Search - José van Dam :: Very Best of Jose Van Dam

Fantastic!

W. N. Hay | Princeton, NJ United States | 11/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This collection represents Jose Van Dam at his best. The two arias from Faust are a little low for him but he sings them with great musicality. The aria from Mireille which is a rarity is sung brilliantly. Mr. Van Dam gets up to those high notes so easily. This collection mostly contains French Repertoire which was ideal for his voice. Several of the arias are rarely performed and I think should be performed more often. The few German selections are very effective as well. I think he was one of the finest Brahms Requiem soloists of all time.



Mr. Van Dam is still singing well at age 65. I think he is one of the finest singers and musicians because everything he sings means something to him internally. That is something that defines a great artist for me. I highly recommend this collection because it is a tool for singers to learn how to pronounce French properly. The diction is so clear that you can practically write it down."

A vocal phenomenon

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 09/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Think about it: this man has been singing beautifully for nearly FIFTY years, having made his debut so young. We opera lovers grew up with his voice as a kind of ideal in many roles, especially those which must be sung with seamless legato and in French - although his sung German and Italian are faultless, too. His one weakness is perhaps that he occasionally sings roles which are manifestly too low for him; he is a bass-baritone with the emphasis upon the latter voice category. I did hear him live - a particularly memorable occasion was Haydn's "Die Schoepfung" in Liege - and was very impressed. There is no qualitative difference between the studio recordings and the live performances featured on this compilation; his discography confirms his supremacy as one of the most versatile and consistently pleasing singers of our era.



Highlights for me are his Jokanaan in the "Salome", his Dutchman - though some prefer a weightier voice - the Brahms "Requiem" excerpt and the aria from "Herodiade". I confess to being less keen on some of the more recherche operatic items and the Poulenc (never my favourite composer) songs, but they are of interest because they are unhackneyed and anything Van Dam sings has beauty and merit.



This is very good value and provides a testimony to a marvellous voice which we are in danger of taking for granted, it has been delighting us for so long."