Marianne Faithfull sounds like (former) East German chanteuse Gisela May, only with a lousier voice. She makes no attempt to characterize the two Annas in their questions and answers, and indeed she approaches much of the role as did Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, reciting almost as much as she sings. While she effectively captures the world-weariness of the character, the approach sometimes verges on, or (depending on your level of tolerance) crosses over the line between decadence and monotony. Dennis Russell Davies’ conducting is efficient, and the members of Hudson Shad characterize “The Family” well. While I enjoy hearing The Seven Deadly Sins in English (text by Auden and Kallman), and every word is crystal clear, I can’t rate this as a particularly fine or recommendable performance to anyone but the singer’s fans. Faithfull is serious and does her best, but given the quality of the competition, this effort simply doesn’t compete, and the additional songs bring the running time only to around 50 minutes–no bargain at all.
