COMPOSERS: Puccini
LABELS: EMI
WORKS: Arias from Madama Butterfly, La bohème, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica & Turandot
CATALOGUE NO: 267 7312
The Armenian soprano’s collection of Puccini arias covers the usual territory – the main items from Butterfly, Bohème, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica and Liù’s arias from Turandot, plus the love duet from Butterfly and the Act II duet for the heroine and Des Grieux from Manon Lescaut, in which she is joined by the veteran Italian tenor Giuseppe Giacomini. Curiously, he finishes off the disc with ‘Nessun dorma’.
Giacomini, a fine artist, was 67 when these recordings were made and though he doesn’t disgrace himself there’s a degree of effort in his singing and his voice has lost its sensuousness. As a clearly mature tenor, he seems a strange partner
for the young soprano.
She has a lot going for her. Her substantial instrument, bright and forwardly projected, is well suited to the needs of Manon and Mimì in particular. But she lacks light and shade and her interpretations are basic and fatally similar to one another. The orchestral playing
is very acceptable, Pier Giorgio Morandi’s conducting is on the good side of routine and the recording sound is warm if rather enclosed. George Hall