Customer Reviews

Sumi Jo - Les Bijoux / French Arias

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This delightful recital shows again the skill and grace of Sumi Jo and her affinity with the French opera repertoire. As Robert Levine said, to hear Sumi Jo is in many ways to evoke the memory of Amelita Galli-Curci and Lily Pons. Among the highlights of the recording, the first that come to my mind is the Mad Scene from Hamlet. Ms. Jo brings a great expressivity to the piece, conveying Ophelie's combination of despair and happiness. Vocally, she brings a fresh sound, beautiful cadenzas and brilliant high notes. The chromatic scale at the end of the Mad Scene (up to high E) is stunning. Among the other highlights are "O légère hirondelle" from Mireille and the showpiece from L'Etoile du Nord. Both arias sparkle with brilliant staccatos and scales specially the one by Meyerbeer, where the soprano is in a vocal tour de force in competition with two flutes. The arias from Faust, Roméo et Juliette, Manon and Louise are well sung, even when Depuis le jour is a stretch for Sumi Jo's voice. But the rarities are the most refreshing part of the recital, and the recording ends brilliantly with the waltz from Robinson Crusoe, sung by the soprano with the charm and buoyancy that it needed for this repertoire.

One of the reasons this CD caught my eyes is that this contains two arias Sumi Jo sang in the sensational concert during the Melbourne Festival about a year ago (the end of Oct., 1998). One was 'Oui, pour ce soir...' from Mignon, and the other was Ophelia's mad scene from Hamlet. At that time I was so moved by her rendition of the Ophelia's aria ( I felt such an enormous sympathy towards Ophelia) that I wanted to get the recorded version from somewhere. BTW, in her Australian debut in that concert, she created sensations there and got everybody to talk about her vocal fireworks. For people who like this repertoire, every piece in this recording is like a precious jem. She is throwing a bunch of sparkling jewels at us...opal, diamond, ruby, jade, etc... If you have ever experienced other famous singers' renditions of this kind of repertoire, you will comparatively find out how excellently Sumi Jo sung. Her needle-fine accuracy in the high parts are especially thrilling and phenomenal! My favorite songs in this CD are from Romeo et Juliette, Mignon, L'etoile du Nord, Hamlet, Louise, Mireille, Manon, Robinson Crusoe. The more I hear them, the more I like them. Concerning the fact that many songs sound similar, it's because Sumi Jo seems to put one theme or similar type or trend of music in one CD (in the cases of some of her recordings). It's interesting to find everybody has a differnet taste. Someone mentioned his(her) favorite recording of Sumi Jo is "Bel Canto", which is my least favorite (even though I like it very very much. Actually I like all her albums) among many of her recordings. My three favorites of her recordings are "The Art of Sumi Jo", "Carnegie Hall Live", and "Ariadne auf Noxos". I would like to give anything to be able to go to her concert again!!!!!

I'm only a recent convert of the charming opera singer Sumi Jo. This is one of my favourite albums, showcasing arias of composers including Gounod, Offenbach, Bizet, and (most surprisingly) Meyerbeer.

The Meyerbeer arias are truly something. Sumi Jo should consider doing a whole album dedicated to his works, but until then, we can savour the "Les Huguenots" and "L'Etoile du Nord" arias.

Sumi Jo's voice has a fantastic, silvery quality, best-suited to the demanding arias on show here. Hers is a precision instrument that hits each and every note perfectly; never does she slide between notes or compromise the quality of the material. Perfection is a tough thing to live up to, but Sumi Jo is perfection.

I heartily recommend this album. [Erato/Warner Music 3984-23140-2]

I purchased this CD as a student of coloratura literature (specifically because of "Je suis Titania") and it is my first Sumi Jo recording. While I personally find her voice a little too bright for my taste and, occasionally, she sounds slightly unstable on the top, I still wholeheartedly recommend it. Sumi Jo is an extremely clean coloratura and has a beautiful voice, even if it is something of an acquired tasts if you are used to a more lyric sound. It is no wonder she is considered one of the best coloraturas singing today. Besides praising Sumi Jo, I have to say that this is simply a wonderful collection of music; all of it is lovely! It is truly delightful to listen to.

Some people say her German is not so good...well for me who don't speak German, I love when she sings in German than in French...I just love the sound of German language when it's sung. I do agree that in this album her dictation is not clear enough in French however I barely understand what she's saying even when she sings in Korean (of course I do speak Korean perfectly well). So I'm giving this one 5 stars cuz I love to listen to her singing whether or not I understand the words. Anyways you wouldn't understand the words even if her dictation was clear enough as long as you're not fluent in that language. Someone asked a French guy how her French sounds like, and he said "it's perfect!"...so I wouldn't know unless I become fluent in French.:)

Being a huge fan of Sumi Jo, I was a little disappointed in this album. She's been recorded wrong again, so that her high notes sound screechy. The best recording of Sumi Jo was on her "Bel Canto" album. Also, I have a problem with the choice of songs. The best on the album are Ophelie's mad scene and Catherine's aria from "L'Etoile du Nord;" other than that one, they're all either pretty standard or else forgettable. And why does ANYBODY ever chop the second verse off of Ophelie's mad scene?! It's not as if they needed to conserve space--the album is pretty short actually.

This album will reach down to the untouched deep of your soul

An excellent demonstration of a beautiful voice. Sumi Jo is at her best. This is a nice purchase for any lover of fine music.

I received this CD by accident as I am not very familiar with ordering from the Internet. I pondered whether or not to open it as when it is open it cannot be returned. I am really glad that I opened it. It is wonderful. I heard about this singer on NPRand it was said that a voice like hers only happens once a century or something like that. She is truly gifted and a wonderful Coloratura soprano. I suggest this CD for anyone like myself that is a high-note junkie.

It is always a pleasure to have a soprano concert that does not include "Musetta's Waltz," "Un bel di," and "Sempre libra." Doubly welcome is one that does include rare items such as arias from "Hamlet," "L'Etoil du Nord," and even "Robinson Crusoe." And triply welcome, all this and more is beautifully vocalized by Sumi Jo in her latest album <Les Bijoux> on Erato 3984-23140-2. Accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra under Giuliano Carella, Ms. Jo makes one almost forget Sutherland and Sills in much the same material, the former in the arias from "Les Huguenots" and "Faust," the latter in the aria from "Manon." Except for Ophelia's lengthy mad scene and the dreamy "Depuis le jour," these arias sparkle like the title of the album, "The Jewels." And therein lies one of two reservations: too many glittering songs one after the other does pall a bit, no matter how well sung. The other reservation is endemic to almost all such concert discs (those of Bartoli excepted): there is little sense of character. Granted her Marguerite and Juliette should more or less sound alike, and so should her Titania and Manon. But Manon should not sound like Marguerite! Yes, I know this is a poser for any given singer; and yet it must be addressed in a review. Now and then this Korean singer lets her French become just a little mushy, much in the way Sutherland sang all her arias. French is hard to follow without a text at best for a non-speaker; but I had trouble finding my way even with the words in front of me that Erato provides (plus) but in white print on black (minus). Why, why, why?