heroes" as it has Ombra Mai Fù - yes, a very popular a possibly over-sung aria, but still one I love.

"Heroes" was probably just the right album for me to pick. There's a range of different music on here, some Italian, some in English, and with different singing styles. But throughout the whole album Andreas Scholl's voice is just stunning. It's a very warm, pure sound and you can hear the words that he's singing. It's not over-warbly, something I don't like in classical singers, but on the other hand he doesn't sing in a plain or bland manner. It's an album that, for me, improves as I listen to it more and more. And yes, I do very much like his voice; I've never been a fan of female altos, somehow they don't seem to quite have the power or feeling that I like to listen to, but Andreas Scholl seems able to produce that. Not only have I now ordered his "Arias for Senesino" album because I enjoyed this one so much but I'm planning to attend a concert where he is singing in Germany. And that, as a result of listening to just one CD, is high praise indeed!

I agree with the reviewers who say that perhaps Scholl's voice is a bit too angelic for Handel . . . but I NEVER tire of variety or Handel, so I recommend this recording as an addition to a varied Handel collection. Clearly, however, Scholl's strength is the sort of pre-romance of Gluck . . . so sweet. I think, perhaps, when we listen to Scholl we may be hearing the voice of Gabriel.

SCHOLL DELIVERS SOME VERY FINE DRAMA ON THIS DISC!

I like the quote by Andreas Scholl printed on the outside of the record jacket: "There is more to heroism than winning fearlessly. My heroes have moments of weakness and must overcome their difficulties." There is no doubt that when he chose the selections for this disc he had this thought in mind.

Heroes such as Jupiter in 'Semele' who praised his lover Semele with the lovely 'Where'er You Walk' and at the end killed her (nice guy)- Bertarido in 'Rodelinda' singing 'Vivi,tiranno'after killing a mobster(justifably) and then refusing to kill the 'ringleader'- Orfeo in'Orfeo and Euridice' singing a song of longing for his wife after sending her back to death by making a huge error- and David in 'Saul' singing 'O Lord, Whose Mercies Numberless' one minute asking God to help Saul and afterward hating and fearing him.

Scholl handles all of these situations pretty much in character. His voice, as always, is clear reflecting the fact that his training even throughout his 'changing' voice at puberty was always geared to the head voice. His teacher cleverly detected that that was his best voice.

Of course, the English for centuries have known this and followed thru producing such excellent countertenors as Bowman,Chance,Blaze etc. This is a very exciting and entertaining group of arias well worth the purchase.

Liner notes are in English and the text in English and Italian.

This album was my first encounter with the voice of Andreas Scholl. I wonder why nowadays so many countertenor parts are being sung by sopranos when there are countertenors like Scholl with such enchanting voices. I love the album and find myself playing it over and over again.