Yu Qiang Dai: Opera Arias [Import]

Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Pietro Mascagni (Composer), Jules Massenet (Composer), Amilcare Ponchielli (Composer), Giacomo Puccini (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), Jose Molina (Conductor), New Symphony Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Yu Qiang Dai (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Yu Qiang Dai
• Orchestra: New Symphony Orchestra of London
• Conductor: Jose Molina
• Composer: Gaetano Donizetti, Pietro Mascagni, Jules Massenet, Amilcare Ponchielli, Giacomo Puccini, et al.
• Audio CD (August 10, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B0002AY8S8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,747 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Yu Qiang Dai, tenor from China, acquits himself well in a dozen popular arias. But what makes this more than a collection of greatest hits is the advent of a well-schooled lyric tenor with an easy, shining top and a muscular core to his voice. He nails the thrilling ending of "Nessun dorma" (though he won't make you forget Pavarotti) and sings a stylish "Una furtiva lagrima." Half of the selections are by Puccini, and Yu Qiang Dai is at home with the style and the Puccinian melodic lines. Verdi's "La donna è mobile" is sung with gusto and brilliant high notes, but here, as elsewhere, without much individual characterization. The singer's Italian diction is good, but his mushy French in Massenet's "Pourquoi me réveiller" is compensated for by some lovely soft singing and an idiomatic French nasal quality. The engineering puts him in a different acoustic space from the orchestra. Studio recordings can mislead, so time will tell how he fares in the tenor sweepstakes, but it's an interesting debut. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic tenor!, October 15, 2004

By 

Giacomo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yu Qiang Dai: Opera Arias (Audio CD)

It was a big shock to hear Yu Qiang Dai's debut cd. He is, I think, the best lirico-spinto tenor nowadays. He has a lovely voice, which is very well produced. The center is wonderful, the lower notes are good, the high notes are shining and of fantastic quality... the singing through the passage is very well handled. He is an itelligent musical interpreter and singer, with an interesting and appealing line and sense of style. Very good dynamic changes. He offers some of the absolutely best renditions of some arias (nessun dorma and cielo e mar, for example) that I have heard in many years.
He still has to work his Italian (specially the consonants) and his French. But there were great historical tenors with bigger idiomatical problems.
Despite taking spinto repertoire, Yu never pushes, never tries to make the voice sound darker than it is, everything is always under control, and he takes the chance to give very stylish renditions (for example, of una furtiva lagrima), which is strange for tenors who "want to sing spinto".
The tenor is a fantastic discovery, one of the best ones around. Actually, all my criticism goes to EMI and the production of the CD: no choirs, no solists (for example, for the aria of Cavalleria, where the mother should sing her line), and the acoustic "atmosphere" has made some people to doubt if Yu's voice is really as big as it seems (people who saw his Cavaradossi at Covent Garden say that it is very big, actually).
Not a the best production job by the people of EMI, but five stars (ten if possible) for the singer. Simply wonderful.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People, you must hear this tenor!!!, January 20, 2005

By 

V. Chau (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yu Qiang Dai: Opera Arias (Audio CD)

This review will be biased since I am Chinese and the tenor is Chinese. However, I have tried to be as objective as possible.

It's very rare that I get caught up in praising the excellence of tenors. However, listening to this recital has compelled me to write a glowing review of Yu Qiang Dai's work.

Yu Qiang Dai is an exciting new discovery! He has a beautiful voice (one of the most pleasing tenor voices I have ever heard), with a very Italianate timbre that reminds me of Mario del Monaco. His voice is not distinctive, but that is only because he sounds so often like other famous tenors! His tenor is full blooded, warm, and burnished. In "Che gelida manina", he sounds surprisingly like Giacomo Aragall. In fact, I would best describe his voice as sounding like a smaller scale del Monaco with hints of Aragall thrown in. Only sometimes does his individual voice emerge. To my ears, he is definitely a Puccini and verismo tenor. He sounds glorious in the Puccini, Mascagni, and Ponchielli arias.

When I heard the first aria on the recital, "Donna non vidi mai", I immediately knew that this was a special voice. Based on his renditions of Mario Cavaradossi's two arias, he would make a splendid Cavaradossi in the theater. "Recondita armonia" is beautifully sung. His "Non piangere, Liù" is quite good. He definitely has a feeling for Calàf's wonderful music. "Nessun dorma" goes well, the high B starts out good, but ends with strain. His charming, if not truly idiomatic, account of "La donna è mobile" is delightful to hear. He muscles the cadenza, but the following high B is thrilling to hear. I suspect this note might have been spliced in, but am not sure. In "Una furtiva lagrima", he is clearly out of his Fach. Nemorino he is not. That said, he does sing some wonderful phrases in the aria, yet he sings others quite badly. I don't like his near crooning of some phrases. He gives a gorgeous account of "Cielo e mar". This is one of the best renditions I have heard of Enzo's aria. The high notes are splendid and he sounds truly enchanted with his surroundings (this is Venice at nighttime, of course!). In the "Luisa Miller" aria, he sounds truly involved and sings wonderfully as well. His rendition of Rodolfo's aria from "La Bohème" is deeply felt and sung really well. The climatic high C is spectacular. In "Mamma, quel vino è generoso", he sings passionately without overemoting. The final "Addio!" is a thrilling end to this recital.

I admire his total sincerity throughout the recital. He sounds very natural and comfortable singing Western opera. His singing is full of thrilling Italian passion. His is the kind of tenorial vocalism that would bring down the house in any theater. He clearly loves singing this music. Who wouldn't? This is the gorgeous music of Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, and Ponchielli after all.

Dai's phrasing is already quite accomplished. All that he needs to do is to phrase consistently well. In some arias (especially the Puccini ones), he lets his phrasing go slack on certain phrases. His Italian diction is clear, though there are minor flaws to be ironed out (his singing of the words "le diverse bellezze insiem" in "Recondita armonia" is a bit careful; those "s" sounds are hard for a Mandarin speaker to enunciate). There are minor pitch problems, but these do not detract significantly from his singing. The orchestra plays beautifully and conductor José Antonio Molina offers sympathetic support.

The sound, for the most part, is very good. However, EMI's engineers have felt it necessary to add reverb to Dai's voice. Because of this, the listener cannot really tell how big his voice really is. This is unfortunate. I really wish that recording engineers would record operatic voices naturally, without any electronic "enhancement". I sincerely hope that this disc is not one of EMI's recording tricks like their first Alagna CDs.

If Yu Qiang Dai sounds live like he does on this recital, then he will be one of the true greats of opera.

Hearing him makes me want to be a tenor!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BIG SURPRISE!, September 16, 2004

By 

Operaman! "dsoda" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yu Qiang Dai: Opera Arias (Audio CD)

OK - I'm not one of those opera freaks who only expounds the likes of Caruso/Callas and all those with historic recordings and who are no longer singing. Just to keep this rapidly expiring art alive, we MUST be supportive of those upcoming singers and listen to and purchase their CDs whether we are big fans or not. I got Mr. Dai's album on this premise alone and was really not expecting much.
Imagine my surprise! There's plenty of honesty and musicality in phrasing, some really exciting high notes, handsome tone and impressive presentation. There are a few tried-and-true tenorisms here and there (real afficianados know what I'm talking about) but for a basic program of Greatest Tenor Hits, this is an impressive debut album. The big test will be to hear what Mr. Dai does in live performance.