Search - Jacques Offenbach, Jules Massenet, Felicien David :: French Coloratura Arias

Carnaval

M. Tietjen | Syracuse, NY, USA | 12/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is no track listing on Amazon for this album. It is a re-release of Sumi Jo's album "Carnaval" which had, for some insane reason, gone out of print (something to do with a merger).



As for the album itself, there is no way to accurately describe how impressive this singing is. Jo's coloratura may not be as fast as Emma Kirkby's or as accurate as Cecilia Bartoli's, but nobody can surpass her sense of fun or the ease with which she sustains her highest notes.



Two tracks in particular stand out: "Le jour sous le soleil beni" is a rather slow, beautiful aria (the only non-coloratura aria included on the disc) which is capped with what must be the longest sustained high D-flat in history--sung pianissimo. Montserrat Caballe, eat your heart out. The other is the Carnaval de Venise, made famous by Mado Robin. Although Jo does not hit Robin's B-flat above high C, her version is infinitely more impressive, particularly the last two minutes, which is simply a roller-coaster ride of coloratura with no rests, no rubato, and very few breaths. Everyone I've ever played this track for has been rendered speechless.



Although those two arias stand out, there are really no tracks on this album which are not impressive and/or beautful. The Sevillana captures her sense of fun, "Canari" and the "Couplets de Mysoli" emphasize her control of pianissimo high notes, and "Jours de mon enfance" and "Reves d'amour, reves de gloire" both end in perfect, sustained high E's. One of my favorite albums ever. I'm happy it has been re-released."