Music / operaarier

Contralto


Reviews (5)


Presto classical

d. 2. Feb. 2021

By

By

Katherine Cooper

d. 2. Feb. 2021

"Editor's choices - January 2021: The French contralto is in magnificent vocal form throughout this programme of baroque arias (the coloratura in Porpora's 'Torbido intorno al core' is pinpoint-accurate, and she summons an astonishing range of colours in Vivaldi's great lament 'Gelido in ogni vena'), but the real glory here is the earthy, vibrant playing of Orfeo55 - the ensemble disbanded in 2019, with Stutzmann set to move onto pastures new with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and they've certainly bowed out with a bang rather than a whimper".


MusicWeb international

2021 February

By

By

Rick Perdian

2021 February

"The title of Nathalie Stutzmann's new recording with Orfeo 55 - Contralto - celebrates the legacy of these great eighteenth-century singers ... In this wonderfully conceived offering, Stutzmann not only gives bravura performances of the arias that her contralto predecessors sang, but conducts the orchestra too ... Well-known music of Handel, as well as some Vivaldi rarities, are expertly performed, but the rarer musical gems by less well-known composers - Giovanni Bononcini, Antonio Caldara, Francesco Gasparini, Antonio Lotti and Nicola Porpora - are the reason to buy this recording ... What matters is Stutzmann's compelling singing and the emotional depth of her connection to the text and music, whether giving voice to triumph, love, horror or sorrow".


BBC music magazine

2021 March

By

By

Anthony Pryer

2021 March

"This selection of arias for both men and women ... offers a fascinating homage to women in the 18th century who performed both types of role. Stutzmann's voice is impressively flexible in timbre and her instincts are thoroughly musical if sometimes adventurous rather than stylistically fastidious. Her ornamentations can be almost flamboyantly rhapsodic, ... but that is part of her talent for acting with the voice ... Her capacity for liquid fluency ... and purity of tone ... are entrancing ... The instrumental contributions are often admirable".


Fono Forum

2021 März

By

By

Johannes Schmitz

2021 März

"Längst ist Nathalie Stutzmann auch als Dirigentin arriviert. Zugleich bleibt sie eine einzigartige Sängerin. Ihre Stimme ist auch im vierten Jahrzeht ihre Weltkarriere ohne Einschränkungen beeindruckend. In der sehr dunklen Klangfarbe sowieso ... Das alles mach Freude ... Grossartig musiziert sind alle Nummern ... Auch die rein instrumentalen ... Sie selber füllt alles mit ihrer starken Persönlichkeit und ihrem Gesang, dessen vielschichtigkeit staunen macht".


The gramophone

2021 March

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2021 March

"Editor's choice: Stutzmann's deep burgundy contralto, like a freakishly rich, wide-ranging countertenor, is the perfect fit for this repertoire ... [Her] characterisation and vocal colouring are always true and specific. She also dares emotional extremes. You'll look far to find a more powerful characterisation of 'Gelido in ogni vena', voice and ice-cold strings challenging each other to new heights of anguish ... Stutzmann brings resplendent vocalism and passionate conviction to each of her adventurously chosen arias".