MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: MDT AmazonUK AmazonUS

Operatic Duets for Baritone and Bass - Thomas Hampson and Samuel Ramey
Domenico CIMAROSA (1749-1801) Il matrimonio segreto (1792) Se fiato in cor avete
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848) Don Pasquale (1843) Cheti cheti immantinente;
Marino Faliero (1835) Israele, che vuoi?...Se pur giungi a trucidarlo
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835) I puritani (1835) Il rival salvar tu dêi ... Suoni la tromba
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901) Attila (1846) Uldino, a me dinanzi ... Tardo per gli anni
Don Carlos (1867) Restez!; Simon Boccanegra (1857) Suona ogni labbro il mio nome;
Un giorno di regno (1840) Tutte l’armi si può prendere
Thomas Hampson (baritone); Samuel Ramey (bass)
Münchner Rundfunkorchester/Miguel Gómez-Martínez
rec. Studio 1, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Bavaria, Germany, July 1997, DDD
WARNER APEX TELDEC 2564 67717-2 [73.11]

Experience Classicsonline




This recital of operatic duets for baritone and bass was originally released in 1998 by the Teldec label and I believe under a different title (No Tenors Allowed). To my mind this was a more imaginative name, not devoid of humour. Whether Warner Classics & Jazz were not permitted to use the original heading or whether they decided to go with a more descriptive though slightly boring caption, I do not know; however it was not a wise idea. At a time when classical music and opera are trying hard to captivate younger audiences, small details, like catchier names, can contribute to this objective in a positive manner. Title considerations aside though, this is an exceptionally pleasing recital and there is a lot to enjoy.

Thomas Hampson and Samuel Ramey have been around for a while and need no introduction to opera lovers, as they are two of the most distinguished American opera singers of our time; a magnificent baritone and a great bass respectively. Although in later years, Ramey has sometimes been criticised for a noticeable wobble in his singing - after all he is nearly seventy! - at the time of this recording, he was still at the height of his powers. His sonorous bass truly shines in all the duets. He sings with great warmth; his tone is pure, his diction clear and his technique flawless; additionally, his brilliant coloratura - one of his singing attributes that made him famous - is superbly demonstrated in all the duets, especially in the most famous Suoni la tromba from Bellini’s I puritani and in the least known Israele, che vuoi?... from Donizetti’s Marino Faliero. The thirteen years younger Hampson was also at his best in 1997 when this recital was originally recorded and although he is at present still a force to be reckoned with, his crystal clear baritone was more in evidence then than it is now, particularly when one hears him live.

I have had the pleasure of watching Hampson on stage, in different roles, such as Athanaël in Massenet’s Thaïs where he sang opposite Renée Fleming who performed in the title role, or again with Fleming as Violetta, in Verdi’s La Traviata where he brilliantly sang Giorgio Germont. Hampson as a performer really achieves his best on stage. What I mean is that he possesses a beautiful voice and a flawless technique, which also comes across on CD and most definitely in this offer with Ramey; however, it is his dramatic skill and charismatic presence that transform certain baritone roles from interesting into positively memorable, qualities more difficult to demonstrate in a pure audio performance. In this CD of duets and although Hampson is most effective on stage, one can tell that he is in character: his singing is very expressive and highly dramatic, particularly in the duets by Verdi, most notably in Restez! from Don Carlos and in Suona ogni labbro il mio nome from Simon Boccanegra.

I have heard a wide variety of recordings by Samuel Ramey but I have never had the opportunity of seeing him on stage; so, I cannot tell if his dramatic skills and stage persona would be more or less remarkable than on CD. This fact, however, becomes irrelevant because in this recording his singing comes across as highly expressive and dramatically effective. Ramey’s sonorous bass harmonises beautifully with Hampson’s clear baritone and they both launch into each duet enthusiastically, offering the listener an overall intelligent, elegant and extremely pleasing performance.

All duets in this CD are exceptionally sung and immensely enjoyable; to my mind, there is only one exception: I did not appreciate their rendition of Cheti cheti immantinente from Donizetti’s Don Pasquale as I did all the other pieces; not because this is delivered in a less excellent manner than the others. It is not. It is simply because it is one of those duets that loses its comic impact in a purely audio performance, particularly in its second half, which demands singing at an incredible speed. On CD, I felt that this came across a little muddled and the comic timing was not immediately obvious. Small flaws in an otherwise flawless recording!

Hampson and Ramey are exceptionally served by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester (The Munich Radio Orchestra) and conductor Miguel Gómez-Martínez who are sympathetic to the repertoire chosen and very much attuned to the artistry of the two singers. They deliver a technically satisfying performance and are an outstanding accompaniment, effectively complementing the voices of both soloists.

I enjoyed Operatic Duets for Baritone and Bass very much. It is a shame that the CD comes without a booklet hence no texts, which in my view would have added to the pleasure of listening. However, this is a repertoire that one does not often hear as a recital on CD or on stage for that matter! Warner Classics & Jazz did well in deciding to re-release this recording. It is definitely a welcome addition to any operatic collection and to admirers of Hampson’s and Ramey’s artistry alike.

Margarida Mota-Bull
Margarida writes more than just reviews, check it online at http://www.flowingprose.com/




 

 

 



 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.