Soprano Elina Garanca has been known mostly for bel canto roles. With Revive, she seems to inaugurate a new direction in her career with a selection of dramatic, mezzo-soprano range pieces. Cynics might guess that the title refers to that new direction itself, or simply to the collection of rather obscure music that makes up most of the second half of the program. But actually, as Garanca puts it in her own rather breezy notes, the connecting thread is "strong women in moments of weakness; women who nevertheless regain ...
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Soprano Elina Garanca has been known mostly for bel canto roles. With Revive, she seems to inaugurate a new direction in her career with a selection of dramatic, mezzo-soprano range pieces. Cynics might guess that the title refers to that new direction itself, or simply to the collection of rather obscure music that makes up most of the second half of the program. But actually, as Garanca puts it in her own rather breezy notes, the connecting thread is "strong women in moments of weakness; women who nevertheless regain their equilibrium and their inner strength." She makes the dramatic connection: sample the opening "Voi lo sapete, o mamma," from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, which is essentially the heart of the whole program. It's vocally flawless, and it rivets the attention. "Acerba voluttà, dolce tortura," from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, brings more good news in the form of Garanca's ferocious middle register, deployed here with an uncanny chest-voice buzz. As the program develops it...
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