Fans
of this excellent singer should note that this is not a
new record. Some time ago I thoroughly enjoyed, without
perhaps going overboard in my enthusiasm, her 2001 disc
of French opera arias entitled “L’Etoile” (see
review). Any reader who doesn’t have that record is recommended
to try it first.
Not
that this one is bad, indeed much of it is very good. Larmore
has made a particular name for herself in Rossini heroines
such as Rosina and La Cenerentola and the Italian arias
here are excellent. She has the right-sounding voice, unmistakeably
mezzo in its full, dark timbre, yet stretching to a sustained
high C as easily as it descends down to G in the chest
register. Her coloratura is impeccably neat, she
embellishes the music where required and she can also sustain
an excellent legato. Here and there I wished for a little
more character, particularly in the recitatives. I don’t
know how many of these roles she had actually sung on stage
prior to making the recording. I couldn’t help thinking
that Marilyn Horne, for example, could have sung five arias
in a row by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti without making
them sound so similar. In the cavatina of the Bellini piece
you would think she was singing about something very pleasant
and romantic. There is no feeling that Romeo is trying
desperately to change his interlocutor’s mind, no sense
of “what if …?” to it.
The
opening Gluck item has a number of unusual features. The
conductor has introduced a harpsichord into the orchestra.
This may be correct but on the whole even authentically-minded
conductors seem to think that Gluck’s orchestral writing
is as complete as Mozart’s. Then the two tempi, marked “Andante
con moto” and “Adagio”, are more differentiated than I
have ever heard them. The one is almost double the other.
This might be fine if it enabled her to express a strong
sense of character. Janet Baker had a slower Adagio than
most, but the intensity she created was of another order.
A further unusual feature is that, while for most of the
aria Larmore is sparing even with the traditionally observed
appoggiaturas, at the last appearance of the famous melody
she suddenly adds quite considerable decoration. Again,
it may be that singers of the day did this but on the whole
Gluck’s noble lines benefit from being left simple. And
it seems inconsistent when at the phrase “né dal ciel” which,
with its pause, does seem to demand a cadenza of
some sort, she has left the music unadorned. The final
curious feature is that she takes a breath IN THE MIDDLE
of the word “fedele”. I cannot begin to imagine how such
a thing was passed for release. Just supposing she was
working from an edition which had forgotten to put the
second hyphen in “fe-de-le”, and didn’t know enough Italian
to correct it automatically, couldn’t the conductor – an
Italian – have pointed out the gravity of what she was
doing? I listened to this a second time immediately – I
just couldn’t believe it at first.
The
rather sedate Mozart says little and the French items are
again under-characterized. You would suppose Stéphano’s
piece from Roméo et Juliette to be a charming serenade
to his lady rather than a saucy page intent on provoking
a fight from the Capulets – something he succeeds in doing
all too well, thus setting in motion the tragedy. I realize
that for an older generation of singers the Tchaikovsky
was known as “Adieu, forêts”, but it seems very strange
today for an American singer to present a Russian aria
in a French translation. She sings it rather as though
it was a French aria. It’s quite nice but surely
a bit of Arkhipova-like heft is required? Lastly, Orlofsky’s
aria in both German and English, sung extremely slowly
and seriously without any attempt at the hiccups which
the music seems to want to imitate.
All
this sounds a bit damning. Maybe Larmore wasn’t quite ready
for a solo disc at the time. In that case it is rather
a pity this one had to turn up again. The Italian arias
are worth having but I daresay she’d do even these better
today. There’s a good essay on the mezzo in trousers roles,
except that the writer is evidently under the impression
that the Cherubino aria to be included was not this one
but “Voi che sapete”.
Christopher
Howell
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Jennifer
Larmore (mezzo) 
