It
is amusing perhaps to think of Donizetti putting pen to
paper and turning out ten or twelve songs or canzonette ‘whilst
the rice was cooking’, as he claimed, for a collection
aimed at the wealthy amateur or aspiring professional artist.
But outward humour is only one of the moods employed, as
is shown in this selection of sixteen items from the much
larger number that the composer completed. Indeed, it is
a pity that Donizetti’s operas have drawn public attention
away from the merits of his songs: they are under-represented
on disc and definitely underperformed, even by those who
would appear well equipped to do so. Why singers versed
in the bel canto style do not take them into their repertoire
is a mystery to me. Even if one thinks of these songs as
chippings from a master’s bench then it must be admitted
that they are chippings of the highest order, particularly
when one takes into account Donizetti’s unerring ability
to draw out the nuances of the texts he sets – by writers
as varied as Schiller, Hugo and Metastasio – alongside
more popular Neapolitan verses.
Dennis
O’Neill’s lengthy involvement with Italian repertoire in
general is in his favour as an interpreter of this material,
and he is fortunate in having Ingrid Surgenor, a long time
collaborator, as his accompanist. Whilst the recital starts
pleasantly enough with Amore e morte, sung with
even mezzo forte tone and clear diction by O’Neill, all
too quickly it becomes apparent that he cannot avoid employing
a forced voice in forte when forte is asked for. The second
track, Ah, rammenta, o bella Irene, is a case in
point. The next, Una lagrima, emphasises the divide
within O’Neill’s voice with hushed passages that are most
sensitively phrased, but these are countered by outbursts
that destroy the vocal line by being more ‘can belto’ than ‘bel
canto’. Others may take a different view, but to my ears
O’Neill’s vocal production all too often sounds effortful.
It takes greater willingness to shade and shape such forthright
enthusiasm to hold interest over a sequence of tracks than
is really on display here. This is a disc to take a few
tracks at a time unless full-throated tenors are your thing.
The
recording itself places O’Neill forwardly and centrally
across both stereo channels along with Surgenor, whose
piano is perhaps a little recessed to be ideal. As the
recital proceeded I wished for a touch more individuality
from her – the accompaniment to track 8, L’amor funesto,
shows Surgenor at her best and even O’Neill expresses much
in urgency without recourse to crude tone. Julian Budden’s
accompanying notes provide little more than a thumbnail
sketch and the roughest of indications of what to expect
within each song. The delight is in the simplicity, the
drama or the operatic nature Donizetti brings forth as
prompted by the text – perhaps with a more pliant, or dare
I suggest, younger sounding voice we might approach what
these songs really ask for in interpretive terms. Texts
and translations are downloadable from the Naxos website.
Evan Dickerson
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Dennis
O’Neill (tenor),
Ingrid Surgenor (piano) 
