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05/01/2011
“Daemons & Angels”
Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco: “Gli arredi festivi…Sperate, o figli!”, “Oh chi piange?” – Simon Boccanegra: “Il lacerato spirito” – Attila: “Mentre gonfiarsi l’anima”– Otello: “Credo in un Dio crudel”
Jacques Fromental Halévy: La Juive: “Si la rigueur et la vengeance”
Charles Gounod: Faust: “Le veau d’or”
Georges Bizet: Carmen: “Votre toast”
Modest Mussorgsky/Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Boris Godunov: “Prologue”, “Monologue”, “Boris’ death”
Carlo Colombara (Bass), Bulgarian National Symphony Orchestra, Sofia Metropolitan Golden Voices, Sofia Bardarska (Chorus Master), Vladimir Ghiaurov (Conductor)
55’ 34
Kicco Music #KC107.1CD – Booklet in Italian and English; individual librettos in original language
Kicco Music’s “Daemons & Angels” is a journey into the spiritual highs and lows of opera’s notable bass characters, featuring the velveteen register of Carlo Colombara in arrangements of solos and extenuated choral ensembles. His singing is effortless, and nowhere do we find harsh constriction or struggling slides to reach high notes. Lying comfortably within his tessitura, this splendid fit allows Colombara wider berth for emotional expressions. The legato is smooth and fully executed.
In the religious column Colombara’s Zaccaria exudes a priestly élan while his singing Cardinal de Brogni’s cavatine, “Si la rigueur et la vengeance” from Halévy’s La Juive, has pontifical shine and envelopes spiritual enlightenment. In both, the mix with choral segments are well balanced. A slightly pronounced machismo is found in “Votre toast”; Méphistophélès’ aria “Le veau d’or” retains a satisfying tempo and unembellished demonic overtures. Kicco Music adds a distinguished echoing in the ominous “Credo in un Dio crudel” that’s chilling and compelling. Well over half of the CD is reserved for the Mussorgsky/Rimsky-Korsakov Boris Godunov tripartite. Colombara’s rendition has an incisive polished edge, yet retains somber and elegiac underpinnings.
Any opera lover will enjoy the ripened variety in Daemons & Angels. A thoughtfully chosen chapter, this Carlo Colombara CD is a great collection (most specifically) for any bass aficionado.
Christie Grimstad
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