Customer Reviews

Natalie Dessay - Amor (Opera Scenes and Lieder by Richard Strauss)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unquestionably the reigning coloratura of our times, Natalie Dessay has the misfortune of blossoming at a time where complete opera recordings are no longer being produced at the rate they were from the 50's to the 80's. Thankfully, we have this delightful pastiche of Strauss, including her signature role, Zerbinetta. She is far and away my favorite opera singer of the current generation. First, she is to be commended for reviving the tradition of the French coloratura, which has been lacking ever since the heyday of Mady Mesple. Second, she defies the notion that all coloraturas have to stand up to Joan Sutherland (my all-time favorite). True, Sutherland's vocal legacy is truly formidable, but then again, would Sutherland have tackled roles like Zerbinetta or Zdenka? It takes a Natlie Dessay to bring these roles to life.

This is a very satisfactory recital, from start to end. What's more, complete scenes are featured, with a host of top-drawer guests, like Felicity Lott and Angelika Kirschlager. Decca is to be thanked for pulling out all the stops. Not being an expert on Strauss, I can't judge Pappano's conducting, except to say that it sounds quite fine to my ear. Furthermore, the sound quality is excellent.

Now, I'm sure everyone will listen closely for evidence of vocal distress. Natalie just had another surgery to remove a node from her vocal cords, and in a recent press release stated that she hasn't "completely healed" from her intial surgery over a year ago. The only thing I can pick up on are a few high notes sung in alt (like in the duet from Arabella) that sound like they were squeezed out. However, there isn't anything really troubling, like a wobble or ugly spread on top. Let's pray for Dessay's full recovery from her second surgery.

This is music that is absolutely sublime. Surprise someone with this recital for Christmas, especially those who stubbornly listen to Italian opera and eschew any other genre.

I just love this CD; Ms Dessay is radiant vocally, and she puts on a great show in each aria- you can practically see her on stage, she is so absorbing and vivid. Of the current sopranos, she is probably best Zerbinetta, and she has a great laughter. Actually, I felt that Der Rosenkavalier pieces were the best, but there are no weak links and any arias and songs that are less than spectacular on this CD. Ms Dessay has a touch of French accent when she sings in German, but I find totally charming and overall her diction is very good.
The other singers are great, especially Angelika Kirchschlage, and the sound is just perfect. This is such a sweet treat, a real Straussian desert!

AMOR is an appropriate title for this new release of the works of Richard Strauss as sung by Natalie Dessay and conducted with his usual finesse by Antonio Pappano: 'Love' is the emotion that soars from this collection. Not only do we have Dessay singing it top form in some of the most challenging soprano roles in the opera repertoire (Zerbinetta in 'Ariadne auf Naxos', Zdenka in 'Arabella', and Sophie in 'Der Rosenkavalier', she also graces this collection with the rarely heard Brentano Songs - some of Strauss' most eloquent writing.

AND, if that weren't enough, this very special CD gives us scenes from Ariadne, from Arabella, and from Rosenkavalier with the finest possible artists assisting. Sophie Koch sings the Composer as a perfect match to Dessay's Zerbinetta. On hand as the Marschallin, as Arabella, and as the Primadonna is the velvet voiced Felicity Lott. In a crowning glory is Angelika Kirschlager as Octavian.

All of the excerpts work very well indeed. Perhaps the most refreshing portion is the Brentano Songs which Dessay sings beautifully, revealing the glories of these gems. But for sheer incandescently luxurious singing the duets and trio from Rosenkavalier are the highpoint - these ladies singing individually and together are otherworldly! Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with passionate solid support. This is an album to treasure!

Grady Harp, November 2004

From the opening strains of Zerbinetta's big showpiece aria in Ariadne auf Naxos to the final trio pieces from Der Rosenkavalier, Natalie Dessay establishes the soul of each character she portrays. She is not only incredibly virtuosic with great ease in the Coloratura repertoire, but she is a thinking man's soprano who obviously reads and understands the text of what she is singing. She recently had to undergo a second vocal cord surgery to remove a polyp from her right vocal cord. Let us hope and pray that this "down to earth" but celestially talented soprano recovers so she can continue to release benchmark recordings that -in my humble opinion- are unsurpassed in terms of vocal beauty and character development. (She not only sings beautiful high notes for the canary fanciers, but this lady acts from her core and center. For an idea of her immersion in a role, get a hold of her Hamlet DVD to witness her Ophelia's mad scene.) Sophie Koch, Kirchschlager, and Felicity Lott provide first class support to Dessay on the Strauss recital. (For another taste of Dessay's virtuosity, check out her Mozart Heroines recital disc. Dessay is moving slowly into Italian Bal Canto repertoire so let's hope that her health holds up for those exciting future recordings and performances. She WAS Amina in the sometimes silly libretto opera La Sonnambula this summer in Sante Fe, New Mexico, despite its beautiful Bellini music. Dessay raised the opera to another level.)

I whole-heartedly recommend this Richard Strauss area scene and lieder recital disc to anyone!

For an opera or a classical music admirer, Natalie Dessay is a must. This is an excellent recording. And the DER ROSENKAVALIER interprentation amazing. It's worth it!!!

Natalie Dessay owes her popularity to her charisma on stage, where her intensity and intelligence add to the voice. When heard on CD, however, I find her rather monochromatic. The thing that the amazon reviewer cites, an ability to show every side of Zerbinetta's flirtatious, witty, melancholy personality, is exactly where Dessay falls short. Listen to the big aria that begins this CD and compare it with Kathleen Battle or Rita Streich in the complete Ariadnes under Levine and Karajan. It's startling how blank Dessay is, even though her articulation is precise and her delivery dramatic. Where's the charm, the joy? Nor do I find her voice innately beautiful -- as you can see, I am not a devoted fan.

The good thing about this CD is that it exists at all. With the near death of studio recordings of opera, even aria recitals, once the bread and butter of divas, have become rare and mostly devoted to thrice-familiar favorites. Here we get a good orchestra and conductor participating in some (relatively) unusual excepts. To tell the truth, Zerbinetta doesn't have much to do after her big aria, so the remaining two items are anticlimactic. They are pleasing as a way to hear Felicity Lott, a noted Straussian who never recorded Ariadne, and she sounds good even past her prime, as does the ever-reliable Thomas Allen. Anyone would be thrilled to attend the Royal Opera if these three stars were on stage.

I was more interested in the orchestration of the selected Brentano Lieder, Op. 68, whose date, 1918, is late in Strauss's song output. The composer often wrote early on for his wife Pauline, a gifted lyric soprano, but here he has turned to the "continuous melody" style that obsessed him in his later operas, so instead of a memorable melody we get the voice used for repeated melismata, flourishes, and leaps. (Strauss would bring the style to a culmination in the role of Daphne.) Critics are divided about whether Straus took a wrong turn, into pointless noodling, but leaving that aside, the songs are perfect as a display piece for a coloratura soprano, and Dessay handles them expertly. Once again, I don't hear any specific emotion being expressed, but the technical side is impressive. Her album is named after the fifth song in the group, Amor, a vocal workout that could easily have been lifted from Daphne.

The long (9 min.) duet from Arabella impressed me more for Lott's seasoned, reserved expressiveness than anything else, although Pappano is adept as a straussian, too. I miss the girlish vivacity that the Amazon reviewer says he hears from Dessay -- she sounds a touch shrewish to me. We are on familiar ground again with the excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier, which bring in the glamorous Austrian mezzo, Angelika Kirchschlager, as Octavian. Her ability to sustain a long line, so essential for the effect of love suddenly causing time to suspend, is poor. She seems to segment the arc of melody into bite-sized snatches. Dessay's Sophie doesn't have stars in her eyes, either, but she's girlish and vocally strong. I know, we should make peace with the best that can be found, and this is probably it. no singer on this CD would rank with the great Strauss singers of the past, however, and I still hear those singers in my head.

I'm sorry to say that I did not enjoy this CD. When I was listening to the songs from Der Rosenkavalier, all I could think of was: she doesn't have the voice for this - her high notes seem a little thin to me. I realize taste is subjective, but Lucia Popp, Theresa Stich-Randall, Kiri Te Kanawa, Renee Fleming all do much better interpretations of those songs. This is the first CD I've ever heard from her - and I don't want to judge her by this CD alone. I'd say try another CD by her if you've never listened to her before.

This is a major CD release of a major singer obviously very much at home with this repertoire. The disk comprises scenes from three of Strauss's most affecting operas for Soprano, with the Brentano Lieder thrown in for good measure. Dessay's voice is in wonderful shape - it is clear, well positioned, on key and agile. Yet my one reservation is her voice is too "bright" for the Marschallin and Arabella. The bright, ringing quality is very well suited for Ariadne, but I prefer a slightly darker, more mature sound, certainly in Rosenkavalier and even in Arabella. If you believe that Arabella is a younger Marschallin, then the same voice best becomes both roles. In recent times, think Te Kanawa. The voice is big enough to carry through the at times too loud and evasive orchestral playing by the Covent Garden Opera Orchestra, led by an obviously zealous Antonio Pappano. All these reservations aside, this is a wonderful disk. Dessay will never be my favorite Marschallin or Arabella, but a wonderful collection nonetheless. Certainly worth the money and worth repeated listenings.