Amy Schuard - Opera Arias
Amy Shuard’s voice makes a great impression here, recalling her accomplishment in some roles and seeming even better than remembered in others
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Giuseppe Verdi, Umberto Giordano, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Label: Dutton Laboratories
Magazine Review Date: 11/2000
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 56
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CDCLP4006
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Aida, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
(Un) ballo in maschera, '(A) masked ball', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Cavalleria rusticana, Movement: Voi lo sapete |
Pietro Mascagni, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Pietro Mascagni, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Turandot, Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giacomo Puccini, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Gianni Schicchi, Movement: O mio babbino caro |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giacomo Puccini, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Tosca, Movement: Vissi d'arte |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giacomo Puccini, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
(La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life', Movement: ~ |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Giacomo Puccini, Composer Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden |
Andrea Chénier, Movement: ~ |
Umberto Giordano, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano Edward Downes, Conductor Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden Umberto Giordano, Composer |
Eugene Onegin, Movement: Let me perish, but first let me summon (Puskai pogo pryezde) |
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer
Amy Shuard, Soprano George Weldon, Conductor Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Composer Royal Philharmonic Orchestra |
Author: John Steane
I have to pause and think back. Plenty of critical opinion – and Alan Blyth’s notes quote Harold Rosenthal, Philip Hope-Wallace and Andrew Porter – can be adduced to confirm from live experience the superb impression created by these records. But in all honesty I do not remember it quite so. Take it up at the comparison with Eva Turner: what I principally remember with Turner is the (frankly) surprised delight on finding that her tone was absolutely pure, translucent, without surface-scratch, wear or any other alloy, whereas Shuard’s voice never impressed me in that way. It did in others, principally in strength and reliability. She was a genuinely distinguished operatic artist, and in international casts (as in Un ballo in maschera) clearly earned her place. Her Turandot was a solid achievement; yet, in beauty or appeal of tone-quality, I remember preferring (for instance) Gertrud Grob-Prandl and Sylvia Fisher.
Where the record accords with memory is primarily in some of its more negative elements – the somewhat unvarying countenance and a sense of limited responsiveness (she knows when to soften, as she does, beautifully, in Tatyana’s Letter scene, but doesn’t enter into the development of feeling towards that point). It does, however, revive also a memory of her warm, moving and very accomplished singing of the Ballo aria, and it kindles a wish that we could have heard her in Andrea Chenier. The gift and accomplishment put on record here remain outstanding, as is the quality of transfer.'
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.