Delibes: Lakmé / Bonynge, Opéra de Monte-Carlo
Delibes's operaLakméis  full of gorgeous melodies, even if you don't count the coloratura  sensation, the famous "Bell Song." That aria virtually demands a  soprano of Sutherland's agility and ease, and it gets it here. Even the  few singers who can match her in the upper altitudes can't do it with a  voice so rich and full. Sutherland's is aLakmébeyond  comparison with twittering, thin-voiced, coloratura specialists. She  did make this recording at a time when her diction was mushy and her  vocal lines sometimes drooped, so she's not beyond criticism. But revel  in the voice; after all,Lakméis a cardboard character,  and the opera, for all its considerable charms, isn't anotherRingcycle. Sutherland's colleagues are excellent, too. Vanzo  was one of the finest lyric tenors of his generation and is by far the  best Gérald on disc. Jane Berbié and Gabriel Bacquier are  also unmatched, and Bonynge's conducting is idiomatic and flowing. Add  engineering from Decca/London's golden age of recording, and here's a  Lakmé to treasure.--Dan Davis