The Great Italian Arias
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, Arrigo Boito, Gioachino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano
Label: Forlane
Magazine Review Date: 8/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: UCD16681
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Pagliacci, 'Players', Movement: Si può? (Prologue) |
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer
José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Composer |
(La) Bohème, 'Bohemian Life', Movement: Vecchia zimarra (Coat song) |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Giacomo Puccini, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Guillaume Tell, Movement: Sois immobile, et vers la terre (Resta immobile) |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Gioachino Rossini, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
(Il) Barbiere di Siviglia, '(The) Barber of Seville', Movement: La calunnia è un venticello |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Gioachino Rossini, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Lucrezia Borgia, Movement: Vieni: la mia vendetta |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Mefistofele, Movement: Ave Signor! Perdona se il mio gergo |
Arrigo Boito, Composer
Arrigo Boito, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Nabucco, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Attila, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Don Carlo, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Rigoletto, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor |
Andrea Chénier, Movement: ~ |
Umberto Giordano, Composer
José Van Dam, Bass-baritone Loire Philharmonic Orchestra Marc Soustrot, Conductor Umberto Giordano, Composer |
È l'uccellino (Ninna-Nanna) |
Giacomo Puccini, Composer
Colette Musquer, Piano Giacomo Puccini, Composer José Van Dam, Bass-baritone |
Author:
According to Grove, Jose van Dam is a bass. This disc suggests a category in between, a bass-baritone as happy to sing Rigoletto as he is Boito's Mefistofele or Verdi's Philip II. There is little sign of strain in the baritone arias, although he omits the traditional top notes both in Rigoletto's ''Cortigiani'' and the Prologue to Pagliacci, which leaves them going no higher than some of the bass arias. In Zaccaria's ''Tu sul labbro'' he sounds fairly impressive until the last phrase, when the vocal line descends to the bottom of the stave and the strength of the voice rather fades away.
In general, this is a very capable, but not an exciting disc. Van Dam does suggest the varied personalities to whom the arias belong (a hissed 's' on ''sibilando'' gives us the comic malice of his Basilio, an extra dynamism the force of his Attila) but the listener is not likely to learn much about these characters that was unfamiliar before. When such a leading singer of the French language is on hand, it is also a shame that the arias from Don Carlo and Guillaume Tell are sung in Italian. The accompaniments under Marc Soustrot are short on Italianate sparkle.'
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