Customer Reviews

A Portrait

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This the review that I wrote for OperaOnline.us: There is only one word to describe this compilation of varied works by soprano Kiri Te Kinawa: Elegant! From the cover to the selection of songs inside, to the way each selection contributes to and results in a perfect blend of orchestra and singer, nothing is out of place. I usually prefer CDs that are thematic and carry a mood throughout, and this offering by DECCA, bless them, will not disappoint those who share my sensitivity to mood. It doesn't hurt either that Kinawa's voice radiates control and smoothness that sweeps one up in defiance of gravity to a place somewhere betyween awe and gratitude, but that is exactly what occurs here. You listen to the melodic expressiveness of Beim Schlafengehen with the Wiener Philharmoniker and think it can't get any better, and then find it followed by Ave Maria with the Utah Symphony, followed by Pie Jesu with the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal, and it does get better. The chorals are pretty impressive as well, as in Nuns' Chorus and Climb Every Mountain. Consistently Kinawa's voice soothes and never presses even close to the edges of shrill. She is a soprano with depth and a cultured delivery that wraps every note in any range with the delicacy of a mother's loving embrace. It just doesn't get any better than this. Give this CD to someone you love, they'll appreciate it, with this one caveat: the second of the two disks is less moody and a little uneven in mood. Hold the second disc back.

This 2-cd set was a gift from my husband: am I glad that he did not hold back cd 2. Unlike another Reviewer, I find it as enchanting as the first cd. The contents of both cds are actually quite balanced; but instead of many Mozart pieces, the second cd has (more) arias from Puccini, Verdi and Bizet. I have never heard as much elegant anguish from any other Violetta as from Dame Kiri. Her beautifully nuanced Vissi d'arte ... moves me to tears. How much naive love, worry but determination are expressed in Je dis que rien ...! Arguably, too, she has given the best rendition of Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit in this second cd. My only difficulty is that if I start with cd1, I'd go on playing it again and again; but if I start with cd2, I'd play it again and again as well. By the time I finish listening to both cds, practically a whole week will have gone by. I'd give it 5 stars without any reservation.