American mezzo Jennifer Larmore has lately starred in a couple of complete bel canto recordings from Opera Rara, and her always prodigious talent has been gleaming even more brightly. Always prone to a certain toughness of delivery, that problem remains, but on those recordings, as on this new one, the voice and technique remain remarkable. The selection here is broad and unusual.
It’s a pleasure to hear Nicklausse’s “new” aria from Hoffmann so gently and persuasively sung, and the perkiness of Cendrillon that follows gives us a measure of Larmore’s range. She saves her darkest tones for Berlioz’s Dido and Massenet’s Sapho (both suicide arias, by the way), reverting to her coloratura ways with the catchy, interesting, challenging selection from Auber’s practically unknown Zerline. Her Dalila is well sung but generic; Marguerite’s aria from La damnation de Faust is taken so slowly as to lose its effect. “Connais-tu le pays” comes across less cloyingly than usual, but also with less warmth, and Charlotte’s third-act plaint from Werther, though well sung, comes on too strong and is over too quickly–it’s a poor choice for a recital.
An odd, flavorful excerpt from Ravel’s L’heure espagnole gives us a character study of a dissatisfied woman (and some spectacular orchestration) in which Larmore catches just the right ironic tone; a quick-tempo patter aria from Chabrier’s L’étoile ends the recital on a witty, virtuosic note. Bertrand de Billy understands French elegance and French champagne, and aside from the miscalculation from Damnation, he leads well. A major disc, then, nicely put together, with most of Larmore’s fine qualities in evidence, and only a few of her flaws. Sonics are ideal.
