Karita Mattila: German Romantic Arias
Accompanied by the superb Staatskapelle Dresden, under the occasionally  overmellow baton of Sir Colin Davis, Finnish sopranoKarita Mattilahere presents eight German Romantic arias, two of which--concert arias--are in Italian. Agathe's two arias from Weber'sDer Freischuetzare handsomely, introspectively sung, with lovely tone and nice inner reflection. Leonore's big scene fromFideliois suitably angry and hopeful, with Mattila's voice an ideal instrument for the character's predicament and Beethoven's wide vocal leaps. Her singing of Beethoven's "Ah, perfido," a 13-minute rant that is quite a test for any soprano, is thrilling, and the final moments of Rezia's "Ocean, thou mighty monster" (sung in the original, outlandish English) are almost overwhelming intense and exciting. Two arias from Weber'sEuryantheshow the character's two sides: the wildly  defiant and the prayerful. A rarity, an Italian-language aria by Mendelssohn, is fascinating. This is an exciting release, a joy for Mattila fans, and a great honor to Weber, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn.--Robert Levine