Placido Domingo - Wagner (Scenes from The Ring) / with Cangelosi, Dessay, Urmana, Covent Garden, Pappano
Placido Domingois a phenomenon. He has preserved not only the beauty, flexibility, and flawless production of his voice over a career spanning four decades, but also his eagerness for new adventures and challenges. To several Wagnerian roles he performed recently, he has now added Siegfried, at least on record (having first tried out the role on his successfulWagner Love Duets). This disc proves that his vocal power is undiminished, while his ability to create and project character keeps gaining depth and conviction. That said, it cannot be denied that he is not a true "Heldentenor," vocally or temperamentally. Thus, one misses the unbridled boyish glee in the sword-forging scene, despite the ringing high A's.However, his response to the Forest Bird is exuberant, his duet with Brünnhilde ardent and ecstatic. The lyrical, introspective passages--like his musings about his mother and his dying farewell--are most moving and persuasive. He is splendidly supported by Violeta Urmana, a dark-voiced, passionate Brünnhilde; Natalie Dessay, whose Forest Bird laughs merrily; and David Cangelosi, who makes  Mime's devious villainy a bit too obvious. Since in Wagner the orchestra is almost as important as the singers, the disc includes several instrumental sections, and the playing is wonderful, though almost inaudible in the very soft passages. The wind soloists are grand, the forest murmurs, the Rhine swells and glitters, and the Funeral March is majestic. Since there are no set pieces in these through-composed operas, a feeling of disjointedness is inevitable, and the transitions between scenes do not really work.--Edith Eisler