Customer Reviews

Sings Mozart

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If any music has ever moved you to tears or if anything touches your soul at the sound of a silvery high soprano voice then this is it!!! This is indeed a remarkable collection of mozart, liszt and mussorgsky arias. I can only think of a selected few other recordings that transport you to high heavens!!!; Kiri te Kanawa's 1983 mozart aria recording with davis or her solo in the brahms german requiem with solti and joan sutherlands' epic debut and double album recording comes to mind. The voice is faultless, the style regal, the delivery precise, the intonation astonishing, the interpretaion magical and the effect undescribable. This is singing of the highest merit. There is no scooping or straining- the voice flows freely. The voice is recorded at its freshest and the earliest item on this recording comes from her wigmore recital in 1971. A truly remarkable demonstration of technique- the highlight has to go to the items by liszt. I understand that this collection does not include the full recital and it is a great pity and a crime that it is not available. The others are mozart arias that has rarely ever been sung with such beauty and finesse. This has to be ranked along with her recording of cosi fan tutte by klemperer as one of the most cherishable in history. Can't be missed!!! Thank goodness that RCA is re-releasing the mozart arias from this recording but it still does not include some of the concert arias or all the items from any of the other composers mentioned. If recording companies can only get their act together !!!.

Margaret Price's singing, in this recording, sounds like work to me. She attacks each phrase and rolls through them like a heavy machine. Her interpretations are correct, not moving. Sometimes she seems unable to keep the natural spin of air buoyant, making the vibrato too heavy in the mid-voice. This makes it hard for her to sing arias like "L'amero Saro Costante" and "Dove Sono" with the rolling, floating movement necessary to bring out the character and musicality of each piece. It is when she comes to the Mussorgsky lieder that she really begins to sing; this is when she really shows off her vocal tone and ability to interpret.