SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Donizetti, Cherubini, Bellini, Verdi: Natalie Dessay (soprano), Concert Koln, Evelino Pido (conductor) Barbican, 26.1. 2008 (GD)


Natalie Dessay’s recital was enthusiastically anticipated in London especially after the  great critical acclaim that greeted her Marie in La Fille du Régiment at Covent Garden last year. Initially, when she entered the stage for ‘Oh nube che lieve’ the cavatina from Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda she seemed a little hesitant; a few muted coughs even, perhaps the effects of a recent cold. Dessay managed the E major legato lines of ‘Mi rendi alla Francia’ with a gentle pathos quite fitting for the condemned queen locked up in the awfully dank Fotheringay Castle - perhaps a slight vocal reticence here is dramatically correct, or even required?  ‘Mi rendi alla Francia’, ‘take me back to France’, must have a particular resonance for this very French soprano. This first aria was preceded by an elegant and lively rendition of the opera’s overture (which incorporates parodies of the English National anthem)  from Pido and the excellenty cultivated  Concerto Koln.

Next came Elvira’s ‘O rendetemi la speme’ from Bellini’s I Puritani. This was the first (advertised) ‘mad scene’ (so beloved of bel canto composers and singers) of the evening. Although I noticed a slight strain in her top A at ‘Qui la voce sua soave’ (‘Here his…Arturo’s… gentle voice’) Dessay managed the cantabile contour of the piece with just the right blend of the lyric and the dramatic;a perfect demonstration of ‘spinto’ soprano vocality.

The order of the advertised concert was changed tonight. The Cherubini Symphony in D major was to have been the second item in the the first half of the recital, but was moved as the opening work in the second half.  Now, although the Cherubini symphony is an admirable piece and deserves to be played in concert more often, it is not the sort of thing one would immediately want in a soprano recital. I imagine there was a reason for this, probably to do with Dessay needing a long break. If this was the reason, then it paid off as Dessay was in even better form for her final arias and encores. Pido gave a swift and crisp performance of the symphony. As I said, quite nice to hear the piece, although it certainly didn’t erase vivid memories I have of Toscanini’s famous recording of the piece from the early fifties.

Dessay is a soprano who can act with her voice. Her métier is very much in live operatic performance. Nevertheless she incorporated this quality (accompanied by bodily gestures) in this recital. The slight tremor in her tessitura at ‘Scolpisciti nel core innamoratio’ (‘Brand this loving heart’) from ‘Coro Nome’in Act one of Verdi’s Rigoletto perfectly portrayed the tragic irony of the piece - Gilda’s expected lover as the betrayer. Although Dessay incorporated this kind of  vocal nuance later in the recital too, it thankfully never degenerated into mannered vibrato or vocal portamento.

After this,  Pido gave a rather uninvolved rendition of the prelude to La Traviata. and Dessay conluded her official recital with ‘E strano…Ah, fors e lui…Sempre libera…’ from the Act one finale of Verdi’s and Piave’s operatic study of the doomed courtesan based on Dumas'  ‘La Dame aux camelias’. The Traviata piece and Dessay’s two very generous encores were the highlights the recital had been leading to. I have heard many fine Violettas -  from Galli-Curci, Ponselle, Claudia Muzio, through to Caniglia, Callas and Ileana Cotrubas, but none quite so involved and touching as heard tonight. As I have said,  this is partly because of Dessay’s superb ‘spinto’ blend of the dramatic and the lyrical, but it is also her compelling characterisation of Violetta as a women in a male world caught between her own self determination and the fetters of a doomed love. Dessay paced 'E strano! E strano! 'almost as a lament (which of course Verdi emphasises in the G minor opening recitative). Her dramatic coloratura at ‘Che spero or piu? Che far degg’iol Giori,’ initiating ‘Sempre libera,’ never sounded like a piece of vocal virtuosity, as it does in many of the most famous Violettas : here it reflected Violettas ambiguous feelings of pleasure and pain. Dessay’s ‘Sempre libera’ was again superbly inflected between desire and confusion, with excellently clear Italian vocal pronunciation. Pido, on the whole, accompanied her nicely, but I missed that infectious upward accent in woodwind which initiates ‘Sempre libera’, and which Toscanini understood so well.

Dessay sang the  the mad scene cabaletta from Lucia di Lamermoor as the first encore. Here Dessay is on very secure territory as her recordings and DVDs of  the part in French attest. Again and inevitably, there was a total dramatic sense of the part's wide range of intense emotional registers. For her second encore Dessay chose the more little heard but beautifully reflective, melodious aria from Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, ‘Eccomi in Liet vesta.’ Here in particular, Dessay’s ability to mould a long dolce cantabile was in evidence. Dessay’s CD of  this and all the  sung parts in tonight;s recital and more, with Pido and Concerto Koln  has just been released.

In some ways Dessay comes from a long line of French/Belgian singers like Clara Clairbert in the 30’s, and more recent examples from the the likes of Mireille Delunsch and Isabella Poulenard. But she has a vocal/dramatic range which exceeds national tradition. I look forward to hearing her in more Verdi, even Puccini,  perhaps as Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera or as Mimi. I am sure she would make an excellent Susana.  I saw  Ms  Dessay after the concert to thank her for a delightful evening and asked her if she had ever contemplated singing Fiordiligi - I can her imagine her agile coloratura in ‘Come scoglio’ -  but she told me that the role was ‘too big’ for her vocal range. But voices do develop, even if singers like Natalie Dessay take care not to overstretch their vocal thresholds. It says a lot for her singing however, that she  can ignite the imagination to the extent of picturing something that will probably never be.

Geoff Diggines


Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page