Haydn, Mozart: Concert Arias, K272, 369 & 583

COMPOSERS: Haydn,Mozart
LABELS: RCA Red Seal
ALBUM TITLE: Mozart, Haydn
WORKS: Concert Arias, K272, 369 & 583
PERFORMER: Anja Harteros (soprano); Vienna SO/Pinchas Steinberg
CATALOGUE NO: 82877 77143 2
The German soprano came to wide

attention with her win at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition

in 1999. She has since pursued an

international career, including

Mozart’s Countess and Donna Anna

at the Met, and her first solo disc

concentrates on Mozartian repertory.

Hers is an imposing voice with strong

colours, and her vehement delivery

is instantly apparent in Elettra’s fury

aria from Idomeneo. Its wild passion

suits her, though she’s a little lacking

in light and shade. Her Countess

proves to be anything but a milksop,

while her Fiordiligi can boast all the

notes that Mozart asks for, though

one can’t help feeling that the sheer

grandeur of her singing occasionally

verges on the grandiose.

It’s a similar story throughout, with

Harteros’s engaged vocalism regularly

exciting even if it is marred by the odd

momentary loss of control. Though

her line is always firm, there’s a lack of

dynamic variety not helped by a close

recording. My guess is that she will

find her natural vocal home in bigger

repertory than this. But she’s never

bland, which is more than can be said

for the accompaniments provided

by Pinchas Steinberg and his large,

modern orchestra, which evinces little

sense of style. George Hall