Word: arias
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...soloists are without exception strong, lovely vocalists, neither too delicate nor too overwhelming for the choral and orchestral accompaniment. Bauwens is particularly notable for his elegant, tasteful use of flourishes. His "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted" aria was very beautiful, lilting, and full of little trills and decorations. The tenor part, though too often sadly neglected in the "Christmas section" of Part I, has some of the loveliest music in Messiah, and Bauwens proves himself wholly equal to it. His Part II recitatives, "All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn" and "Thy rebuke hath broken His heart...
This miracle of invention, inspired by a vanilla aria on which Handel himself wrote five unassuming variations, drew praise even from Brahms' antipode, Wagner. Like their worthy companions, the Bach Goldberg and the Beethoven Diabelli, these pieces explore the melodic and harmonic potential of their progenitor exhaustively, and function collectively as a treatise on the composer's sense of keyboard style. But more than the Goldberg and the Diabelli, the Handel variations are witty...
...hadn't been for the skillful comic acting of these two, the farcical plot would have been in awkward tension with the gorgeous music. Though Donizetti saves his very best for Nemorino's duets with Adina, every major character enjoys at least a few minutes of choice aria...
...important: it offers sympathy for the lovelorn Nemorino. Adina's emotional volatility is manifest in ever-higher notes and ever-wider leaps. Turay and Saffer, by far the most talented singers in the production, were brilliant throughout. His rendition of "Una furtiva lagrima" got more applause than any other aria; her passionate confidence in the panacea of her own charm had the audience all set to hear "Vedrai, carino" from "Don Giovanni...
Munroe started off well with the first of two delightful arias about the fickleness of women and hit peak form in the famous love-aria at the beginning of Act Three, combining expressive phrasing and a smooth, full richness of tone that impressed even this Pavarotti fan. But he faded a bit in the other favorite, "La donna e mobile" (in this translation, "Woman's fidelity") and went slightly hoarse in the lilting, flirtatious duet with Madalena. Nevertheless, he brought a professional polish and pleasing musicality to the role immortalized by Luciano...