For five decades until her death in 1999, Amália Rodrigues defined fado, the Portuguese songs of fate, love and tragedy that balance vocal drama with pristinely picked Portuguese guitar.
Natalya Romaniw – Garsington's Tatyana – balanced vocal pliancy and psychological fragility.
Working without a bass player and having keyboard support that lent her vocal flights no balancing bottom end, Ms. Andreas's show often seemed musically incomplete.
Beyond matters of vocal and orchestral balances, the chamber version also gives the listener a welcome glimpse of how the interplay of instrumental lines propels the work — a look under the hood, in a way.
Among the highlights were Ms. Mattila artfully balancing vocal charisma and simplicity in a folk song by Dvorak; Mr. Hampson in a beautifully restrained account of Mahler's "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen"; and Mr. Hvorostovsky in a gripping performance of "O Carlo, ascolta" from Verdi's "Don Carlo".
Referencing local history with track titles such as "Thor's Stone", the music itself set clattering, digitised percussion against clipped, treated vocals, striking a balance between pagan ritual and eerie rave marginalia.
Referencing local history with track titles such as "Thor's Stone," the music itself set clattering, digitized percussion against clipped, treated vocals, striking a balance between pagan ritual and eerie rave marginalia.
Dance is plentiful (another touch of French influence), and the rich vocal writing is a balance of Gallic fluidity and Italianate lyricism, with adventurous chromatic touches that keep the music both emotionally pointed and surprising.
The mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, no mean Berliozian herself, has released a new album with the pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard (on Warner Classics) that features a more essential balance of vocal and instrumental music, all by Ives — the "Concord" Sonata and a slate of seventeen songs.
