Although she’s making a major name for herself on the world’s opera stages, Armenian/Canadian soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian has chosen her solo-recital repertoire for her two CBC recordings from decidedly non-opera material. The first, Joyous Light (type Q4974 in Search Reviews), featured contemporary arrangements of traditional Armenian liturgical music; now this one focuses on songs from Spain, Brazil, and Argentina. All of the things I said in the earlier review regarding Bayrakdarian’s vocal quality, musicianship, and star-bound credentials hold true here: she is a world-class singer, a performer with prodigious communicative instincts and superlative technical ability. In these wonderfully colorful and evocative songs, many of which are rarely heard on concert stages or on recordings, she displays a commanding presence, using her considerable dramatic skills to enliven each song with appropriately varied personalities and moods, from playful to passionate to wistful to sultry to melancholy–whatever is required to convey sense and spirit of music and text.
Highlights are many, but among them are Falla’s sorrowful “Asturiana”, sweet lullaby “Nana”, and fiery “Polo” from his Suite populaire espagnole and the Six Classical Spanish Songs by Fernando Obradors, where Bayrakdarian’s command of style and mood are at their most impressive and effective. Pianist James Parker is fabulous, and the cello ensemble, led by Bryan Epperson, lends heartfelt, tasteful, stylish support in several works. The famous “Aria” from Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 is performed with a more determined pace in the opening than we usually hear, but Bayrakdarian’s vocalism is undeniably compelling–and her rendition of the “Dance” is absolutely riveting. The concluding Azulão (Bluebird) by Jayme Ovalle is a light and lovely parting sentiment. The sound, from Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio, is absolutely right. [4/21/2004]
