I am not a hit
The world needs a lot of things: health care, happiness, homo marriages, peace, prosperity and butterflies. What it doesn’t need is a mediocre “budget” recording of a contemporary opera already satisfactorily recorded with the original cast
A new revelatory, superbly cast recording of the simultaneously fascinating and boring Nixon in China would probably be happily snapped up by those who are more of a fan of this opera than I am. The new CD on Naxos is so not that recording.
For some reason Nixon in China tempts its interpreters to bellow and declaim. Since all productions are amplified and the lines are relatively sympathetically written for the voice this vocal distorion seems unnecessary. I’m willing to bet that Marc Heller (who “sings” Mao Tse-tung) is actually pretty fierce: he sounds like he can make some noise and his credits are impressive. Unfortunately, here he just screams and pushes his voice until pitches are unrecognizable. Or maybe Adams is just not his forte.
The same could be said of Chen-Ye Yuan as Chou En-lai. It’s obviously an interesting instrument but is not shown at an advantage in this ungrateful role. Tracy Dahl makes some impressive sounds in the extreme top of Madame Mao’s music but whenever she sings around an A natural (which is often) her vibrato loosens dangerously close to a wobble. I also couldn’t understand one damn word she sang.
The Opera Colorado Chorus tries their best but this is not a world-class ensemble and the choral music in this opera is not easy.
It’s not that this recording is completely awful. There are strengths. Marin Aslop knows her way around American music, and her reading is taut and inspired. She moves the action along (as much as Adams’s music allows) and keeps excitement bubbling (again, as much as the music allows).
Pat and Dick are both interesting here. Maria Kanyova, as Pat, is the only singer who sings like this is opera. Her other roles include Butterfly and Violetta and it shows. The voice is fluid, beautiful and ballsy. She’s also the only singer that phrases beautifully. “This is prophetic” is easily the highlight of the recording. Kick-ass singing.
Robert Orth manages to be charismatic and idiomatic as Nixon while singing with grainy, unsupported tone. It’s a believable and truly interesting portrayal. It’s just hard to listen to.
All of this begs the question of Naxos- what was the point of this recording? Just Aslop and Kanyova? They’re great, but it’s not enough to warrant a $25 price tag. If I were you I’d say bump both recordings and watch the broadcast of the original production on Youtube for free. But hey, if you love a good arpeggiated chord and have money to burn then by all means, skip on over to Amazon
Lindoro, you have a point! I didn’t mean to dismiss all vanity projects out of hand, and there are shades of vanity too. Rare is the CD completely financed by the artist. You are right that some are of greater value than others.
The case of the Nixon in China, which I have not heard, is according to our reviewer perhaps an example of a less valuable contribution to the catalog.
Bartoli does very good work, I think, and I wasn’t all that hard on her in my review. The programming certainly brings a level of class to the top-10 opera charts that we rarely see.
No. 18: This soprano is Cristina Piperno, in the Arena di Verona production of “Turandot”, August, 2009. She sang the same role with Palm Beach Opera in December, 2007.
I reject this whole vanity recording idea.
They do it because it’s part of their job, not out of vanity. Some singers have recording contracts to fill, you know?
Like Ceci shows up for work at the recording study for an 8-5 shift and gets her assignment for the day….
Record three vivaldi arias 8-10 AM, 15 minute coffee break, two Salieri pieces between 10:15-12:30, 45 minute
lunch…..
Somehow I don’t think so. The few singers that record CDs
these days have hightly complex negotiations for each project. And becoming more and more the trend is a concert tour following the recording/release. Ceci, Placi, Renee, JDF, Angie, Joycie etc.
I don’t believe that most recordings are vanity projects in the purest sense in that Sony , i.e., says to Renee, what would you like to record dear, anything is fine with us. But they are more towards that end of the spectrum than the “Joyce, report to studio 3, pick up your music in the office on the way” end of the spectrum.
32 -- No. It’s Alessandra Argentieri (”student of Antonietta Stella”!) http://www.opera3000.net/drago.html
Has anyone heard Mariana Svetkova sing Turandot? i understand she just sang it in Japan and i am looking for recordings with her.
javier @33 says “I reject this whole vanity recording idea.”
Completely agree.
This phrase is being ‘re-purposed’ to mean “Any recording I don’t like.”
Don’t like baroque music? Vanity project
Don’t like Renee Fleming? Vanity project
Don’t like John Adams? Vanity project
Please — like the world was crying out for the endless recordings of Butterfly, Boheme, Carmen which were cranked out at the height of the LP era.
There is probably more of an enduring place for “Sacrificium” than most of those projects.
#27 (Orlando Furioso) Your prayers are answered!
http://www.amazon.com/William-Bolcom-Innocence-Experience-University/dp/B000641YZK
That latest “vanity” project by Bartoli probably sold more copies as pre-orders that 99% of classical recordings will ever sell … I don’t call that vanity, I call it good business.
In some way, every solo-arias disc is a vanity project, isn’t it? I don’t find that to be a helpful descriptive terms.
I don’t buy Bartoli’s recordings myself but the woman is constantly exploring new repertoire and then recording it with a palpable joy and enthusiam. And people love it and buy the CD in (relatively) large numbers. So, what is wrong with that? She is one of the few artists out there who can still make a case for viable classical recording projects.