Don Satz writes about the new recording of Alcina:

>Graham and Fleming do well, but they aren't special at all.  That
>distinction belongs to Natalie Dessay.  Her singing is gorgeous, youthful,
>and fully idiomatic (she insures a proper proportion in relation to the
>orchestra).  I was also impressed with her recent disc of Mozart arias.  I
>suppose there's a reason why Fleming appears to be considered the leading
>soprano vocalist currently active; I just haven't figured it out yet.
>Maybe I should get one of her Strauss discs.

My wife and I were in the opening night audience of the Lyric Opera
production of Alcina, which included many, but not all, of the artists
featured in the recording.  The splendid conductor for the Lyric production
was John Nelson, who has a remarkable gift for getting a orchestra of
modern-instrument conservatory graduates to sound like a seasoned HIP
ensemble.  Based on our experience that night, I must agree whole-heartedly
that Mlle.  Dessay was stunning in all respects.  Her voice is indeed
beautiful and extremely flexible; she uses it with a carefree virtuosity
which is electrifying in effect.  She also projected a delightful stage
presence, which she maintained even after the final curtain, taking one of
many bouquets tossed her way and cheerfully distributing it, flower by
flower, to the rest of the cast.

Having said all of this, and not having heard the recorded version, I must
disagree with Mr. Satz's assessment of Renee Fleming.  No less than Mlle.
Dessay, she gave a deeply felt, radiantly sung, and profoundly memorable
performance that night.  It was not bloodless, schematic Baroque singing by
any stretch of the imagination.  I have seldom heard any singer in any role
project as searingly broad a range of pathos and emotion as Ms. Fleming
did in her extraordinary performance of Alcina's great tragic aria at the
heart of the opera.  Even so, her approach managed to seem perfectly
appropriate to the music, very much in keeping with Maestro Nelson's
overall musical concept; in no sense did it seem a vocal equivalent of
Bach-Busoni or Bach-Stokowski.

The leading sopranos in this production, as exceptional as they were, were
matched by outsanding performances by the rest of the cast, which included
soprano Robin Blitch Wiper, mezzos Jennifer Larmore and Kathleen Kuhlmann,
tenor Rockwell Blake, and bass-baritone Stephen Morscheck.  Whatever one
may or may not have thought of the Robert Carsen staging, the evening was
an unusually rich vocal feast in the midst of an unusually rich Lyric
season.  (I also saw Falstaff, A View From the Bridge -- on which I
commented here back in October, Tristan with Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner,
and L'Elisir d'Amore.)

DPHorn, wishing he could hearand see it all again, not just via radio
broadcast.