Search - Mina :: L'Allieva (Dig)

Intimate MINA: this would be the english title...

Andrea - alghero | Sardinia - Italy | 12/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A different POINT of view from Victor Vail : I'm Italian and I like MINA also when she sings in English.

Probably you're right, she mispronounces words right and left, but if this would be the only criterion

We Italians could not appreciate any opera singer whose native language is not Italian as most of them mispronounce Italian.

I have to say that in spite of it I am the greatest fan of Joan Sutherland whose musical talent is so much better than her Italian. This criterion would prevent you to value the best ever version of "STARDUST" recorded in 1991 by Mina.

As for the Mina CD some songs that Mina likes are masterpieces ( Goodbye, Laura, Only the lonely) , whereas other that she dislikes are not so good ( Strangers in the night).

On " My way" she puts out a different rendition of the song , more intimate than the classic sumptuous Sinatra interpretation, and if you know more Mina covers you should know she has ever been very personal in re-interpreting songs from other singers. I think you'll appreciate this work after more listening.

And you're right: the woman and the voice are incredible.

Andrea -Alghero"

I just totally forgot who Sinatra was!

Wim Durang | Belgium | 02/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mina ripes like a first class wine. True, she has her own way of pronouncing English, but how would Sinatra have sounded in French? This is simply a brilliant album. What a voice, what a personality this woman has!! And a wonderful team of jazz musicians supporting her!



I so love Mina's timing/phrasing. When she starts with "These Foolish Things", I'm lost already. Then her version of "The nearness Of You" shows us the most intense Mina as we ever heard. "One For My Baby", etc. : delicious, track after track!



Sure, as every good jazz album, it needs more than one listening. And then you grow addicted to every single song (though the last, orchestrated songs took the longest to me). This Grand Lady truly makes every song into her own (try Angel eyes, Blue Moon, Dindi, ...)



The (very Mina) way of "live" recording makes us sitting there in the studio and witnessing the sheer musicmaking pleasure as if it is happening right now.



"Strangers In The Night" is pure fun! And why the hell not?



When I hear Mina's "My Way" for the 100th time, I STILL feel emotion welling up in my chest. AND I totally forgot who Frank Sinatra was! Or no: Sinatra was the guy who tried to get Mina out of Italy to give her Class the bigger stage she still deserves."

Where's the Mina I know?

Joe Marr Tee | 11/15/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"What a disappointment! Who told her she could sing in English?

She never could for starters. IT'S NOT a matter of pronouncing the words more or less correctly. It's a matter of knowing the English language intrinsically. Don't think so? Look at her discography and listen. Very rarely she gets it right, the way it should be for a diva of her stature.

In L'allieva what could be little gems, because she has the right backup (her musicians are excellent, by the way), these standards turn out to be parodies. Don't believe me? Just listen to The Nearness of You. She drags the rhythm and sings in a mezzavoce for no purpose at all.

Mina, the humble way I see her, is all passion... in ballads (the Italian way). Not that she's the great interpreter of lyrics, no, she's never been that, but to her best efforts she's always brought passion and a soaring voice... since her low notes are negligible almost.

Well, in this cd only Laura & April in Paris reach that plateau. Blue Moon is laughable almost, amateurish. My Way should have been sung like five keys higher for the interpretation to be more assertive, truthtful, impacting; Once I Loved and Dindi were sung while she did her nails,so out of it she sounds.

Which brings me to the question? Doesn't she have a producer or someone who can tell her "Hey, that doesn't work. Let's do it again this way?"

Final line: Can a diva entering the shadows of oblivion afford to bring out a cd like this? Well, I think she must have already pocketed the millions ($$$), so who cares?

But form your own opinion, since the comments on this cd has up to five stars and down to 1 (in my case) just out of sheer whatever.

All I know is that what could have been delight turned into distaste."