Search - George Frederick Handel, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioachino Rossini :: Great Operatic Arias

An Interesting display

Brian Padilla | Brookline, MA United States | 07/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Coloratura-soprano Elizabeth Futral is a remarkable artist with a beautiful instrument and a most impressive technique. Her appearences in record stores are mostly on lesser known and up and coming labels such as Opera Rara and CHANDOS; with a few performances on DG. This CD has an unusual semi-personal package. Duets, trios and quartets are featured. The title of the program is called Great Operatic Arias which seems rather broad for a soprano recital disc. Futral sings well as always, however the content seems to lack a bit of intricacy and polish. Each aria, duet etc leaves you wondering whether or not a bit more time could have been put into this. The arias range from baroque to 20th century; covering four languages. The entire program is performed in English and this is interesting... Although some of the arias just sound plain strange in English! It is a very nice thing to actually completely and instantly understand what is being sung. I was most impressed with the CHANDOS Lucia di Lammermoor. Futral probably gave her best performance on record in that role. She is astonishingly good on that recording. Her mad scene is awesome! Overall this is a pleasing recording and Futral dazzles her listeners with her crystal clear high notes and vibrant tone. I look forward to more recordings of her. Hopefully she'll have a chance to record some more opera in its original language. I think that its time for a new Puritani or Sonnambula. Wouldn't she be the perfect candidate?"

At Last a Solo Recital on CD

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 03/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Elizabeth Futral is one of those rare sopranos who seems to put pacing of her career, care of the voice, and commitment to repertoire range ahead of the too early media blitz that can hamper a singer's career. Clearly she has it all - beauty of voice, beauty of physical presence, fine acting skills, intelligence, and interpretive insights.



Having seen her Cleopatra in LA Opera's GUILIO CESARE and in SF Opera's production of Previn's STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE put her high on the list of important new sopranos. This rather strange recording gives samples of her foray's into all styles from Handel to Previn and does a fine job in capturing the beauty of her phrasing and quality of her seamless soprano voice. It is somewhat distracting to place a first recital recording before the public being sung entirely in English, especially for those who are unfamiliar with Futral's gifts. But credit Chandos with the courage to try something different, something that may introduce new audiences to the opera field.



Surely after the recent successes of Futral performances in the opera houses more recordings will follow. Meanwhile this is a tasty sampler of just how versatile - and special - Elizabeth Futral is. Grady Harp, March 05"