Search - Gioachino Rossini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Christoph Willibald Gluck :: Una voce poco fa: A Portrait of Teresa Berganza

A FORTY YEAR LOVE AFFAIR

Barry Macdonald | 09/01/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The lack of a fifth star reflects the shortcomings of Decca, not of the artist.



DISCLAIMER: What you are about to read are the judgments of a man not completely rational about the subject at hand.



Teresa Berganza has the most gorgeous female voice I've ever laid ears on. There, I've said it! Biased? Proudly. Smitten? To my core. From the moment I heard her in recital forty years ago, until this very day, I have been completely enamored of this gracious and sensitive artist. I own, I think, every note she has ever recorded. I have seen her in recital or on the opera stage several times, and I have never heard a vulgar sound emerge from her throat. The sheer depth and harmonic richness of her mezzo simply shower warmth and luxury on the listener.



She is also arguably the most versatile singer of the last generation. Most people think of her as just a Mozart and Rossini specialist, and indeed she is. But her repertoire ranges from Cesti to Stravinsky, from Fernando Sor to Mussorgsky to Villa Lobos. She has also been a devoted advocate for the music of her native Spain, along with Latin and South American music. At a Carnegie Hall recital the program included Faure, Schubert, Mozart, Wolf, de Falla, Rodrigo, Garcia Lorca, and Toldra, with encores of Gimenez, Rossini, and Schumann. Phew! One might think it impossible to hold together such a varied program, but Berganza did it seamlessly.



Now to the appointed task. This Decca compilation is a mostly fair cross section of her core work. I could gripe about the inclusion of material that is available on multiple other CDs, or prattle on about this omission or that, but considering how generously this package is filled out, I'd be arguing for an extra disc or two.



The Rossini on the disc doesn't require much comment. A true mezzo with voluptuous tone, a completely secure and supple fioratura, and the temperament to make the character come alive... what else could one possibly want? It's hard to imagine a Naqui all'affanno... Non piu mesta sung with more bravura brilliance. Much the same thing could be said of the Mozart. Finding something to criticize would require a truly picayune personality. The 1963 Mozart LP on London put Berganza firmly on the international map. The reviews were extravagant with praise, and the selections here are some of the finest, although the inclusion of Come scoglio shows the least flattering side of her vocal talents - the tessitura lies just a bit too high for her compass. The nearly complete CD version of the LP is available on Decca's "The Singers" series, where you can sample her Dorabella and Sextus.



Disc 1 is rounded out with selections from Handel, Gluck, Bizet, and Neris's second act recitative and aria from Medea. To enter a note of criticism, I find the Gluck rather straight-jacketed; she certainly doesn't have the cutting edge or the horsepower to make Divinites du Styx very convincing. The Orfeo tracks suffer some of the same deficits, although, because the voice is not overtaxed, she is able to maintain equilibrium of tone, but in the end they come up flat sounding. These problems are more than made up for by her Ruggiero from Handel's Alcina and Neris's heart-rending aria, where her strengths are fully evident. The chestnuts from Carmen give a taste of what is certainly one of the most unusually conceived assumptions of this often hackneyed role. This is no tramp cigarette girl, but a fully realized independent woman, whose goals will not be thwarted by mere convention - and Berganza has the vocal and dramatic resources to back it all up. The recording is still in the DGG catalog - snap it up.



If the contents of disc 2 seem a bit scattered, that would be because they are a bit scattered. This is where Decca should have made more coherent choices. The most grievous example: Arambarri's Ochos canciones vascas comes form a 1967 Zacosa LP. The fact that the flip side of that record, Gombau's Siete claves de Aragon, is omitted borders on the incomprehensible. Both of these song cycles are piquant, wonderfully conducted by Gombau himself, and show Berganza's interpretative range in singing Spanish music, plus they are perfect companion pieces. As fine as they are, we did not need the umpteenth incarnation of her collaborations with her then husband, pianist and composer Felix Lavilla.



These discs are billed as having four "First international releases" on CD (whatever that means). But de Falla's Siete canciones populares espanolas has appeared on at least two discs that I know of. Possibly it was never released in the Philippines. The Arambarri and the two zarzuela songs are the other "firsts." Speaking of zarzuela... for anyone unfamiliar with this delightful and important genre, you are in for a treat. It is often referred to as Spanish operetta, but that fails to hit the mark. These are musical slices of working class Madrid streetlife, with a unique combination of the rough and the refined, all shot through with a verve that is utterly Spanish. Once bitten by this bug, you will find it difficult to not learn more. The excerpts presented here give only a tiny peek into the enormous amount of this music Berganza sang. From the mid 50's through the early 70's she committed thirty-some (!) of these roles to tape. Many of them are available on CD in Spain (the transfers, however, are among the worst I've ever heard). For present purposes, I would have included one of the rhythmically passionate or playful songs, instead of picking two rather melancholic romanzas. If one wants a better survey of her contribution to zarzuela, they can seek out the two still available discs on Ensayo, with Asensio and the English Chamber Orchestra. With such rivals as Caballe, de los Angeles, and Bayo, it is a tribute to Berganza's commitment to the form that these recordings are the best ever.



The remainder of the recording presents some truly wonderful songs. Among my favorites are all of the Scarlatti. Because she is so acutely aware of the value of rhythmic flexibility and pacing, she is able to reveal all the subtlety in the work of this baroque genius. The Guridi tracks show her skill in mating the music with the words, with perfect dynamics and some tricky intervals that are flawlessly negotiated. It's a shame there wasn't room for the whole song cycle of this unfairly neglected composer. Manual de Falla's Siete canciones don't reach the same rare heights of, say, Granados' La maja dolorosa, but Berganza makes it seem so. The Seguidilla and Jota are particularly sprightly and fetching. Finally, the Farruca of Turina combines her ability to effortlessly spin out a high lying line, then switch into the song's rapid passage work without any trace of the shifting of the gears..



As for the recording quality, the various tracks pretty much reflect the recording technology of their time. The only exception to a range of pretty good to excellent is the Arambarri. The recording is shrill and thin, with some badly clipped peaks. What a pity; the LP is well recorded, and I know a good transfer is possible, because I've done my own with an outdated computer and $69 worth of software. Sometimes I wonder whether anyone actually listens to what the final product sounds like. As with most every twofer, no texts and translations are included.



The subtitle of this release is A portrait of Teresa Berganza, and it does a decent job of living up to its billing, but it's only one portrait of an incredibly versatile artist, whose spell I've been under for my entire adult life. If this has all ended up sounding more like a paean to Berganza than a record review, I plead guilty."