Essentially, we have daring, dark, sometimes racy songs served up in safe, non-threatening performances. However, let’s give credit where credit’s due. The command and clarity mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman brings to the Bolcom group is quite remarkable when you consider that English is not this Swedish mezzo-soprano’s mother tongue. In fact, she sings clearer English than many American vocalists I’ve heard attempt these gems. Granted, Ernman stylizes certain numbers to the point of cuteness (the growls and grunts in “Amor”, the toneless stage-whispers in “Black Max”), but at least she attempts to impart a specific attitude toward each number.
While Bengt-Ake Lundin is a solid pianist with good chops and a lovely tone, he seems to have little feeling for the American pop idioms from which Bolcom freely pilfers. The simple, bluesy “Waitin'”, for instance, is stiff and twangless, the “La Bamba” bass lines in “Amor” don’t swing, and “Toothbrush Time” fails to settle into a loping groove, moving too fast for Arnold Weinstein’s terrific words to fully register.
Both singer and pianist refine all the passion and edge out of the four Weill songs, missing the ferocity and backbone Teresa Stratas and Richard Woitach impart on their now-classic The Unknown Kurt Weill release on Nonesuch. In general, Ernman sacrifices diction for tonal evenness in the Britten songs. It’s an understandable strategy given the composer’s occasional forays into higher-than-mezzo territory, but W.H. Auden’s spicy, Cole Porterish texts suffer. If you want to hear the sultry syncopations of “Calypso” sped up and puréed, or a wan and gritless “Funeral Blues”, look no further. Yet the relatively modest musical and dramatic dimensions of the four Holländer songs inspire the disc’s peppiest, most characterful, and most emotionally engaged interpretations. In sum: Lots of potential, but an uneven release overall.
