There has been a flurry of new vocal recital discs that may be of interest to the members of cher public. First up is Elsa Dresig’s album Invocation, which brings together a fascinating collection of arias and songs under the general rubric of invocations. I have not heard Dresig live, but I have been impressed by her recital discs and online videos. To date, her repertoire has been the standard lyric soprano fare. However, on this album, she takes on much heavier selections including “Casta Diva” and “La vergine degli angeli.” I don’t know if this is a declaration of future intentions or a recording-only sidequest in the spirit of Leontyne Price’s Prima Donna albums. As recorded, she can tackle these arias, even if her bright sound is not what we typically expect. Even with the mixing panel wizardry, she does not sound fully comfortable in the Norma aria.

Lest I sound too negative, the other offerings on the disk more than compensate, and there are many interesting choices that stray from the usual recital chestnuts. They include the recording premier of an aria from Anna di Resburgo by Carolina Uccelli, arias from Gounod’s Mireille and Sappho, an aria from nineteenth century Danish composer Peter Heise’s Drot og Marsk (King and Marshal) and “Letzte Rose” from Friedrich von Flotow’s Martha. I haven’t encountered that in a recital in quite a while.

Dresig is not a demented performer, but there is emotional sensitivity and depth of feeling in each selection. Massimo Zanetti does a very fine job leading the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova; they are at ease in the many styles required. I am very grateful that there is a chorus on this disk as a number of the pieces would fall flat without them.

Speaking of sidequests, Jonas Kaufmann’s latest recital album Magische Töne takes him to Budapest for music from the era of Austro-Hungarian Empire. It features a collection of arias from the operettas of Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Lehár, and Paul Abraham (with “Magische Töne” from Goldmark’s Die Königin von Saba as a bonus). One oddity of Kaufmann’s career is that he has recorded multiple operetta recitals, but he has only appeared recently in one staged operetta, Die Fledermaus. Judging from this recital, he has an evident affinity for the material and evinces the requisite ardor and charm. His voice shows the wear and tear that we’ve heard in other recent outings, and there is the inevitable crooning. However, this did not compromise the material significantly (for me at least). As always with Kaufmann, the diction is exemplary without sounding forced. I also appreciated the tasteful and appropriate use of rubato. He is very ably supported by maestro Dirk Kaftan leading Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. Soprano Nikola Hillebrand partners him very ably in their duets; there is a nice chemistry between the two of them. A name to watch, I think.

Kaufmann had a different partner for most of his stops for his “Magische Töne” concert tour: soprano Malin Byström. She has a new album of her own German Opera Scenes and Arias where she is accompanied by Thomas Søndergård conducting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. This contains selections from operas by Strauss, Beethoven, Korngold, and Weber. Byström describes herself on Instagram as a “lyrical-dramatic soprano”. However unconventional that hybrid may sound, it does fit. Her lyric, tender sound that can expand to have considerable impact and intensity. There are moments of roughness and unsteadiness; this is most notable in the “Zweite Brautnacht!” that opens the recital. Nonetheless, I was impressed by the emotional range she brought to the selections and her incisive handling of the text. Her best selection on the disk is the final scene from Salome. It’s genuinely terrifying in the best possible way. She also has a new complete recording of Salome on a different label. I have not heard that, but am now eager to do so. Søndergård conducting effectively matches her intensity and mood.

I was originally planning to include Sondra Radvanovsky’s new Puccini Heroines album with this roundup, but I’ve decided to invoke Thumper’s Law and avoid commenting. Perhaps one of you would like to offer your perspective.

Dawn Fatale

Richard Lynn is a New York City based opera lover who writes at parterre box under the name Dawn Fatale. His love of opera started at a very young age when he used to listen to the Met broadcasts and obsessively read back issues of Opera News in lieu of socializing at family gatherings. In college, he majored in Chemistry while taking as many music and theater courses as possible. He worked at the Music Library to get access to the opera recordings that were off limits to undergraduates. Since the early 1990s he has been writing about opera at parterre box and other publications and is particularly interested the evolution of staging and performance practices.

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