Oh no, not another coloratura-chestnut collection! (First reaction–sorry.) Turns out this young Polish soprano is individual enough to pull this off and fears of another “-ina” (Desp, Ad, Am, Zerl) were unfounded. The voice is more substantial than that and it’s never cute or shrill. It’s a pity she starts out with “Una voce poco fa” with its Pons-and-Peters high embellishments; it’s hard to listen to it sung that way now that we’ve discovered coloratura mezzos. But she doesn’t ever chirp, the tone is beautiful and recognizable, her trill is the real thing, and she always sings on the note.
Her “Regnava nel silenzio” is girlish and nicely acrobatic; “Mein Herr Marquis” is witty and filled with coy, effortless charm; the aria and duet from L’elisir… (with fine tenor Francesco Demuro) is well-characterized. A dreamy “Caro nome” is unspoiled by the highest of interpolated notes (which only tend to make audiences nervous), and “Son vergin vezzosa”, with its Polish rhythms, seems to make her very comfortable (she opts out of the final high D, a gentle alternative). And her forays into Puccini–“O mio babbino caro” is impressive in its use of rubato; “Musetta’s Waltz” is less irritating than usual–suggest that she will ripen.
I wouldn’t say that her Violetta is quite ready yet–she could use some darker coloring–but she sings it as if Act 1 were the only act and puts some pressure on the voice for excellent dramatic effect in the recitative. And she takes the high E-flat with ease, both rising to it and descending from it musically. Her “Deh vieni” is lovely without breaking any records, and an aria from Straszny dwor by Moniuszko ends the recital more interestingly than it began. And I know that this sounds flimsy, but she sounds intelligent. Accompaniments led by sympathetic, equally musical Omer Meir Wellber make this CD a real pleasure.
