13 Dec 2011
Call Her Flott — Felicity Lott sings in English
Soprano Felicity Lott has concentrated her career in her UK homeland and in Europe, although she certainly has had her share of US appearances.
Recently in Recordings
Ariane et Barbe-Bleue on Blu-Ray
Paul Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, first heard in 1907, once seemed important. Arturo Toscanini conducted the Met premiere in 1911 with Farrar and later arranged some of its music for a 1947 recording with his NBC Symphony.
Kaufmann Wagner
The economics of the recording companies dictate much that is not ideal. Wagner’s operas were not composed as they were in order to permit the extraction of bleeding chunks, even on those occasions when strophic song forms do occur.
Mahler: Symphony No. 8
Among the recent recordings of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony, Valery Gergiev’s release on the LSO Live label is an excellent addition to the discography of this work.
Songs by Zemlinsky
While not unknown, the songs of Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942) deserve to be heard more frequently.
Gustav Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder.
Recorded on 5 and 6 May 2008 and 17 and 18 January 2009 at the Lisztzentrum (Raiding, Austria), this recent Bridge release makes available the piano-vocal versions of three song cycles by Gustav Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Rückert-Lieder, and Kindertotenlieder performed by mezzo-soprano Hermine Haselböck, accompanied by Russell Ryan.
Kathleen Ferrier: A Film by Diane Perelsztejn
Contraltos rarely achieve the acclaim and renown of sopranos. Assigned few leading roles in opera, they are condemned to playing the villain or the grandmother, or to stealing the castrati’s trousers in en travesti roles.
1612 Italian Vespers
Following their 2011 Decca recording of Striggio’s Mass in 40 Parts (1566), I Fagiolini continue their quest to unearth lost treasures of the High Renaissance and early Baroque, with this collection of world-premiere recordings, ‘reconstructions’ and ‘reconstitutions’ of music by Giovanni and Andrea Gabrieli, Monteverdi, Palestrina, and their less well-known compatriots Viadana, Barbarino and Soriano.
Eternal Echoes: Songs and Dances for the Soul
Eternal Echoes is an album of khazones [Jewish cantorial music] for cantorial soloist, solo violin and a blended instrumental ensemble comprising a small orchestra and the Klezmer Conservatory Band.
Mahler: Symphony no. 3 / Kindertotenlieder
Michael Tilson Thomas’s recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony is an outstanding contribution to the composer’s discography.
Oliver Knussen’s Symphonies from NMC
Oliver Knussen burst into British music with an unprecedented flourish. In 1967, the London Symphony Orchestra premiered Knussen’s First Symphony, with István Kertész scheduled to conduct.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio
Based on performances given in Summer 2010 at the Lucerne Festival, this recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio is an admirable recording that captures the vitality of the work as conducted by Claudio Abbado.
Stanisław Moniuszko: Flis
Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) was one of the most popular composers of his day in Poland, and of the many works he wrote for the stage, two are performed from time to time, Halka (1848) and Strazny dwór [The Haunted Manor] (1865).
Stanisław Moniuszko: Pieśni Songs
The Polish alto Jadwiga Rappé is a familiar voice in various stage and concert works, and the recent release of a selection of songs by Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) is an opportunity to hear her performing artsongs.
Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge: Serate Musicali
Originally released on multiple discs in 1981 this reissue on two CDs is a comprehensive collection of art songs by Italian and French composers from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Richard Strauss: Salome
An exciting contribution to the discography of this popular opera, the live performance of Richard Strauss’s Salome from the Festspielhaus at Baden-Baden is a compelling DVD.
Lulu by Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona
Released in late 2011, Deutsche Grammophon’s DVD of the new staging of Berg’s Lulu at the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona is an excellent contribution to the discography of this fascinating opera.
Lulu by the Metropolitan Opera
A recent release by the Metropolitan Opera, this two-disc set makes available on DVD the famous performance of Berg’s Lulu that was broadcast on 20 December 1980 as part of the PBS series “Live from the Met.”
Elmer Gantry the Opera
The novels of Sinclair Lewis once shot across the American literary skies like comets, alarming and fascinating readers of that era, but their tails didn’t extend far behind them.
Historical Performances from Covent Garden: Barbiere, La traviata and Tosca
Once the province of only the most dedicated opera fanatics, mid-20th century recordings of privately taped live performances have become more widely available.
Lucia and the glass harmonica
Flute players in opera orchestra around the world must look forward to the frequent appearances of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, knowing that while the stage spotlight in the mad scene will be on the soprano, the orchestral spotlight will be on their instrument.
OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »
Recordings
The operas of Richard Strauss provided her the opportunity often in her career to showcase her stylish and intelligent approach to larger soprano roles. However, in recent years she has found renewed acclaim as the comic lead in Offenbach operettas, such as La Belle Hélène and Le Grand Ducheese de Gerolstein. Her wit and idiomatic French carry the day in these roles, even though the voice at this point in her career has lost some of the plushness that had served her so well in Strauss and Mozart.
Perhaps it is the success she has enjoyed in these comic roles that prompted her to release this CD of lighter material and then top off the package with the casual greeting of Call Me Flott as the title. With the excellent accompaniment of Graham Johnson at the piano, Ms. Lott starts her recital of songs in English with one of the many settings of “It was a lover and his lass,” this one by Geoffrey Bush. Moving onto a piece each by two 20th century masters — Poulenc and Britten — the recital seems at first to be a rather more formal affair than it will later prove to be, and Ms. Lott is on her best recitalist form — enunciating with precision and scaling down her instrument to a more intimate level. Some high notes develop a slight tremor as a result. As the soprano moves onto rarities such as songs in English set by Gounod and Saint-Saens, listeners may begin to feel that calling the soprano “Ms. Lott” is more appropriate than the friendly suggestion of the CD title.
It’s with Noel Coward’s “If Love Were All” than Ms. Lott really seems to relax into “Flott” mode. A smile appears in the voice, and though she takes no jazz-influenced rhythmic or melodic liberties, there is a naturalness to her delivery that feels fresh and contemporary. Some of the “popular” numbers, however, are somewhat dated. Maybe a bolder interpreter would have changed Jerome Kern’s “You can’t make love by wireless” to “You can’t make love by cell phone.” Incidentally, it is only be referencing Mr. Johnson’s expert and detailed booklet notes that one can find the complete names of the composers and the poet or lyricist for the numbers. The track listing only gives composers’ surnames.
Highlights include a tender rendition of Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I do” and several deliciously old-fashioned numbers, such as “The Boy in the Gallery” and “Come on Algernon.” It actually takes a top artist to imbue these simple numbers with a sense of fun without overdoing a knowing wink at the anachronism. For your reviewer, the only odd choice is the straight-faced approach to Cole Porter’s “Miss Otis Regrets,” the droll comic piece about a society matron who must decline a lunch invitation after being arrested for shooting her cheating lover. Perhaps Flott thought it would hurt the piece to camp it up, but this is not Porter’s finest melody, and the number gets a bit dull. Nonetheless, the recital feels quite different than it did at its start by the 27th number (Coward’s “The Party’s Over”). Everyone should be addressing her as Flott by then.
Chris Mullins