Search - David Daniels, Fabio Biondi, Antonio Vivaldi :: Vivaldi: Stabat Mater, Nisi Dominus, Longe Mala

Stylish performances from a fruitful collaboration

Vincent Lau | 01/12/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"David Daniels is really a wonder! While the voice of counter tenors is by its nature rather androgynous, there is something both alluring and masculine in Daniels's tone. The so-called "counter-tenor hoot" is largely absent and his sizable voice is vibrant and evenly produced throughout a considerable
range. Daniels is also sensitive towards the words and any variation in musical dynamics and he is willing (and able) to vary the colour of his voice to suit the different musical and textual needs (quite difficult for a falsettist). This makes his interpretation of the 3 sacred works included in this CD both vivid and heart-felt. I would also mention that his breath control is excellent and his coloratura facility quite astounding. (The florid runs in some of the sections would probably tax even the most accomplished of mezzo-sopranos, and yet Daniels is able to toss them off fluently and with great elan.) What charismatic singing!Fabio Biondi's playing of the violin and viola d'amore and the accompaniment of the Europa Biondi are delightful! Not only are they most musical and alert, they and Daniels work as close partners, each echoing the other's musical inflections. Their embellishments are both interesting and stylish. The music sounds freshly-minted under their combined hands (voices), and there is also a sense of grace and nobility in the performances, which is appropriate for this type of music. The good recording quality further enhances the effect of their fruitful collaboration.This reviewer does not profess to know much about baroque performance practices, and therefore he cannot say whether the interpretations here are correct or not from an academic perspective. Nevertheless, this release has given me huge pleasure. Do check it out!"

Sublime (As Usual)

Neil A. Dellar | McLean, VA USA | 09/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having purchased the Scholl version when it was released I must admit to having been a little disappointed. Then came the Daniels' rendition and I realized that, when this particular singer sings, there is little one can do but sit back and let the wonderful, unearthly quality of his voice wash over you. Daniels is an exexceptional singer and this is a wonderful recording. He is admirably accompanied by Fabio Biondi."

A cool but cold male alto

Anton Zimmerling | Moscow, Russia | 08/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Two caveats: 1) I like Fabio Biondi and David Daniels and collect their CDs. 2) I am not wild about Vivaldi's Stabat Mater.

I agree both with laudatory comments to this CD and with its detractors. From the one hand, this CD features two extraordinary artists of our time, Biondi and Daniels, in good studio sound. From the other hand, only staunch advocates of these two artists can claim that this CD sweeps out other performances. (It is of course a matter of your taste, whether you really need many versions of Vivaldi's Stabat Mater or Longe mala). This CD fluctuates somewhere between genuine operatic and devotional styles. The editorial review correctly states that the three Vivaldi's works presented here are completely different in character, mood and feeling: that's true, but David Daniels's manner, alas, does not differ that much.

I have two other CDs/CD-sets with Biondi and Vivaldi's vocal music - a CD with Vivaldi's motets for a high voice (brilliantly sung by Italian coloratura soprano Patricia Ciofi) and Vivaldi's opera pasticcio Bajzet (with Daniels, Genaux, Garanca, Ciofi, Mijanovic and d'Arcangelo). In my opinion, Daniels's singing on this CD lacks both a histrionic delight he reveals in the airs from Bajazet, and Ciofi's impetus and warmth. Anyway, Daniels sounds less inspired on this CD and for the most part does not provide a deep impression, though his voice is gorgeous. I think that this might be due both to the singer's temperament and to the nature of his vocal gift. Despite the fact that Daniels's style is less authentic and more `romantic' than by any of his fellow counter-tenors (on other CDs Daniels even tackles Berlioz, Gounod, Ravel and Schubert's Lieder and sings Handel with more vibrato and a larger sound than most counter-tenors), he is a rather cold interpreter who seeks inspiration either from the text of airs/Lieder, or from operatic scenes. What is equally important, Daniels is no standard counter-tenor at all: to judge upon his tembre and his range, he is a male mezzo-soprano or a male alto who feels more secure in the lower part of his range. Though he is able to sing the standard panis contra-tenorum, fast coloratura in the high register loudly, this is not his forte: here his voice occasionaly becomes less focused and clear. He is in his element in long cantilena phrases and in pieces with changing rhythm and marked dynamic accents, where more thin voices with less breath support are struggling for life. Such a voice begs a comparison with mezzo-sopranos or contraltos, and Daniels is indeed regularily competing with ladies, when he takes over some parts originally written for a chest voice. Vivaldi wrote his Nisi Dominus for a contralto, and it is likely that his Longe mala RV 629 was performed by a contralto, too. I have an LP with great Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza singing Vivaldi's Longe mala and her version touches me more than this one - not because I think Berganza is better than Daniels, but because I think that Berganza's natural chest voice fits the score better than Daniels's emulated head voice. On the contrary, I prefer Biondi/Daniels in Nisi Dominus RV 608 to Robert King/Nathalie Stutzmann's version on Hyperion - not as much because I want a counter-tenor in this motet, but because Stutzmann's raw contralto is not in Berganza's class and is no match for Daniels's smooth cantilena.

Despite the programme of this CD does gives David Daniels few chances to show his trumps, there is one absolutely ravishing track - Cum dederis from Nisi dominus. It is the best and least trivial music in this motet - a strange cantilena over floating chromatic sonorities. Daniels's voice really soars here, but I think that the laurels belong to Biondi who did a most effective arrangement of that piece and chose the right tempo and phrasing: he is not just accompanying his stellar singer - he is a maestro who added one more precious instrument - Daniels's voice - to his band. Bravi!

I think that this CD is worth buying for this track alone. Listening to it is a real joy - you simply don't need to keep in mind how good other performances of Cum dederis are. Other items are less captivating, and you get an opportunity to think of your collection.

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