Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Giacomo Puccini :: Puccini Arias

Legacy Recording of USA's greatest dramatic soprano, bar non

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 08/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wow, it is ever good - no, great - to have Eileen Farrell back with us. Even if only via these reissued, remastered discs. One can only hope that the DSD remasterings which have been trickling out from giant Sony/BMG will soon get published in SACD versions.



It is ever too facile to look back on musicians of the past and hear a Golden Voice in a Golden Era. But, the cliché comes perilously near reality in this case.



Eileen Farrell was undoubtedly one of the most prodigiously gifted of dramatic sopranos who has ever walked the planet. Her physical vocal talents were so unfailingly there. She never had to wonder if her voice was going to show up, and neither did anybody else.



On top of these generous physical gifts, Farrell was the most dedicated of vocal musicians. She never showed up without being ready for work, and everybody knew it. In fact, her down to earth competency and Rock of Gibraltar professionalism tended to cast unwelcome shadows over some of the other divas - a category of grandstanding musician not strictly limited to singers - who might stand next to her on the opera or concert stages where she appeared.



To our very, very great loss, she eventually dropped out altogether. She loved the music - but she had little or no patience for the intrigues, the opera politics, and the over-inflated vanities of so many people whom she encountered in the music biz of her era.



To our great happiness, she did make some fine recordings, of which the current release is one. This CD actually gives us the old Puccini arias LP, plus a few added selections from another LP of famous arias for dramatic soprano.



Without affectation or strain, Eileen Farrell conquers each operatic challenge. And she does this by entering into the music, not by bending the music to her own wayward will or egotism. If Farrell had been eccentric, we surely would have forgiven her somewhat, so great was her voice. But she didn't need to pile difficult narcissistic postures or attitudes on top of her abilities. Technically, she lightens her huge voice to characterize the more youthful of the Puccini heroines on offer, starting with Gianni Schicchi, and moving on through La Boheme and La rondine, to Tosca and Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut. The climax of the Puccini program is Turandot, but true to Farrell's generosity and fine form, we get Liu, plus Turandot's In questa reggia.



If Birgit Nilsson could be said to have owned the role of Turandot in that past era, it probably was only because Farrell dropped out so quickly. Had Farrell stayed, we surely would have been happy to get every single note she sang. This In questa reggia is so much solid gold that one roundly curses the USA record companies for not rushing to get the whole opera down complete, with Farrell in the title role. Or, in a risible tour de force of studio recording, could she have been double cast as both Liu and Turandot? That sensationalistic oddity of a trick would have yielded nothing but the best music in Farrell's hands, if anybody had even dared go so far.



To complete the disc, we get five additional great dramatic soprano arias from Gluck, Beethoven, and Carl Maria von Weber. If anything, these leave a listener aching like a silly opera pig for more, more, more, more, more. (There is more; look for a disc of Verdi arias. Also pure gold.) She has the imperturbable facility that we have tended to associate with Nilsson, plus a certain North American cultural or interpretive directness. There is simply never a fussy moment in these great dramatic arias. The Beethoven arias especially benefit from this self-assured directness, because something true in Farrell's personality - she knew she was good, period - is echoed in Beethoven's musical personality. The Gluck and von Weber arias also benefit from this directness of utterance, because their grand operatic, dramatic soprano strength is delivered, clear and present and whole. In their examples, Romantic opera does not depend on having to use operatic character acting to cover for any vocal weaknesses or limitations whatsoever. Farrell simply lets her characters stand and deliver.



If your best sense of Verdi has gotten squishy, just go to the other Farrell disc and she will get you right back to Verdi home base, no holds barred.



Who was the Columbia Symphony Orchestra? Membership probably varied from session to session, and from east coast bands, to west coast bands. Whoever they were, they play wonderfully well for Max Rudolf. Partly, their fundamentally professional competency matches Farrell's work, and partly all concerned must have felt privileged to get the call to be a session player for this disc. No problems with the band, then. And kudos to dear old Max Rudolf. He conducts as open-heartedly and as musically involved as Farrell sings.



If you have slightly or greatly lost sight of opera as music - if opera has gotten tarnished by pretense, theatrics, diva-dom, and brand name singer marketing spin published by the remaining big record labels - well, just put this gem of a CD on the player and return to a time and place when opera was still a real musical deal. Farrell would like that, assuming we listen with a no nonsense attitude that wants nothing better than to hear the music for what it is worth.



Do not hesitate to get this disc. And if it comes out in SACD some day soon, get that too.

Farrell and the music are the point. And, looking back, we cannot take such dedication for music as a great cultural calling for granted, even for a split second, in the slightest. This and the other Farrell recordings belong on a best of all times list. Now shake your piggy bank vigorously, and click."

Finally!

Canzone | California | 08/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation is really a combination of the original release of "Puccini Arias" and some (all?) of "Arias in the Great Tradition." The huge Farrell voice is toned down appropriately for the more lyric Puccini items, but hold onto your hat for 'In questa reggia.' Nilsson was a fine Turandot, but Farrell sings rings around her in this aria. The Gluck, Beethoven and Weber arias couldn't be better sung either. This CD belongs on the shelf of anyone who appreciates great singing. Now if Sony/BMG would just reissue the 'Medea' excerpts...

OOPS! Just noticed that the back insert refers to Farrell as a *mezzo* soprano. I mean, the lady could sing just about anything, but..."

The wait is finally over

Silver Flutes | 08/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My God, what a voice. I haven't heard these recordings for many years, and now I remember why I was so excited way back then. To begin with the voice is flat out gorgeous. I heard Ms. Farrell in person singing an all Wagner program, so I can also attest to how big her voice was - no effort, no shouting, just amazing singing. The Puccini selections are beautiful, but the others are the real prize of this recording in my opinion. Her command of this very demanding classical style is superb. I can only hope her Medea recording is waiting in the wings for re-release."