Sir Thomas Allen: Great Operatic Arias, Vol. 2

David Parry (Conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra (Orchestra), Sir Thomas Allen (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Sir Thomas Allen
• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra
• Conductor: David Parry
• Audio CD (April 29, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B0013Y02K0
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #165,779 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Music Web International, Robert J. Farr, April 2008

Allen's fuller tone in his sixty-third year enables him to give justice to Macbeth's Perfidi! - Pietà, rispetto (tr.5) as well as Ford's monologue from Falstaff, a role he also sang on stage (tr.3). Although the Verdi is interspersed with Mozart, Kurt Weill's September Song (tr.14) gives a glimpse of the singer's skills in lighter music, skills he has brought to operetta with distinguished performances as Danilo in The Merry Widow (Royal Opera House, 1997) and as Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus (Glyndebourne 2003)... The careful husbanding of his vocal resources, and choice of repertoire, over his career means he can take on a recording such as this without fear for his reputation. Darker tone of course, but, unlike many others there is no sign of vocal spread or thinness.

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 29-APR-2008

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is How to Sing in English, July 26, 2008

By 

J Scott Morrison (Middlebury VT, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sir Thomas Allen: Great Operatic Arias, Vol. 2 (Audio CD)

Sir Thomas Allen is one of the most enjoyable singers of the past thirty-plus years and he has been a stalwart on international stages for much of that time. This CD, the second in a series of baritone arias sung in English, was recorded some three years after the first of them and sadly one can note some slight waning of Allen's vocal abilities -- he was, after all, sixty-four when he recorded the present CD. There is just a tad of breathiness that creeps in, particularly in loud passages (and also in pianissimo ones). Still, his diction, characterizations and musicality remain undimmed. There are those, of course, who sniff at non-English opera sung in English but there are many for whom performances in their own language are revelatory, and there is no one better able to provide this sort of 'aha!' experience than Sir Tom.

As for the repertoire on the CD, most of it is from Italian opera: baritone arias from Magic Flute, Falstaff (Ford's monolog), the Don Carlos duet (with the fine tenor, Gwyn Hughes Jones), Macbeth, Don Giovanni ('Madamina'), Figaro ('Se vuol ballare'), Traviata (the duet with Violetta) and so on. The CD ends with 'September Song' from Weill's 'Knickerbocker Holiday', a fine rendition. Although texts are provided, one really doesn't need them. The Philharmonia Orchestra under David Parry provide sensitive accompaniments.

The English singing translations are excellent, many of them by Jeremy Sams, Amanda Holden or Andrew Porter.

Scott Morrison