So just who is Armin Ude? Good question! There’s not a word about him in the CD booklet. But then, given the disc’s title, this is not really a “star” recital anyway, a fact readily discerned from the first few measures of the Radamisto aria that opens the disc (the selections range from Handel and Mozart to Bizet and Richard Strauss). Granted, Ude has a pure tenor voice of sweetly lyric quality with a precise blending of head and chest, but it lacks the control, firmness, and brilliance of a truly superior one. So, in Handel this means high notes that are slightly insecure and runs that are not quite dead-on. Ude’s tone, for all its youthful quality, is hampered by the wavering of one not so young. He kind of reminds me of Alfredo Kraus in his last years, though that artist had far greater vocal resources and technique at his disposal. Ude comes off best in Lensky’s aria from Eugene Onegin, and in the Pearl Fishers duet (with a solid sounding Andreas Scheibner); he’s not so great in Di rigori from Rosenkavalier and the Belmonte aria from The Magic Flute. However, Uta Selbig’s sweet-toned soprano does make the Don Pasquale duet mostly enjoyable. With so many aria collections by the likes of Pavarotti, Bergonzi, Domingo, and Carreras at various price points, you have to wonder who this disc was intended for. Audiophiles maybe? Could be, because the sound (with the singer naturally placed in a large hall) is terrific!
