Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Terje Mikkelsen, Terje Mikkelson :: Verdi Galante: Arias from Verdi's late works

Top notch Verdi singing

B. D. Rous | 10/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The proof that wonderful things can come small labels is here. This disc of late period verdi arias is a winner on almost every count. First and foremost there's the music of the Italian master at the very height of his imaginitive powers, which were considerable even before then. But that's not all. Recitals in the past have proven that this music is not to be taken lightly, and that it needs a disciplined and creative artist to pll them off.
Inessa Galante proves herself such an artist on this disc. She sings arias from the last six operas he wrote and what is perhaps, after all, his greatest achievement, the Requiem mass. Opening the disc are the two big arias for Amelia from "Un ballo in maschera". Alas, a chance to start things completely perfectly is missed by not including the orchestral introduction and opening lines ("ecoo l'orrido campo") for the first aria, but begins with the aria proper, "Ma dall'arido stelo divulsa". This is sung with feeling, intelligence, and some remarkable piano singing, traits which are to continue throughout the recital. The second aria, "Morro, ma prima in grazia", is again sung with a fine sense of Verdian line and insight into the meaning of the text, even if the Italian is not completely idiomatic at times. A very, very minor quibble, I might add.We continue with the not often recorded prayer "La vergine degli angeli" from "La Forza del destino". In this we also hear the Choir of the Stockholm School of Economics, Riga for the first time, and a pleasant contribution it is. Beautiful, homogenous sonorous singing, with again a lovely rendition by galante. She starts the next aria, "Pace, pace mio Dio", rather too forcefully for my taste, especially given the lovely piano singing in the previous items. This is quickly overcome in the rest of the aria, with some beautiful,blloming high notes, and a powerful ending, although not taken in the same breath as the final "maledizione", but then not many sopranos can.We get to "Aida" with the march music introducing "Ritorna vincitor", followed by "O patria mia" without the introduction ("qui Radames verra"), a somewhat curious fact. Both arias are sung beautifully, with nice changes in dynamics and shading, and again some ravishing pianissimo notes and a sterling high C in the second aria. The grand aria for Elisabetta, "Tu che le vanita", is next, and it too gets the grand treatment it deserves. Strangely, some of the lower stretches find the voice with a bit less colour, although this is not always the case. Again, plenty of identification and emotion.The next two operas represented here are perhaps less obvious choices. Inessa Galante has a voice that obviously tends towards spinto capacity, and she makes some heavier weather of Desdemona's lower lying music than perhaps is customary. But then, the beautiful quiet singing and the total abandon with which she sing the Willow song and prayer are captivating, and you could not wish for a more beautifully ended Ave Maria. Least succesful perhaps is the Nanetta's aria from Falstaff. This is so obviously an Alice voice singing the wrong part, it would have been wiser to have omitted this piece in favour of some introductory music (Un ballo) or the other, wonderful aria from "La Forza", "Madre pietosa vergine", which she undoucbtedly would have dispatched with aplomb.Ending this highly satisfactory disc is a superb, rousing acount of the last section of Verdi's Messa da Requiem, the "Libera me", wth both the thundering and introspective sections given their due, with again some superb singing from the Rigan Choir. Both conductor and orchestra keep things moving in a truly grand and impassioned Verdi manner, not on ly here but throughout the disc. The recording is spacious, favouring the voice a little, but placing it more backwards when choral singing is involved.All in all, this is a disc that has given me immense pleasure, as I'm sure it will do many others with a passion for Verdi and great, accomplished singing."