Customer Reviews

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson - Handel Arias

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Lorraine Hunt Lieberson is steadily, assuredly demonstrating to the music world that here is a voice of such beauty, warmth, and intelligence that she simply has no peers. While other singers who traverse the Handel or Bach repertoires do so with success and dignity, Hunt Lieberson transcends them all in her poignant ability to go directly to the composer's intentions while keeping the singing fresh, creatively alive and eloquently real. Her way with ornamentation, especially that of her da capo embellishments, is simply ravishing: brilliant technique for technique's sake never gets in the way of enhancing the beauty of the vocal line. The CD presents arias from two of Handel's operas (both of which Hunt Lieberson has performed successfully on stage) - "Theodora" and "Serse" - and an added cantata "La Lucrezia". As the crowning light of her recording she performs with the gifted Harry Bicket and The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the collaboration is perfect! A compleat singer, this, and an inestimable gift to the music world.

I have never heard a voice purer of tone, more flexible in phrasing, and so gorgeously produced in a homogeneous column of sound such as this artist in Handel's repertoire. It is very tastefully sung (unlike a certain person whose name begins with R and ends with enaaay Fleming) and so dramatically touching that one could not help but feel that this repertoire finally has found its instrument. And how sad it is to know that this instrument has passed away two days ago. Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson died two days ago in her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico of breast cancer. It is such a huge loss to the opera world, as she is an artist who is still experiencing the prime of her career. The voice is just so beautiful, the tone so pure, that I lament that we can no longer hear any great roles from this artist. She will be missed.

Words are quite useless to describe the divine voice of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, there are not enough favourable adjectives one could give to praise this highly intelligent and dramatic musician. Ms Hunt has a voice and instinct so highly refined as to leave most singers for dead when it comes perfect articulation and phrasing and getting to the raw nerve of the piece. Her commitment to exploring the total pallate of colours possible for the human voice yealds sounds oftern too beautiful to bare.

Being a singer myself I can only say thankyou to Ms Hunt for one of the best singing lessons Ive every had in my life-listening to her Irene from Theodora instilled in me the importance and appreciation for exploring all the dramatic shades of colour a piece of music has to offer. Suddenly singing becomes more than an 'in your face-stand up and deliver' art form, but an interactive, truely human and utterly fragile and sensitive genre.
God bless you you true singing Diva. If only the everyone was made to listen to you for 5 minutes a day, what a world we would live in.

Oh yeah, this Disk presents all of Lorraine Hunt's efforts form the Sellars production of Handel's AMAZING opera/oratorio Theodora from Glynborne. The arias are amongst the most touchingly beautiful and richely crafted works of Handels output. They have changed the way I listen to music full stop. 5 STARS FOR LORRAINE AND 5 STARS FOR THE MUSIC.

If you usually listen to Handel performances analyzing the technique and noting ornamentations, like me, then this album will change all that. This is not a pretty voice singing nice music. Lorraine's voice is expressing such range of emotions, from fury to calming serenity, you will be blown away.
What a riveting performace!
And this album would be great for anybody not familiar with Handel at all, most of arias are English and Lorraine's diction is crystal clear. And even if you think you know Ombra Mai Fu, ie Handel's Largo, you probably never heard more perfect version that the one on this album. A must buy for anybody interested in great music.

Simply put, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson is one of the very best classical singers alive. She combines vocal elegance and purity with an emotional delivery that raises her above the crowd of technically proficient singers who just don't possess her depth of musical understanding or emotional commitment. Hunt Lieberson is a true artist who resists easy classfication except to say she is perfect in what she does.

The female voice is the most poignant weapon available to a composer, and it is used here with power, control, elegance, and delicacy. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson sang some of this music at Glyndebourne (Handel's opera Theodora, available on DVD-ASIN B00023BN4M) and it was, according to the reviewers, "one of the most vocally beautiful and dramatically committed characterizations imaginable."
It is much, much more than that. It is an emotional ambush, and the music lover who does not weep on hearing this beautiful recording has no soul. Sometimes you get more than perfection, and this is one of those times.
Lieberson is magnificent, but there are many heroes on this recording--Harry Bicket (conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment-a wonderful, true name), still at the time of the recording a half-year away from his triumph at the Met, and the recording engineers. But perhaps most of all, second only to Lieberson, Phoebe Carrai and the celli of the Orchestra who cradle her voice in a mother's hands.
I wasn't prepared for this experience, and the emotional impact was amazing. I had heard part of the recording ("Ombra mai fu") at a Christmas party full of musicians. Everyone hushed, even the children--it was that compelling. I knew this was going to be special, but at home, playing the whole CD for the first time, I heard "As with rosy steps..." from Theodora and was stunned.
Of course Lorraine has a beautiful voice, but she also has breath control which allows her an interpretative freedom that simply sets her apart and above her contemporaries. The notes may be as fragile as dandelion seeds on the wind, but they alight where she wills them to, and with an intelligence, taste, and delicacy that is hard to believe. What we hear is years of effort spent developing the instrument and the interpretative insight that directs it.
On the other hand, one of the true glories of this recording is the orchestral playing, directed by Bicket. The strings are ravishing, especially the celli. I have never heard playing like this; it is rich, glowing, elegant, and emotive. I have to say that, however beautifully Lorraine Hunt Lieberson sings, if it were not for the strings that surround and support her voice, this disk would not have been a leading Grammy candidate. But paired, the vocal and instrumental lines create something without parallel.
This is one of "The Great Recordings."

By any measure, America's Lorraine Hunt Lieberson is at least the equal of Italy's premier diva, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, although she does not have the same superstar status. It is difficult to recall past mezzos with clearer enunciation of English text, (as favoured in nine excerpts from Theodora), the richness of voice, displayed in full-throated fortissimo and sharply contrasted pianissimo of utmost delicacy, evokes fondest memories of the tragically doomed Kathleen Ferrier. Masterfully chosen to display every facet of Hunt Lieberson's consumate command of Handel's dauntingly difficult music, the disc's repertoire - recitatives and linkig arias from the operas Theodora and Serse, and the cantana La Lucrezia - is stunning. An unsung mezzo who makes the senses tingle!

Mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson has such a warm, glowing voice of subtle power and nuance that one wonders what took her so long to record the five arias from the classic 1996 Peter Sellars staging of Handel's "Theodora" at Glyndebourne. For those who have not seen that production, it is captured faithfully on a DVD released just last year (very strongly recommended). If you get it, you can see one of the most powerfully moving oratorios Handel ever wrote with stellar performances, in particular, by Hunt Lieberson and countertenor David Daniels. She portrayed Irene, the heroine's friend and supporter, and here she recaptures the spiritual purity of her character with a particularly distinctive and beautiful mezzo voice that continues to deepen and resonate over the years. Her unerring tone is even and accurate across its range, and she leaves herself emotionally available in a naturalistic manner that does not make her seem the least bit mannered. The high point of these arias is the opening selection, "As with rosy steps the morn", a beautiful hymn that rises stepwise in a series of repeated notes that bloom into an even lovelier melody that describes a soul's inexorable progression toward spiritual rapture. It's a stunning vocal performance that retains a gulf of humanity far outweighing the religious overtones.

The 21-minute "La Lucrezia" cantata provides a dramatically temperamental contrast to the ethereal Irene, wherein Hunt Lieberson embodies the mercurial emotional changes experienced by the dishonored queen without any prima donna posturing. She moves seamlessly from rage to remorse to utter hopelessness, encompassing the character's arc through her instinct for accepting all the musical possibilities. The concluding two "Serse" selections demonstrate this same musical acumen in what seems like diametrically opposite ways. The rage of "Se bramate d'amar, chi vi sdegna" is captured in a series of sharp movements, while the familiar closer, "Ombra mai fù", is sung so simply and beautifully that it becomes inspirational. Daniels' wondrous version on his "Handel Opera Arias" CD (strongly recommended) is the closest to Hunt Lieberson's in capturing the same emotional depth and vocal virtuosity. Perhaps because Hunt Lieberson has extensive experience in playing these roles on stage to great acclaim, she manages to harness her dramatic intensity within the bounds of the character and musical style in which she happens to be working. As a true Handelian, she demonstrates impeccable diction in either English and Italian, and unlike someone like Renée Fleming, Hunt Lieberson uses vocal decorations to complement the flow of drama and feeling within each piece versus seizing opportunities for gymnastic flourishes. Another true Handelian, Harry Bicket provides expert musical direction here, no surprise since he has brought his unmistakable skill to other wonderful recordings such as Fleming's recent "Handel Arias" and Daniels' "Sento Amor" (both strongly recommended). He leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment expertly with perfectly played period instruments. This is a stunning recording of the highest magnitude.

I bought this album on the strength of the New Yorker review that compared Hunt Lieberson's and Fleming's recordings of Ombra mai fue. The amazing thing is that every time I listen to this recording it gets better--more insight, more nuance, more artistic control. Well, obviously, I'm just starting to catch up with the quality of the interpretations. The best thing I can say about it is that it makes Handel relevant. And if you think about it, here in the 21st century, over 250 years since the composer's death, that's the most remarkable thing. Don't buy it to understand great singing--although you will--nor to understand the texture of baroque performance practice--although it snaps the music into focus like a Leica lens; buy it because it will make clear to you that Handel's place in the musical empirium with Haydn and Schubert--and just below the divine three--is entirely earned.

I simply don't have the heart to review Mrs. Lieberson's works.
If we call Ms. Bartoli a 'great' singer, then the description of 'legendary' more aptly depicts Mrs. Lieberson.
If ever a truly good artist lived, Mrs. Lieberson is one such.
The only singer that could be recalled singing in such style is Teresa Berganza; but still, they are different.
This is one of my favourite interpretators of Haendel. Having been 'treated' by those coloraturas of arias of Haendel's period by Ms. Bartoli and others, I find the singing of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson a great relief - at last, this is what Haendel would want it to be. And I equally enjoy the singing of soprano arias by Mrs. Lieberson - the timbre is warmer, but still with all the shimmer - so different from the dark mushy tones of other celebrated 'lyrical soprano' around.
Don't want to say more. Mrs. Lieberson's leaving last year is too heavy a news for me.