Search - Luigi Rossi, Carlo Caproli, Orazio Michi :: Amor Roma: Suzie Le Blanc Sings Baroque Italian Cantatas

"There is fire in its ice" - delirious beauties of Roman can

Ingrid Heyn | Melbourne, Australia | 05/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you have not already heard the voice of Suzie Le Blanc, this album would be a wonderful beginning to what will undoubtedly be a lifelong love affair. Early music draws many singers of inferior quality to its apparently "easy" shores, but it is a land, a kingdom, in which superiority of voice production, exquisite vocal style, shimmering vocal beauty, marvellous vocal technique and a thorough understanding of the sensuousness, passion and purity implicit and explicit within the vocal oeuvre of this period are not just desirable, but DEMANDED by the requirements of the music.



Too many singers approach early music (i.e., Renaissance and Baroque for the most part) with the idea that one must sound like a young choirboy in order to be "authentic". They forget that the Baroque period did not automatically gag all voices other than those belonging to choirboys. They forget, too, that explicitly vocal manuals of the period made mention of the tasteful use of vibrato, of sighs in the voice, of all the sounds and embellishments of passion to be heard so as to delight the listeners beyond measure.



Suzie Le Blanc, Canadian soprano specialising in early music, is one of the finest exponents of this type of music in the world. It's not just that her voice is unutterably beautiful; it's that she approaches each vocal piece with loving and informed detail, executes the piece with superb technical mastery, and makes the listener feel the meaning of the words - and she does all of this without ever losing the "feel" for the period.



This recording has been one of my favourites from the first moment I purchased it. The music of Luigi Rossi, Giacomo Carissimi, etc., is realised to a degree of exquisite beauty that is difficult to describe.



The opening aria - "A qual dardo il cor si deve" - is given appropriately light and delicate treatment, a fine and sprightly performance that brings a smile to the listener's face. It is followed by Caproli's lamenting "Frondosi e verdi boschi" in truly beautiful and sorrowful style, where sorrow is better than gladness. Throughout the CD, the same aptness and musical intelligence is evident - the standard is consistently and outstandingly high. One doesn't say, "Oh, how nice", or "That's quite pretty" - instead, it's "Delicious!" "Wonderful!" "Oh, God, how gorgeous!".



"Un ferito cavaliero", by Rossi, is the most substantial work on the album. Incorporating a style that moves seamlessly between recitativo and arioso, it magnificently mourns the death of Gustav Adolf, King of Sweden. Suzie le Blanc's singing of the work is faultlessly exquisite, like a string of pearls that weeps tears upon a coloured tapestry.



Perhaps the most beautiful of all the arias here is the piece by Carissimi: "Piangete aure, piangete", although the final aria on the CD is also ravishing. In fact, "Mio core languisce" (Rossi) is a wonderful finish to an album that is a beautiful showcase for the way in which art and nature can be combined to create a performance of outstanding quality."

BUY THIS CD NOW!!!!!!!

Bruce Bogin | rural France | 08/02/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I endorse 1,000% everything the previous very knowledgeable reviewer has said. This is a stunner. Suzie Le Blanc is simply outstanding and one of the very best sopranos of early Baroque music I have heard. I have played this CD over and over. While you are at it, do yourself a favor and buy also Rossi:Le Caterine Romane, also under the direction of Stephen Stubbs and his outstanding group of musicians called Tragicomedia. You will find it on Amazon at ASIN:B00024NLW4."