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4.0 out of 5 stars
Greatness Beyond The Flaws, May 25, 2010
This review is from: Montserrat Caballé, Montserrat Martí: Two Voices, One Heart (Audio CD)
Made in 1995, this disc is the start of the "Late" phase in Caballe's recording career. As in all of the discs she has made since then, classical pieces sit frustratingly cheek by jowl with lighter numbers (Operetta and Zarzuela) and crossover material.
Both she and her daughter have intonation problems, especially in the duets. (Both the HOFFMANN and FIGARO duets are slightly out of tune although the two Spanish numbers fare rather better .)
Caballe's high notes have turned wiry and Marti seems a little listless. (Nerves at being in the recording studio for the first time?- There are private DVDs of the younger singer in Massenet works with her mother of more recent vintage that show her stronger of voice and musical personality.)
When all is said and done however, Caballe is still a great artist and Marti is an interesting and still developing one. I would not want to do without Caballe's gorgeous performances of arias from Bellini's ADELSON E SALVINI and Gounod's SAPHO.
David Gimenez is the first rate conductor. The sound recording is excellent.
Oddly, only some of the texts and no translations are printed in the booklet.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Hear it to believe it., November 20, 2009
This review is from: Montserrat Caballé, Montserrat Martí: Two Voices, One Heart (Audio CD)
In an objective musical critique, this 1995 issue could get 4 stars, only because 1) At 63 years of age, Caballe is not vocally at her most fabulous, and 2) Marti, at age 22 or 23, is relatively inexperienced. Nevertheless, I give it 5 stars for other considerations.
* Any collection of Caballe is incomplete without it.
* Both Caballe and Marti do some truly beautiful singing on this recording.
* There are some unique pieces in these 14 eclectic cuts.
* Back to collections: This is priceless for purely documentary purposes. Caballe's maturity is captured. She is a woman who knows thoroughly about what she sings; she brings amazing dimensions of art and meaning to every note that comes out of her mouth. Though she no longer embodies vocal perfection, what a voice she has at 63! Marti's chronological and musical youth is altogether evident. The voice is fresh and lovely. The interpretation is not that of a mature artist, nor should it be. A little naïveté is nice and appropriate in some of these songs. Though she has not yet realized her potential, you get a sense of what she can be in her prime.
Unique: Caballe opens the program with two pop songs by Serrat, Mediterraneo and La Saeta. The texts in Spanish are provided in the notes, but there are no English translations. Translations provided at the end of this review. Mediterraneo is at once subtle with an under-taste of seriousness, sensuous, and hip-swingingly Latin. La Saeta is very somber. Caballe's very dramatic speaking voice on the first verse sets the stage for a listening experience that will blow you away, especially if you know what the song says. Caballe's singing of Serrat's songs is wonderful and enjoyable on any level. It is not classically virtuoso singing, but it is absolutely gorgeous. I just cannot imagine these songs being rendered more pleasurably for the listener. The instrumentals for these two songs are amazing.
Surprise: One of Caballe's signature encores, O mio babbino caro, is on the disc. But--Surprise!--it is sung by Marti. How to describe it? Call it "pretty". It is very pretty indeed!
The top: Do, oh please, if for nothing else listen for Marti's top. This is especially evident in the Lehar and Verdi solos. Remember that her famous mother says she herself never had a consistent top. Perhaps Marti inherited those high notes from her father, the tenor Bernabe Marti.
The duets on this disc are really nice. I loved the Bolero and the Habenera. Perhaps the most delightful, though, is Sull aria? ... Che soave zeffiretto, from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Oh, those girls!
Another reviewer cited the last cut on the disc, O ma lyre immortelle (Gounod's Sapho), sung by Caballe. I am in complete agreement. An earlier Bellini solo on cut 12 will take your breath away. But, Caballe's Sapho will saturate your heart, wring it out, then tear it into little bitty pieces. Yes. It is that beautiful!
MEDITERRANEAN
Maybe because my childhood
still playing on your beach,
and hidden behind the reeds
sleep my first love,
I carry your light and your smell
wherever he goes,
and piled up in your sand
keep love, play and penalties.
I, I have skin in the taste
bitter tears eternal,
who have poured into you one hundred villages
Algeciras to Istanbul
for blue paint
their long winter nights.
By dint of misfortunes
your soul is deep and dark.
To your red sunsets
my eyes became accustomed
as the bend in the road ...
I'm a singer, I am a liar,
I like the game and wine,
I have the soul of a sailor ...
What can I do if I
I was born in the Mediterranean?
I was born in the Mediterranean ...
And you get close, and go
After kissing my village.
Playing with the tide
you go, thinking about returning.
You're like a woman
perfumadita pitch
that yearns and wants
known and feared.
Oh ...if a bad day for me
the Grim Reaper comes for me.
Heave the sea my bark
with a fall release
and allow the temporary
scrapping its white wings.
And bury me without grief
between the beach and the sky ...
On the side of a hill,
higher than the skyline.
I want to see well.
My body will be road
I will give green pines
and the yellow broom ...
Near the sea.
Because II was born in the Mediterranean ...
Bolt (La Saeta)
(Antonio Machado - Joan Manuel Serrat)
Said a popular voice:
Who will lend me a ladder to climb the tree
to remove the nails
Jesus of Nazareth?
Oh, bolt, singing
the Christ of the Gypsies
always with blood on their hands,
always unlock.
Song of the Andalusian people
that every spring
and asking stairs to get on the cross.
Song of my land
who throws flowers
the Jesus of the Agony
and is the faith of my elders.
Oh, not you my singing
I can not sing, nor do I want
this Jesus from the tree
Only those who walked in the sea!
Reflecting again on Caballe's maturity and Marti's youth in Two Voices, One Heart: Real fans will want to acquire Caballe's 1958 performance of Salome. (Gala disc GL 100.799. Maybe Amazon will wisely pick it up.) She was a 24 year-old miracle. There are some excellent Salomes. Then, there are Caballe's Salomes, which are beyond superb. I have several, at various stages of her career. This one is a treasure. Plus, there is bonus material on this 2-CD set - Lois Marshall and Christel Goltz in recordings from 1952, 1956, and 1958. All interesting.
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