Search - Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, London Symphony Orchestra :: Ruth Ann Swenson - Con Amore ~ Italian Opera Arias / Rudel, London SO

Sung beautifully - but handled with care

Ed Beveridge | London, England | 08/26/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a big fan of Ruth Ann Swenson. Of the sopranos on the circuit today, she is perhaps one of the most engaging, fresh and unpretentious of all. Her voice is unusually pure but with velvety undertones, and it's smooth from bottom to top. She's no nightingale - sometimes her E flats are encompassed with a real effort of will - but her technique is secure, her coloratura fluid and her singing never less than tasteful.Why, then, did I feel slightly disappointed with this album? Perhaps it is because her coloratura does not dazzle as does Jo's or Dessay's? Certainly her singing in altissimo sounds a lot more careful than that of others - her "Sempre libera" never really takes off as it should (Rudel's tempo is far too slow)and her Bellini is never invested with the introspectiveness of a Caballe or - unfair comparison - a Callas. But there are some treasures on this disc too. Her "Caro Nome" is one of the most heart-rending I have heard, and her Puccini is surprisingly successful.I suppose her voice is a size too small to sing all of Manon Lescaut, but the aria goes well here. Mimi is a role she should bring into her repertoire (she has already recorded a stunning Musetta). Her Liu is touching, but her pianissimo B flat is sadly sharp. Perhaps it is the lacklustre conducting that prevents this recital from really taking wing the way her Handel and Mozart disc does. But her very individual sincerity always comes through - a kind of touching fragility that really reaches out to the listener and wins sympathy for the heroines she portrays. A Swenson Desdemona is an enticing prospect, therefore, and more of her in the Baroque repertoire would be welcome. A pleasing, but not a stunning disc - and an important one for Swenson's many fans."

Such a beautiful voice

James Walters | Seattle, WA USA | 01/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ruth Ann Swenson really has quite a special voice. It is agile yet has such warmth to it, and is so voluptous. Every aria in this CD showcases that beauty, and as stated by the previous reviewer indicates to us that she is expanding her repitoire. I would love to hear her sing Mimi sometime in the future. The only detractor I have for Miss Swenson is that at times she seems somewhat detached. For this reason there are moments in her singing that tend to bore a bit. I felt this was apparent in her aria from La Sonnambula. But this ocasional lack of emotion is forgoten because her voice is just so rich, and beautiful. I enjoyed her portrayl of Violetta, and would welcome a full recording of the opera. ALthough I can't think of any suitable Alfredo to compliment her Violetta."

If this is what you expect...

Ozan Karasoy | Istanbul, Turkey | 03/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What do you expect from a classical music singer? Should she/he be a medium between you and the composer never one step in the front; or assure you of her/his presence throughout the music presenting an individual interpretation. This question dates back to Tebaldi/Callas argument and is least likely to come to an end. Swenson is a singer who hardly sacrifices the tonal quality or an even sound to give you more of the text. Her notes always gently focused and pure, never exceeding what she can naturally and most confidently provide. For that purpose, in this CD, she almost always borrows extra time from the music, ocassionally letting down the tempo (before a top forte or in her articulation of staccatos). This careful and almost vulnerable vocalisation does full justice to Gilda, Mimi and especially to Liu but not quite to Violetta (at least for the selected scene). For a better understanding of the difference, sample one of Callas's live recordings of 'Sempre Libera' from La Traviata (either Ghione or Giulini sets both from EMI) and contrast the cabaletta which is also available in the present disc. As usually observed in Callas interpretations, a fiery temperament is riding over the vocal precision and at the end the E flat is tossed under such a strain that it would be intolerable unless it is a Callas performance. Here in Swenson you are not likely to catch the fire which Callas made her own as her best Verdi performance, but instead a very healthy vibrato and a pure E flat which many singers have had to drop. An important cricism from a certain point of view may be that (though not enough for me to drop one of the five star I give) the programme consists of such popular arias that, to retreat them stipulates a new way of interpretation or otherwise this CD means more of the same. This criticism holds for some other singers of our age, say, Olga Borodina who is also criticised for her generalized interpretations (sample her similar treatment of Bel canto, in her duets album with Hvorostovsky. Though vocally a far different singer, she is as well slowly-focusing and generalized, but even and resourceful). But it always seems to me that vocally more resourceful a singer, less stylish she/he is. To quote Zinka Milanov: "When they speak of an opera singer as a good actor, there is always something missing in the voice". Swenson is one of the highly individual singers of our time, in the sense that she never pretends to be so."