I bought Julia Lezhneva's debut solo CD yesterday, after hearing some good things from friends, Classical review forums and after watching some of her YouTube clips. However, sad to say it turns out to be quite a disappointment. Perhaps there's a part of me that wants her to succeed, because she's the same age as me - hence the feeling of letdown.
Miss Lezhneva chose some of Rossini's most famous output for what I call the femme-hybrid category - these arias had been sung successfully by all category of female voices: sopranos, mezzo-sopranos and even contraltos. The voice' main selling point is not its mature-sounding timbre, but rather its liquidity. She manages the fast passages very well, and although some phrasing choices left me baffled (she chose some figures which made the Willow Song more upbeat instead of lilting, for example) she is generally a good musician.
Her French recording company, Naïve (Freudian slip much?), promotes Miss Lezhneva based on her precocious maturity. IMHO, there are a lot of examples of early-maturing female voices. The mechanism and physiology of the female vocal production, favouring head over chest voice, just make it easy for them to mature at least a decade earlier than their male counterparts. Alexandrina Pendatchanska comes to mind. Her voice sounds even more mature at seventeen (we used to joke that Alexandrina was born thirty-year old vocally, and hence is now at the peak of her career at seventy vocal years old!) compared to Lezhneva's at twenty-one. Cecilia Bartoli is another. Beverly Sills and Marilyn Horne both matured early. Maria Callas was performing when she was a teenager. So this point, suggesting early-matured voices are rare, is moot.
Looking at the tracks, there are some interesting choices. I am grateful for every recording of the Willow Song: in my opinion Rossini's Otello is not recorded enough, and any recording is welcome. Lezhneva also recorded Tanti affetti and the rondo finale from La donna del lago, Bel raggio lusinghier from Semiramide, the final scene from La cenerentola, Ils s'éloignent enfin from Guillaume Tell and the prayer aria from L'Assedio di Corinto. The same characteristic apply for all of these excerpts: that she manages coloratura well, but made some strange, but not unmusical, choices.
In Tanti affetti, for example, Lezhneva forces the lowermost notes at the bottom of the scales (Oh qual beato istante) needlessly: it gives rise to a harsh, even guttural sound which is certainly the farthest thing from bel canto. In the Cenerentola excerpt, a most iconic scene, she fares better; however one wishes for more variation in the rondo finale. I am sorry to say this, but Lezhneva's Bel raggio (another iconic scene) is very pallid. Her voice simply doesn't have the morbidezza (at this point) to bring justice to this majestic music. And it's not about the size of her voice; for example: Joyce diDonato is at most a medium-size instrument, but her voice has tons of morbidezza. Lezhneva's Semiramide is a junior queen, a princess, a twink.
Her Guillaume Tell excerpt suffers, strangely, from a frayed high register. Perhaps she was tired? The Willow Song is lovely enough, but Marc Minkowski, her conductor, chooses a too fast tempo. This is where she could have shone: the aria does not climb too high, and when done in a suitable tempo, can bring out the most of her exceptionally lovely, if a bit thin and core-less at times, timbre. Her articulation of the variations was merely "doing", as opposed to "indicating" the increasing complexity and turmoil of Desdemona's mind. Giusto ciel! in tal periglio also suffers similarly.
I am a grouch! Miss Lezhneva is clearly a budding artist, and I fear I have been rather severe. I think she has a lovely voice, but should have taken more time, less to perfect than to gain an understanding of her craft (everyone today knows "how to?", but no one seems to know "why?"). But she is young: she will grow into a formidable artist. I hear she has a new Vivaldi CD out, which fared better. I will follow her career with interest, and hope the best for her success.
Miss Lezhneva chose some of Rossini's most famous output for what I call the femme-hybrid category - these arias had been sung successfully by all category of female voices: sopranos, mezzo-sopranos and even contraltos. The voice' main selling point is not its mature-sounding timbre, but rather its liquidity. She manages the fast passages very well, and although some phrasing choices left me baffled (she chose some figures which made the Willow Song more upbeat instead of lilting, for example) she is generally a good musician.
Her French recording company, Naïve (Freudian slip much?), promotes Miss Lezhneva based on her precocious maturity. IMHO, there are a lot of examples of early-maturing female voices. The mechanism and physiology of the female vocal production, favouring head over chest voice, just make it easy for them to mature at least a decade earlier than their male counterparts. Alexandrina Pendatchanska comes to mind. Her voice sounds even more mature at seventeen (we used to joke that Alexandrina was born thirty-year old vocally, and hence is now at the peak of her career at seventy vocal years old!) compared to Lezhneva's at twenty-one. Cecilia Bartoli is another. Beverly Sills and Marilyn Horne both matured early. Maria Callas was performing when she was a teenager. So this point, suggesting early-matured voices are rare, is moot.
Looking at the tracks, there are some interesting choices. I am grateful for every recording of the Willow Song: in my opinion Rossini's Otello is not recorded enough, and any recording is welcome. Lezhneva also recorded Tanti affetti and the rondo finale from La donna del lago, Bel raggio lusinghier from Semiramide, the final scene from La cenerentola, Ils s'éloignent enfin from Guillaume Tell and the prayer aria from L'Assedio di Corinto. The same characteristic apply for all of these excerpts: that she manages coloratura well, but made some strange, but not unmusical, choices.
In Tanti affetti, for example, Lezhneva forces the lowermost notes at the bottom of the scales (Oh qual beato istante) needlessly: it gives rise to a harsh, even guttural sound which is certainly the farthest thing from bel canto. In the Cenerentola excerpt, a most iconic scene, she fares better; however one wishes for more variation in the rondo finale. I am sorry to say this, but Lezhneva's Bel raggio (another iconic scene) is very pallid. Her voice simply doesn't have the morbidezza (at this point) to bring justice to this majestic music. And it's not about the size of her voice; for example: Joyce diDonato is at most a medium-size instrument, but her voice has tons of morbidezza. Lezhneva's Semiramide is a junior queen, a princess, a twink.
Her Guillaume Tell excerpt suffers, strangely, from a frayed high register. Perhaps she was tired? The Willow Song is lovely enough, but Marc Minkowski, her conductor, chooses a too fast tempo. This is where she could have shone: the aria does not climb too high, and when done in a suitable tempo, can bring out the most of her exceptionally lovely, if a bit thin and core-less at times, timbre. Her articulation of the variations was merely "doing", as opposed to "indicating" the increasing complexity and turmoil of Desdemona's mind. Giusto ciel! in tal periglio also suffers similarly.
I am a grouch! Miss Lezhneva is clearly a budding artist, and I fear I have been rather severe. I think she has a lovely voice, but should have taken more time, less to perfect than to gain an understanding of her craft (everyone today knows "how to?", but no one seems to know "why?"). But she is young: she will grow into a formidable artist. I hear she has a new Vivaldi CD out, which fared better. I will follow her career with interest, and hope the best for her success.
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