Temptation

Shoppingwise I managed for the most part to behave myself on this trip. But good behaviour and Natalie Dessay have very little to do with one another — and surely the real sin would be saying no? So after much agonising and indecision in Thomas' Music, my spiritual home in Melbourne, I opted for a DVD of Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet, in the process resisting both Patrizia Ciofi in La traviata and the blogger formerly known as Canadienne in Così fan tutte. Both remain high on my wanted list, obviously, but I can't have everything — or at least, not all at once — so in the end Natalie had to win out.

Clearly this opera was composed for one reason only: so that one day Natalie could be in it. Just what planet is this woman from? Because she surely can't be from this boring one. The DVD is worth having just for Ophélie's mad scene and suicide, which Natalie performs with such unsettling brilliance you almost feel you ought to look away. Except you can't. On a purely vocal level she's incredible, naturally, but beyond that, she manages to find and express real, credible significance in all the acrobatics — far more, surely, than even the composer meant to put there. She's a phenomenon. Then there's the rest. The mad scene is Ophélie's big moment but Natalie is just as spellbinding in her smaller ones too. And as if she weren't enough on her own, she's paired with Simon Keenlyside's simply stunning Hamlet. I approached this purely as a Natalie vehicle and assumed I'd grow impatient whenever Hamlet was onstage sans Ophélie. I even told myself I was allowed to skip a track or two if I was missing her too much. No chance. He's as compelling in his own way as she is — not something I say lightly, and especially not about a boy. But this boy's fantastic and, like Natalie, both a fabulous singer and a real actor. They're so good you can ignore the horrendous liberties taken by the librettist, their performances so penetrating and committed it might as well be Shakespeare.

There's much much more to be said about this Hamlet but it wouldn't do much good. This is the kind of performance which needs to be seen. The wonders of YouTube (surprise surprise) mean you can in fact see part of the mad scene right now. But honestly, if you can, you it to yourself to see the whole thing and on as big a screen as possible.

And then there's Delirio. I've longed for this CD since the moment I read of its release. Rightly so, it turns out. This may just prove to be my favourite of all Natalie's CDs so far. She's in drop dead gorgeous voice, she's singing Handel cantatas, and Emmanuelle Haïm conducts. If it didn't exist I'd have dreamt it: every element of this disc is something I adore individually, and here they are united! Natalie proves she can pull off baroque madness just as spectacularly as the bel canto variety; Emmanuelle and Le Concert d'Astrée are just as beautifully insane. The first cantata on the CD, Delirio amoroso, is one I know via Magdalena Kozena but I almost didn't recognise it. Natalie's and Emmanuelle's rendition is a far more haunting, fragile kind of mania than Magdalena's blood'n'guts raging, more varied in tone and colour, and ultimately probably more successful. Then there's "Qui l'augel da pianta in pianta" from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, followed by a second cantata, the gorgeous "Mi palpita il cor", all of it sung with shining loveliness and some dazzling ornamentation. There's a slightly dreamlike quality to the whole recording, a sheen and a lightness of touch which distinguish it from the two other Handel cantata discs I have, Magdalena's and Véronique's, both a little darker and earthier. Fabulous stuff. More Handel please Natalie, as much and as quickly as possible.

Comments

[Il_Trovatore]

Ahhh, yes Sarah, Natalie's DVD of Hamlet is wonderful. I have the "late" vintage Sutherland recording, but Dessay surpasses La Stupenda with, paradoxically, both sheer brilliance of tone and emotional depth. The Delerio doco on you-tube is brilliant! Yay you-tube!!! Some other favourite you tube searches of mine: "Joan Sutherland" reveals her very early TV recordings to the end of her career with stunning accounts of Lucrezia Borgia and Anna Bolena.

You must also try "Rockwell Blake" for phenomenal Rossini singing. Then compare to the current Rossini cover-boy, "Juan Diego Florez". Enjoy!!

[Sarah]

Yes that documentary is fantastic - all CDs should come packaged with extras like that.
I've watched a few of the Joanie clips on YouTube, there's a wonderful one of her singing an aria from I Puritani which (who else) Richard Bonynge unearthed in a library somewhere - cut early in the opera's life because it was deemed too difficult but of course NOTHING is too difficult for Joan.
As for Rockwell Blake, I'm afraid I have issues with him. I have him in a few things and though I appreciate that he's terribly talented, the way he seems to *blast* everything out irritates me. His Jove in a live Semele I have I actually find pretty much unlistenable.