Even in an age blessed with outstanding mezzo-sopranos Vesselina Kasarova’s ravishing voice and interpretive mastery have catapulted her to international acclaim. After recording some outstanding complete operas and operatic recitals, she turns to the rarefied art of the German Romantic lied, and triumphs again. Throughout, she impresses not merely with her vocalism but with the deep feelings she brings to the songs. She’s not afraid to put her personal stamp on them, often playing with tempos in a manner some may think should be verboten. But it always sounds natural, attuned to the inner logic of the music and text.
One of the most impressive aspects of her operatic recital discs is the way she characterizes each selection; there’s nothing generic about Kasarova’s singing, and that admirable trait informs her lieder singing as well. The first song on this disc, Schubert’s Fischerweise, sounds a bit rushed, but even confirmed nit-pickers like myself will find little more to complain about. More typical of her Schubert is a rapt Nacht und Träume and an Im Abendtrot notable for her sensitive rubato and the way her voice conveys the poet’s awe at the world’s radiance. Always sensitive to the text, Kasarova lightens or darkens her voice to bring out meanings. In Schubert’s Der Wanderer an den Mond, for example, the first part of the line “Ich ernst und trüb, du mild und rein” (I serious and troubled, you serene and clear) is straightforward, the second lighter and, well, serene.
Kasarova seems even more attuned to the late Romantic, freer world of Brahms and Schumann. The Brahms songs benefit from the contralto richness she brings to Meerfahrt and the way she turns Von ewiger Liebe into a moving dramatic scena, building from the dark emptiness of the first stanza to the thrilling close, the girl’s blazing affirmation of her love sung with power and operatic flair. She also brings compelling ardor to her Schumann set. She’s alive to the quicksilver mood changes of Erstes Grün and delivers a Sonntags am Rhein replete with subtleties that can bring chills of recognition, as in the way she stretches the word “alles” in the line describing how the noble river encompasses all the poet loves about his fatherland. In the familiar Widmung, Kasarova’s fervor is riveting, conveyed in her vocal mastery and her ability to bring out the text’s meaning without exaggerated underlining or distortions.
Most of the songs here are available in fine recordings by past and present stars of lieder singing, but Kasarova takes her place beside them through her vocal beauties and an individual approach that makes them sound fresh and new. Throughout this wonderful recital, there’s the joy of hearing an extraordinary voice used with intelligence and emotional power. Unfortunately, there’s also the dubious pleasure of hearing hyperbolic intakes of breath thanks to overly close-up engineering that also lends a slight hardness to loud high notes. But this is a disc to return to again and again.
