How do you characterize a voice like this? The “official” description is “contralto”, but no way is Richard Tucker Award-winner Stephanie Blythe a contralto in any conventional sense. This is a voice so versatile that in her opening “Ombra mai fu” (and in many other places) you’d swear that you were listening to one of today’s new breed of countertenors–specifically David Daniels, who coincidentally records for the same label and appears on this program in a duet from Handel’s Giulio Cesare. (In fact, their voices are so perfectly matched that when they sing together it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart.) As with Daniels, her quality blends the best of male and female characteristics into one gorgeous sound: richly hued, facile of technique, exceptionally wide of range, and with a tone remarkably free of edges–and unlike any of today’s Baroque vocal specialists, a formidable lower register of astonishing power that can be both warmly seductive and frightening. Really. You’ve never heard “Iris, hence away!” from Handel’s Semele performed with such compelling insistence, nor Caesar’s “Al lampo dell’armi” sung with anything like the convincing warlike rage Blythe exhibits here. This is impressive singing on any scale of measurement–and Blythe tempers her strength with tenderness in such moments as the extended aria “Priva son d’ogni conforto”, again from Giulio Cesare.
Blythe benefits from a conductor and orchestral partners who truly support her with admirable sensitivity, including appropriately measured dynamics and delicately articulated accents and ornaments. The second half of the disc features Blythe in arias from Bach’s Passions, including a fervent “Erbarme dich” and darkly shaded, smooth-as-silk “Können Tränen meiner Wangen” from the St. Matthew and similarly heartfelt and technically unassailable renditions of “Von den Stricken meiner Sünden” and “Es ist vollbracht!” from the St. John. Mind you, except for the latter, which also is distinguished by a lovely gamba solo, these are not the best versions of these arias on disc–John Nelson’s direction is just too square and mannered–but you can’t beat Blythe’s performances for sheer beauty and emotional involvement. If she does falter it’s in those athletic, quick-tempo Handelian runs where she lacks the absolute pin-point accuracy of Daniels and another world-class countertenor, Andreas Scholl in this same repertoire. The sound is ideal–everything’s in balance, and that glorious voice is right where you want it, front and center, complemented by an agreeable acoustic. Vocal music fans: don’t miss this. Blythe is one of the more exciting singers to come along in years–and her star is only beginning to rise. [1/13/2002]
