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CD Review
Arias
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Die tote Stadt, Op. 12: Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen
- Ambroise Thomas: Hamlet: Spectre infernal!, O vin dissipe la tristesse, Etre ou ne pas être & Comme une pâle fleur
- Charles Gounod: Faust: Avant de quitter ces lieux
- Jules Massenet: Werther: Pourquoi me réveiller?
- Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlos: Per me giunto è il dì supremo
- Benjamin Britten: Billy Budd, Op. 50: And farewell, to ye, old Rights o' Man!
- Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser: Blick' ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise & O, du mein holder Abendstern
- Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky:
- Eugene Onegin, Op. 24: You wrote to me… & Can this really be Tatiana?
- Queen of Spades, Op. 68: I love you beyond all measure {Yeletsky's Aria)
Boje Skovhus, baritone
English National Opera Orchestra/James Conlon
Sony 60035 70:42
The Danish baritone Bo Skovhus is an interesting singer, whose thoughtful and effective characterizations outweigh the quality of his voice. It's not a bad instrument, just not a very interesting one by itself, with some unevenness between registers, sometimes a heavy vibrato, and he has a tendency to lean into phrases instead of opening them head-on. But what he does with it is admirable and well-displayed on the varied selections on the disc. He can infuse musical meaning into the words in a wide range of languages (four are represented here) and a variety of styles, from the romanticism of Korngold to the bravura of Thomas's Hamlet and the tender lyricism of Billy Budd. The accompaniment by James Conlon and the English National Opera Orchestra is good, and the sound is excellent.
Copyright © 1999, Alexander J. Morin
