A Magnificent coupling of French Vocal Pieces
The Cultural Observer | 09/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Bernarda Fink is one of today's greatest artists. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't know how baroque opera would have been able to exist and flourish...especially since a voice type like hers is what the genre exactly needs. There is much about her artistry that I can commend. First of all, the voice is very beautiful. It may not be a large alto in the Wagnerian sense of the word, but what she can do with it outshines her deficiency in the size department. Her diction is crisp and clear, her attention to the text never flags, her line is always scrupulously constructed, and her knack for dramatic flair always emphasizes the character rather than her personality.
In this recital CD with Kent Nagano, the Argentinian mezzo sings a selection of pieces from French composers, the highlight being Berlioz's Le Nuit d'Ete. Although Regine Crespin set the standard with Ansermet many years ago in their Decca recording, I dare say that this, along with Veronique Gens' version with Virgin classics, easily rises to the top of the competition. Again, her diction her is excellent. The French emerges with a lucidity from the score that very few singers have had success with especially since the language is rather difficult to sing in. She is sensitive to Berlioz's every nuance, and although she is a mezzo soprano, the higher lying parts of the pieces do not bother her at all. This is perfect singing in every sense of the word.
The two accompanying pieces (Asie from Ravel's Sheherazade and the Five Popular Greek melodies) are a fine addition to what is already a most welcome addition to the French oeuvre. May I add that Kent Nagano's direction is flawless and sensitive? A top recommendation!"
A light, sparkling approach to Berlioz and Ravel
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/16/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I didn't expect Bernarda Fink to sound so close to Victoria de los Angeles in timbre, but for me that's half the charm of this highly enjoyable CD of orchestral songs from Ravel and Berlioz. Fink's voice is a mezzo but at times indistinguishable from de los Angeles's melting soprano. Both singers like to bring touches of the coy, even the coquettish (not for them Von Otter's gravity or Regine Crespin's splendor), and both add pathos by sounding very feminine and vulnerable. Despite being in a lower register, Fink isn't as secure when the music expresses darker moods. She's not as nuanced or dramatically interesting as Janet Baker in this music. Even so, I was carried along in Berlioz's most rapturous moments at the climax of "La spectre de las rose' and by the sleepy Orientalism of Ravel's 'Sheherazade' (if only Fink didn't sound so prim and unerotic). Sentimentally, because I doted on de los Angeles' mid-Sixties EMI recording of Ravel's 'Cing melodies populaires greques,' Fink's near-imitation touched me.
Kent Nagano conducts from strength in French music, and he wisely doesn't push the orchestral part beyond his singer's light instrument. In all, an elegant addition to the recorded history of all three charming works."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1