Here, for a meager 47 minutes and 33 seconds, is very pretty singing by a young New Zealand soprano named Anna Leese. The voice is a full lyric with a built-in sensuality, absolutely even throughout its range and solidly produced, that is unfortunately backed by what seems a total lack of interest in interpretation.
Most of the songs are familiar: Tosti’s Ideale, Luna d’estate, Non t’amo piu, and Sogno; Bellini’s Dolente immagine and four more; Puccini’s Terra e mare, Sole e amore (a study for the duet that closes Act 3 of Bohème), and two others; a pair by Donizetti; and a surprise duet by the little-known Baroque composer Mario Savioni (1608-1685), with a tenor named Thorsten Büttner, who also has a handsome tone. Leese’s readings—monochromatic, only occasionally obeying, or toying interestingly, with dynamics, each note sounding much like the last—is a perfect example of a fine singer being let out of the paddock before she has anything truly interesting to say. Her duet with Büttner makes us want to hear more of composer Savioni, but we’d prefer he were sung by singers familiar with a smidgeon of Baroque style. Pianist Stephen De Pledge plays and supports well.
Musetta is in Leese’s repertoire (for the Canadian Opera Company) and we can only assume that she is perky on stage. Opera Holland Park, a terrific, small British company, has heard her as Tatyana; for the New Zealand Opera she has sung Marenka in The Bartered Bride and will soon sing Donna Elvira. I checked her out on YouTube and the impression is exactly the same, save for an ill-advised “Bolero” from Vespri, which she does not have the technique to cover. She has had a rose named after her. The following statement, which may explain a great deal, appears on her web page: “Lexus have generously supported Anna since 2003, when she won the Mobil Song Quest—now the Lexus Song Quest.”
