Zajick, widely known as one of the leading operatic mezzo-sopranos of the day, is introduced here as a soprano, though neither the voice nor repertoire seems greatly to have changed. The addition of Lady Macbeth to the list of roles is interesting but not surprising, for it has been sung quite often by mezzos (on records, for instance, by Cossotto, Hongen and Verrett). It is not clear what purpose is served by apportioning the voice and (presumably) the repertoire to a different vocal category; the case is perhaps made out in the booklet, which was not included in the review copy, but it would have to be remarkably strong to convince us that Gluck’s Orpheus, Verdi’s Azucena and Mussorgsky’s Marfa are roles for a soprano, however dramatic.
The voice is certainly one of exceptional quality and power. In spite of some 20 years of hard usage (she had been singing professionally for some time before winning her Tchaikovsky prize in 1982), the surface remains to a large extent unworn, its high and low notes particularly thrilling in thrust and opulence. The limitation lies in something which, if not exactly Slavonic wobble (Zajick is American by birth), is ‘operatic vibrato’, a condition common to many powerful voices where sustained notes, especially at a forte, may be perfectly firm while losing evenness and definition elsewhere. This affects the pleasure of her ‘J’ai perdu mon Eurydice’ more than that of ‘Divinites du Styx’ and of her Rossini rather more than her Cilea. In Verdi her richness of tone and assurance of dramatic authority carry the day.
Best is probably the Don Carlos: a towering performance of Eboli’s great solo, impresssive on record, overwhelming in the effect one can imagine it having in the theatre. The deep, baleful phrases of Azucena in Il trovatore have the authentic quality, too. In Semiramide it is good to hear her singing the runs without aspirates.
In Khovanshchina she catches well the awe of Marfa’s invocation and the humanity of her prophetic utterance. As Lady Macbeth she is not imaginative in colouring or in verbal expressiveness but rises triumphantly to the climaxes, both the loud and the soft. With no other solo recital to her name in the current catalogue, Zajick is certainly welcome to the opportunities afforded by this one, in which she is well supported by the RPO and its sympathetic conductor.'