COMPOSERS: Haydn,Mozart
LABELS: RCA Red Seal
ALBUM TITLE: Mozart, Haydn
WORKS: Concert Arias, K272, 369 & 583
PERFORMER: Anja Harteros (soprano); Vienna SO/Pinchas Steinberg
CATALOGUE NO: 82877 77143 2
The German soprano came to wide
attention with her win at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition
in 1999. She has since pursued an
international career, including
Mozart’s Countess and Donna Anna
at the Met, and her first solo disc
concentrates on Mozartian repertory.
Hers is an imposing voice with strong
colours, and her vehement delivery
is instantly apparent in Elettra’s fury
aria from Idomeneo. Its wild passion
suits her, though she’s a little lacking
in light and shade. Her Countess
proves to be anything but a milksop,
while her Fiordiligi can boast all the
notes that Mozart asks for, though
one can’t help feeling that the sheer
grandeur of her singing occasionally
verges on the grandiose.
It’s a similar story throughout, with
Harteros’s engaged vocalism regularly
exciting even if it is marred by the odd
momentary loss of control. Though
her line is always firm, there’s a lack of
dynamic variety not helped by a close
recording. My guess is that she will
find her natural vocal home in bigger
repertory than this. But she’s never
bland, which is more than can be said
for the accompaniments provided
by Pinchas Steinberg and his large,
modern orchestra, which evinces little
sense of style. George Hall