Search
Special Offers
Awards
Online Payment
Visit us
Presto News - 18th April 2011Julia Lezhneva sings Rossini |
 As Chris heads off for a well-deserved early Easter break in France, it falls to me to tell you a bit about one of the stand-out new releases – an ambitious, exciting debut disc from a Russian soprano barely into her twenties. Having very much enjoyed Julia Lezhneva’s thrillingly-sung contribution to Naïve’s superb recording of Ottone in Villa a few months back, I made a bee-line for this recital of Rossini opera arias when it arrived on Chris’s desk. Coming hot on the heels of Joyce DiDonato’s acclaimed ‘Colbran: The Muse’ disc (last year’s Gramophone Recital Disc of the Year, which features many of the same arias), she’s certainly got a tough act to follow with this collection of fairy-tale heroines, mythical queens and abandoned women, but her astonishingly flexible, wide-ranging and even-toned soprano seems to be eminently up to the challenge.  Julia Lezhneva Given Lezhneva’s extreme youth (after all, 21 is barely out of the nursery in ‘singer years’, and in fact she was just 19 when the disc was recorded), the first thing which impresses is the range of vocal colour and unforced fullness of tone – I hesitate to say ‘maturity’, because the basic sound is so unfailingly fresh and even, with no hint of any pressure, wobble or precocious fruitiness even in the lower reaches of this demanding programme. The opening track lays her virtuoso credentials squarely on the table, with Rossini’s trademark vocal fireworks – breath-sapping phrases, cascades of semiquaver runs, two-octave leaps and exposed ‘money-notes’ – all handled with insouciant aplomb. Comparisons are bound to be drawn with the young Cecilia Bartoli, who first burst upon the scene twenty-five years ago singing similar repertoire at a similar age, but Lezhneva is very much her own woman and her singing is refreshingly free from mannerism. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she’s at her best in the florid display-pieces allotted to the more girlish characters in this gallery of Rossini’s women – she can’t yet quite match DiDonato for vocal drama, word-painting and tonal variety in the excerpts from Otello and L’Assedio di Corinto, for instance, and comes across as just a shade too light for the big-boned William Tell aria – but her bel canto instinct and innate sense of phrasing are in evidence everywhere. She’s beautifully and sensitively supported by Marc Minkowski and his band throughout (listen out in particular for some brilliantly characterful woodwind-playing in the opening track, which you can sample via the video-link below). This lovely, distinctive voice is already far more than just a work-in-progress, but I can’t wait to see what its owner will be up to in ten or fifteen years’ time – clearly the big Mozart roles beckon (she’s due to sing Fiordiligi in Minkowski’s Così fan tutte in Salzburg later this year), and she has all the raw materials for Donizetti’s queens and perhaps even a Norma or a Violetta in terms of the voice’s agility, range and body. But what really makes this disc special for me is the sheer infectious joy which Lezhneva conveys in singing this music: especially in the extended ‘happy ever after’ scenes from the close of La Donna del Lago and La Cenerentola, she simply exudes youthful exuberance and joie de vivre. Lezhneva’s already such a natural communicator that you can sense all of this even without even actually seeing her perform, but do take a look at our short video to watch her in action (such endearing facial expressions!) and to learn a little more about her discovery of her remarkable voice.
|
Share
|
 Julia Lezhneva sings RossiniJulia Lezhneva (soprano), Sinfonia Varsovia, Marc Minkowski |
Katherine Cooper - katherine@prestoclassical.co.uk |
Watch: A short video trailer of this disc.New Releases18th April 2011 |
This is just the pick of the recent releases. The New Releases and Future Releases pages are always available for browsing all the new and forthcoming releases. |
 J S Bach: St Matthew Passion, BWV244The Netherlands Bach Society with Kampen Boys Choir, Jos van VeldhovenAfter the successful ‘collectors item’ releases of the Christmas Oratorio (2003), St. John Passion (2005) and B minor Mass (2007) performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, Channel Classics now releases a new and very special recording of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Once again, the recording has been made in collaboration with the Catharijne convent Museum of Utrecht, so that this edition of the St. Matthew Passion is accompanied by a richly illustrated text book. This enables the listener to experience the Passion both in music and images. The illustrations are drawn from the museum’s unique collection, which possesses the largest collection of liturgical art in the Netherlands. |
 Daniel Barenboim on DGTwo new recordingsTwo new releases from Daniel Barenboim on Deutsche Grammophon which are devoted to Chopin: a solo recital recorded in Warsaw, with deeply-felt Waltzes, a Polonaise, a Fantasia, a Nocturne and the B flat minor Sonata, as well as Chopin’s two piano concertos, accompanied by the Staatskapelle Berlin under Andris Nelsons, captured live at the Ruhr Piano Festival in July 2010. |
 Bruckner: Symphony No. 0 in D minorBeethoven Orchester Bonn, BlunierThis Bruckner Symphony (his second) is very rarely heard and was ‘annulled’ rather than destroyed by the composer. He bequeathed it to the Linz Regional Museum and it was first performed posthumously in 1924 on the 100th anniversary of Bruckner's birth. The other four orchestral movements on this SACD are world premiere recordings. |
 Bach - Concertos for Several Instruments, Vol. 5Café ZimmermannBach’s suites and concertos have long been part of concert repertoires. It is however interesting to mentally replace their first executions in the context of the time, so different from what we see on present day stages. Apart from at the courts, whatever their size, there were no permanent orchestras in Bach’s time and age. Café Zimmermann has brilliantly recreated the spirit of these orchestras, allowing each musician (chosen among the best on the European baroque scene) to express himself. |
 Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 1-10Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, David ZinmanAfter four years in the making, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich completed their highly acclaimed cycle of Gustav Mahler’s complete symphonies last year. The cycle was recorded as Super Audio CDs. Now the complete cycle is released as a Limited Edition set on 15 SACDs. An additional DVD showcases Viviane Blumenschein’s film documenting David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich recording Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. |
 Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9Czech Philharmonic Orchestra & Prague Philharmonic Choir, Paul KletzkiThis remarkable complete recording of Beethoven’s symphonies was made during Kletzki’s performances with the Czech Philharmonic in 1967, during the orchestra’s golden age under the chief conductor Karel Ančerl. This gem of the Supraphon archives thoroughly deserves the current re-edition in remastered form owing to its freshness and expressive depth. |
 Sviatoslav Richter - Concerto EditionSviatoslav Richter (piano)A generous and adventurous collection of piano concertos played by the Russian Giant of the Keyboard, Sviatoslav Richter. One of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Sviatoslav Richter was also one of the most self contained, enigmatic and elusive artists of the time. A fierce self-critic, he seldom was happy with the results of his recordings. His criticism often embraced conductors, producers and sound engineers. |
 Australian Eloquence6 New re-issuesThis month sees the start of a Neville Marriner series to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields; it will continue through the year. The first batch focuses on their Baroque recordings including their very first LP for L’Oiseau-Lyre (‘A Recital’) – never before released complete on CD! Also included, to chime in with Royal Wedding sentiments, is a pair of discs of music from the 19th century celebrating the monarchs Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. |
 BBC Radio 3 CD ReviewSaturday 16th April 2011 |
Building a Library - Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 in E flat minor, Op. 111 |
 First Choice(as part of a complete Symphony cycle)London Symphony Orchestra, Valery Gergiev |
Disc of the Week |
 Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko |
Listen - sound samples available for this itemYour details will be used only in accordance with our Privacy Policy. |
Copyright © 2002-13 Presto Classical Limited, all rights reserved.