From: ray@gawain.cif.rochester.edu (Raymond Sunessen Tuttle)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical
Subject: Joan Sutherland reissues on London
Date: 9 Apr 92 00:26:02 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

Is it fair that operatic singers' careers generally end several decades before
those of pianists, violinists and conductors, or does the (some would say)
excessive adulation that singers receive during their active years compensate
for their earlier retirement? Now that soprano Joan Sutherland is in her mid-
60s, her glory days are over, but London Records has recalled them with five
mid-priced CD reissues: "Romantic French Arias" (421 879), "Operetta Gala"
(421 880), "The Age of Bel Canto" (421 881), "Command Performance" (421 882)
and "Tribute to Jenny Lind" (421 883).

Many older collectors will still have Sutherland's LPs bearing these titles,
and they should be warned that these CDs do not exactly duplicate the contents
of the originals; on each, selections have been added, deleted or shifted 
around. Even so, all five discs are well-filled, containing at least an hour
of music.

Apart from La Stupenda herself (whom we shall get to in a moment), the best
reason to get these recitals is to hear the wealth of rare repertoire that
they present. When is the last time you heard something from Masse's "Les
Noces de Jeanette" or Gounod's "Le Tribut de Zamora"? Excerpts from both are on
"Romantic French Arias." Those wishing to hear Sutherland in excerpts from her
more famous roles ("Lucia di Lammermoor" and "Norma" to name two) will have to
look elsewhere, but these discs remind us of the diligence she and her
husband Richard Bonynge (who conducts most of these performances) exercised
in bringing much rare music back to life, at least for a little while.

These discs, then, are highly recommendable, with one huge exception: 
"Operetta Gala" is positively stillborn. All but one of the 14 selections are
arranged by Douglas Gamley, whose syrupy, elephantine reorchestrations beg the
question "What was wrong with the originals?" Sutherland, like a fly in the
pitcher plant, tries to escape from Gamley's treacle, but she and this disc
both die a sticky death. Avoid.

And Sutherland herself? For each of her virtues (stunning high notes,
intelligence, meltingly beautiful legato), one can name faults (poor diction,
temperamental placidity, covered tone). Most readers will already know how 
they feel about La Stupenda. For those unfamiliar with her singing, I suggest
starting with "The Age of Bel Canto" with its mixture of the relatively
familiar and the less well-known. This disc closes with a seraphic performance
of "O beau pays de la Touraine" from Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots", which reminds
me that the complete recording from which this excerpt is taken also has been
recently released by London (430 549, 4 mid-priced CDs). Over three and a half
hours long, this opera is more than a mouthful, but it is a most fascinating
piece of excess which reminds us of the days when singers were larger-than-
life, even more so than today.


--
Ray and his two     "Dunkel ist das Leben, ist der Tod,"
little white mice,   but it's nothing to get depressed about.
named Ursula and
Gudrun. *******************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical