Because it would be impossible to actually discuss the five hours of music on these four CDs without taking up acres of space, I won’t try very hard. Born in 1918, the Russian-Armenian Dolukhanova is still with us, apparently perky and teaching. And she is something of an anomaly. Always more of a recitalist than an opera singer, she has been known as a Rossini specialist (her coloratura is clean and easy), but as you can see from the list of composers here, there’s very little music for the female voice that doesn’t interest her. And she seems not to rest on just doing a quick study, getting the notes out, and running: she actually finds her way into the style of these composers and periods and is intensely musical. And though almost everything here is sung in Russian (which really mars some selections–for instance, the Giulietta/Hoffmann duet with Ivan Koslovsky, although the spirit is exactly right), she weaves herself into the situations and idioms masterfully enough for us to overlook the language issue much of the time. All selections were recorded between 1948 and 1953.
Just to give you an idea: The voice is a rich mezzo with a pronounced vibrato at times; her ease with a top B-natural is evident at the close of Mozart’s “Exsultate jubilate” where she holds the note longer than written or usual (and she sings it gloriously, albeit transposed a half-tone down); she can be seductive (as Giulietta), playful (“Die Forelle” and Rossini’s “La regatta veneziana”, a duet), utterly Classical and dignified (the Carissimi and Marcello), incredibly introspective (Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and “Du bist die Ruh”, sung amazingly slowly and with grand breath control), tender (Rachmaninov’s “Lilacs”), and tragic or tormented (Schumann’s “Nun hast du mir den ersten Schmerz getan” and a couple of Tchaikovsky songs). She seems a fish out of water with Falla’s seven popular songs, the Britten selections (from A Charm of Lullabies) are simply weird, and music by S.I. Taneiev reminds you precisely how long these CDs are.
But you get the point: This is a major collection by a great artist, and while I can’t imagine too many people wanting to hear five hours of the same singer (didn’t she ever leave the recording studio?) in one, two, or three sittings, she’s quite something. Guild would be wise to release these separately–this 4-CD set is quite a commitment.
