Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili is a genuine sensation, really hitting her stride; she may not yet be a household name, but she is likely to become one soon. She has become known in a variety of operatic roles, but this is her first album of art song. The medium plays to one of her strengths: Rachvelishvili is noted for her range of languages, and here, she offers songs in Russian, French, Italian, and Spanish as well as one in her native Georgian, all reasonably accent free if not always splendidly articulated. ...
Read More
Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili is a genuine sensation, really hitting her stride; she may not yet be a household name, but she is likely to become one soon. She has become known in a variety of operatic roles, but this is her first album of art song. The medium plays to one of her strengths: Rachvelishvili is noted for her range of languages, and here, she offers songs in Russian, French, Italian, and Spanish as well as one in her native Georgian, all reasonably accent free if not always splendidly articulated. Rachvelishvili's voice is a powerhouse, and those wondering whether she could tone it down to song dimensions without losing its remarkable range of colors can relax. Each of the national traditions she touches on has its own flavor, and the entirely distinctive sounds she makes, for instance, in her lower-middle register in the Rachmaninov Romances (these are sung in Russian, although on some online sources, the titles come through in English), lose nothing in the transition to the smaller...
Read Less
