Alyabyev: The Nightingale (Solovey)

Anu Komsi, Finland’s ‘coloratura assoluta’, here presents a wide-ranging programme, from mad scenes and rage arias from 18th- and 19th-century operas, to Alyabyev’s ever-soaring Nightingale and the silvery tinkling of Lakmé’s Bell Song.

Komsi also performs later examples of coloratura, including Glière’s glittering Concerto for coloratura and orchestra, and La Machine de l’être by the composer John Zorn – a work which she premiered in New York City in 2011.

The disc closes with a thoroughly idiomatic performance of Sibelius’ Luonnotar, with its text from the Finnish national epos Kalevala.

Throughout the programme, Anu Komsi is supported by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.

Russian-born soprano Rita Streich, also known as the ‘Viennese Nightingale’, was a much-admired singer of the post World War Two era, who made many popular recordings.

Her bright pearly voice was a light coloratura, and her repertoire included much lieder, as well as operas by Mozart, and also classical Viennese operetta.

Rita Streich’s naturally vivacious and charming personality comes across in this delightful collection of various light musical ‘bon-bons’ which is drawn from her immensely popular recordings of the 1950’s. She was adept in several languages and so very well equipped to sing this eclectic mixture of vocal waltzes, songs and arias from operas, opéras comique and operettas, which show off her range of vocal abilities, from her effortless coloratura to her sweet, melting way with a melody.

The collection includes some old favourites, less familiar pieces and some rarities. There are pretty vocal waltzes such as Johann Strauss’ Voices of Spring, the Shadow Song from Meyerbeer’s Dinorah and Luigi Arditi’s Parla Waltz, lilting melodies such as Delibes’ Les filles de Cadix, Saint-Saëns’ beautiful Le rossignol et la rose and Verdi’s delightful Lo spazzocamino, arias from Suppé’s operetta Boccaccio (or The Prince of Palermo) and Dvorˇák’s gorgeous Song of the Moon from Rusalka. There are also rarer pieces by less well-known composers, such as a Dell’Acqua’s song Villanelle, Czernik’s tarantella Chi sa?, and an aria from Benjamin Godard’s opera Jocelyn.

Michaela Paetsch Neftel and Wieslaw Pipczynski perform favourites from the virtuosic violin repertoire including Vitali's Chaconne, Paganini's Campanella, Kreisler's Liebeslied and Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy. All are excellently suited to an accordion accompaniment.

recorded London, 1956