The opening aria here, Adriana’s “Io son l’umile ancella”, nicely sums up Cristina Gallardo-Domas’ debut solo CD. The character claims to be “the humble maidservant of the creative spirit” (forget the prose’s purpleness and accept the sentiment), and here is a colorful voice that’s wisely used to express character. Throughout this recital you are impressed less by sheer vocal prowess than by Gallardo-Domas’ involvement and, yes, even humility. She rarely underlines the emotional content of the arias with anything extraordinary or showy; indeed, she’s attractively prone to understatement. Much of this may be due to what I sense are technical limitations: her high notes are solid but not easy or luscious; low notes can be impressively chesty and are used meaningfully but are not all-of-a-piece with the rest of the voice; breath control and support seem unfinished; and coloratura ability, slightly lacking in the Anna Bolena scene, is glaringly absent in the bridge between “Ah, fors e lui” and “Sempre libera”. But these shortcomings are only noticeable upon real scrutiny; almost every aria is a satisfying experience.
After Adriana’s humility comes Bolena’s outrage and sadness, and La Wally’s desperation is clear despite odd tempo fluctuations in mid-aria. As Bellini’s Giulietta Gallardo-Domas might miss some of the music’s lightness, but the innocence and sweetness come through. She’s got Violetta’s temperament just right, in both the first and last acts–the self-questioning, the slightly falsified joy, and then the utter bleakness. In Puccini, her Mimi is truly effective, Butterfly less so, mainly due to a lack of heft in the aria’s big moment, and Manon Lescaut’s “In quelle trine morbide” has the exact combination of voluptuousness and fear it requires. Suor Angelica’s aria is moving but not special, but “O mio babbino caro” is sung with such freshness that it doesn’t sound like a cliché, perhaps for the first time in years. Aside from the noted strange tempos in the Catalani aria, Maurizio Barbacini lends good support to the soprano and the Munich orchestra plays well. This CD gives real pleasure; let’s hope that Gallardo-Domas’ technical problems don’t overcome her artistry.
