Great Opera Arias (CD) Volume 22

WINNER of the 2011 JUNO AWARDS CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Vocal or Choral Performance category

DISC OF THE MONTH Opera magazine “This is a hugely impressive recital from a singer who has gone from strength to strength…”
EDITOR’S CHOICE Gramophone magazine
FIVE STARS “a first-class voice; he is also intelligent and versatile” Financial Times
“The acclaimed singer’s first full-scale disc of arias captures him at the top of his game. Compelling.” Classic FM Magazine

Performers

Gerald Finley
Lucy Crowe
Anne Marie Gibbons
Deborah Miles-Johnson
Emma Brain-Gabbott
Kathryn Jenkin
Matthew Long
Gareth Hancock
Edward Gardner
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
London Philharmonic Orchestra

Released: (1 Feb 2010)
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded at Blackheath Halls, London, 13-16 April 2009
Label: CHANDOS, Click here for more details www.chandos.net
ASIN: B0031Q8VVK

Leading baritone and dramatic interpreter of his generation, Gerald Finley is an artist who sets alight the stage and delights the ear, whatever the role he portrays.

On this his first arias disc, and first for Opera in English, he explores a broad range of repertory: old favourites, hidden treasures and roles which he himself has created, among them J. Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams’s Doctor Atomic and Harry Heegan in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie.

English National Opera director, Edward Gardner offers a great understanding of Opera in English and here conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in his debut on Chandos.

Track listing and audio clips

(Clips courtesy of www.chandos.net)

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Robert’s Aria from Iolanta ‘My only beloved Mathilde I claim’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Carl Maria von Weber(1786-1826)
Lysiart’s Aria (So weih’ ich mich den Rach’gewalten) from Euryanthe ‘What refuge here?’

John Adams (b. 1947)
Oppenheimer’s solo from Doctor Atomic ‘Batter my heart’

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1891)
Iago’s Aria (Credo in un Dio crudel) from Otello ‘Take it: take the parth to your ruin’ –’Yes, I believe in God who has created me’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Wolfram’s Aria (Blick ich umher) from Tannhäuser ‘Turning my gaze upon this proud assembly’

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Wolfram’s Aria ‘With dark foreboding twilight casts her shadow’ – ‘Look down, oh gentle evening star’

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Don Giovanni and Zerlina’s Duet (Là ci darem la mano) from Don Giovanni ‘Come on, we’re wasting time’ – ‘There will my arms enfold you’. Gerald Finley with Lucy Crowe (soprano) and Gareth Hancock (harpsichord)

Mark-Anthony Turnage (b. 1960)
Harry’s song from The Silver Tassie ‘Oh bring to me a pint of wine’

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Escamillo’s Couplets from Carmen ‘You’re most kind, and in return I toast you’ – ‘Toreador, be ready!’. Gerald Finley (Escamillo) with Deborah Miles-Johnson mezzo-soprano (Carmen), Emma Brain-Gabbott soprano (Frasquita), Kathryn Jenkin soprano (Mercedes), Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Sachs’s Aria (Verachtet mir die Meister nicht) from The Mastersingers of Nuremberg ‘Do not disdain our Masters thus’ with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Antonio’s Aria (Ambo nati in questa valle) from Linda of Chamounix ‘In this valley we shared our childhood’ Gerald Finley (Antonio) with Anne Marie Gibbons, mezzo-soprano

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Te Deum from Tosca ‘Three agents, quick as you can now’ Gerald Finley (Scarpia) with Matthew Long (tenor), Geoffrey Mitchell Choir

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
‘Some enchanted evening’ from South Pacific

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Articles relating to this CD

Click below to read a short interview for Chandos Records

Click here to read an article from German radio station dradio.de

Photo Gallery

With a huge thank you to the photographer, Sim Canetty Clarke

What the critics say

Andrew Clark, Financial Times, 27 February 2010

This disc confirms Finley as my baritone of choice. He not only has a first-class voice; he is also intelligent and versatile, as he demonstrates in these 13 arias, all sung in English.

They range from roles Finley has created – Oppenheimer in John Adams’ Doctor Atomic and Harry in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie – to Wolfram’s Act 3 aria from Tannhäuser and the Toreador’s Song from Carmen, via rarities such as Robert’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.

We get a foretaste of his Sachs, due at Glyndebourne next year, and a slice of Broadway in “Some Enchanted Evening” (South Pacific). Finley brings individual flair to them all.

Norman Lebrecht, La Scena Musicale, 17 February 2010

The two pearls on this album of arias in English are from operas that Finley created – Batter my Heart from John Adams’s Doctor Atomic and a poignant hiatus from Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie, ‘Oh bring me a pint of wine’. The tune is a folk ballad but Turnage’s orchestration and Finley’s delivery give it skin-crawling terror. The rest of the programme is a display of fine dramatic singing from Bizet to Wagner, in English.

EDITORS CHOICE

Mike Ashman, Gramophone, April 2010

An award-winning baritone offers a calling-card of his stage work

All essentials for a recital are present here: the featured artist in good voice, imagination capable of bringing 13 different characters to life unseen (sometimes, as in the case of Tchaikovsky’s Duke Robert, in barely three minutes), apt recording decisions and on-the-pace accompaniment. Following hard on the heels of his collaboration on last year’s “Midsummer Night” with Kate Royal (7/09), ENO music chief Edward Gardner certainly delivers the last of these, this time with the LPO, a frequent Chandos project partner.

Both Gerald Finley and Gardner are natural time-travellers in lyric theatre, be it in the imaginative choice of Antonio’s “Ambo nati in questa valle” from Linda di Chamounix (one of several Donizetti operas now returning to the repertoire) or in Richard Rodgers’s “Some enchanted evening”. The latter is set here as a kind of encore and nestles well musically next to Puccini’s treatment of Scarpia’s wholly different kind of love. Its performance epitomises this programme: unafraid to be romantic where necessary, but with a just blend of control and detail to make one hearing not enough.

The range of music covered gives the Canadian baritone the chance to give quite a calling-card of his stage work. There is much imaginative detail in Iago’s Credo (a complete recording with Finley is soon due from LSO Live), Lysiart (in the self-pitying vengeance aria that Wagner rehotted-up for Telramund in Lohengrin), the Donizetti, and the deceptively tricky Tosca Act 1 finale pitched at a convincingly monumental tempo. Only in Hans Sachs’s final address does an uncompelling English translation and a slender choral sound limit the impact of Finley’s work.

Finally, as John Steane’s informative and witty note reminds us, there are two of what used to be called “creator records”. In the emotional John Donne-based reverie from John Adams’s Doctor Atomic (where Finley was the first J Robert Oppenheimer) the singer is superb and the glittering orchestration well caught by orchestra and engineers. Then by way of complete contrast, there’s Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie, Finley in his bitter-sweet role of Harry Heegan.

Warwick Thompson, Classic FM Magazine, April 2010

“Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley has come a long way since his days as an undergraduate in King’s College Choir. The acclaimed singer’s first full-scale disc of arias captures him at the top of his game. Compelling.”

Four out of Five stars
Composers often give the devilish parts in opera – roles like Don Giovanni, lago and Scarpia – to baritones. But I’m beginning to wonder if Finley has a more personal connection with Old Nick, for his voice only increases in ear-caressing richness and youthful suppleness year by year. But if there is indeed a diabolical pact, the results are worth the bargain: his accounts of the above-named villains are as dramatically powerful as they are gorgeously sung. Though Gardner’s polished conducting sometimes lacks bite, Finley’s electrifying accounts of arias from lolanta, Tannhauser and Carmen more than compensate.

Alex Baran, The Whole Note, 29 March 2010

For no logical reason, opera sounds better when you can’t understand it. We seem satisfied with knowing the plot and reading projected “surtitles” in order to follow the progress of grand opera. We grant a foreign language status as carrier of refinement and class, keeping opera tantalizingly beyond the reach of many potential new followers. English seems just fine for Oklahoma and Pinafore but what about Verdi and Wagner?

Baritone Gerald Finley is a key player in the CHANDOS Opera in English series funded by British Philanthropist Peter Moores whose mission is to have us all enjoy opera as much as Italian, French and German audiences do. The project’s core belief is that opera in an audience’s native language conveys the immediacy of each moment more effectively.

Perhaps not surprisingly, operas originally written in English seem just fine. And this may actually prove the point. Gerald Finley does a truly splendid job with arias from Adams’ Doctor Atomic and Turnage’s The Silver Tassie. These tracks offer credibility to other selections from Don Giovanni, Die Meistersinger and Otello. The Tosca excerpt is especially rewarding.

Whatever the final verdict from opera lovers, it’s clear that opera sung in English translation seems a bit odd – at first. Much depends on the quality of the translation, matching English text to the phrasing and cadence of music never intended as a poetic partner. Done well, however, it actually works. Listen to Gerald Finley and you’ll understand why.

Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, 9 April 2010

Four stars
The Canadian-born lyric baritone Gerald Finley currently ranks as one of the finest male singers in the world. As this recital of operatic arias in English handsomely demonstrates, Finley has it all: a rich-toned and smoothly produced voice, crisp diction, sterling technique, immaculate legato, a keen sense of musical style and unfailing sensitivity to drama and character. As well as chestnuts from Don Giovanni (“Là ci darem la mano”), Tosca (Scarpia’s Act 1 monologue) and Carmen (Escamillo’s song), this disc includes appetite-whetting extracts from several operas that Finley has yet to sing on stage. Vivid accompaniments are provided by the LPO under Edward Gardner.

William Dart, New Zealand Herald, 28 March 2010

Rating: 5/5
Verdict: ‘Canadian baritone goes for communication card in eclectic operatic choices’

If you were swept away by the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera La Boheme, courtesy of Radio New Zealand Concert’s cultural lifeline, then Gerald Finley’s Marcello may have been one reason for the intensity of your pleasure.

The Canadian baritone has now come up with his first arias collection as part of Chandos label’s Opera in English series, justifying the use of his native tongue as part of an Anglo-Saxon desire to bridge the communication gap between singer and audience.
Although English does bring advantages in tracking the emotional narrative of a song, language is more than a matter of mere meaning. Even with Finley’s formidable delivery, English vowels and consonants can sound curiously tame in Iago’s Credo from Otello, especially when Edward Gardner has the London Philharmonic Orchestra spectacularly storming and snarling around the singer.

In Escamillo’s Toreador’s Song, despite Finley’s winning bravado, the libretto labours under such horrors as the convolution of “Les spectateurs perdent la tete” into “And through the crowd madness is raging”.

Yet, on the plus side, one feels a real frustration when Robert’s protestations of ardour in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta (My only beloved Mathilde I claim) are over in a just a few minutes.

And, when Finley tackles Lysiart’s big moment from Weber’s Euryanthe (What refuge here?) such is the singer’s conviction that even clangers like “What black dismay to find the girl no easy prey” pass unnoticed.

Three tracks feature English as their first language, two from operas less than a decade old.

Just last year, in local MetOpera screenings, Finley made Batter my heart, the cri de coeur of the conscience-stricken Robert Oppenheimer, the undisputed highlight of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic. Revisited for this recording, in a rendition that lives up to the aria’s title, this is the standout track of the disc.

Finley also catches the raw emotion of Harry’s Oh bring to me a pint of wine from Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie, guiding a Robert Burns song through a mysterious and exciting orchestral forest.

And, finally, who could resist Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Some Enchanted Evening in a performance that bypasses baritonal bluster in favour of the easy, natural lyricism that this song cries out for.

Kenneth Chalmers, Opera magazine, May 2010
Disc of the Month

This is a hugely impressive recital from a singer who has gone from strength to strength in recent years in matching an exceptional voice to a powerful stage presence. Gerald Finley’s performance as Iago was the single most compelling element in the recent concerts of Otello with the LSO in London, and here he gives a taster of that role with a vivid account of the ‘Credo’ monologue. The programme consists not so much of the ‘great operatic arias’ promised on the box as a broader selection of soliloquies and big scenes, and these give the singer the opportunity to do what he audibly enjoys: create vocal characters. As well as Iago, the selection covers some trademark roles – Finley’s two ‘creations’, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Doctor Atomic) and Harry Heegan (The Silver Tassie), and Don Giovanni. It’s in the last of these that, this being part of the Chandos ‘Opera in English’ series, the choice of language doesn’t necessarily do the character justice. It seems to take the sulphurous edge off the serial seducer, and here his coaxing of a rather well-spoken Zerlina is more poised than dangerous. But when it comes to original English, it is Donne’s sublime poetry, together with Adams’s neo-Purcellian setting and onomatopoeic orchestral battering, that makes Oppenheimer’s Act I monologue the standout track on the disc. Finley gives the juxtaposition of the holy sonnet with the unholy havoc about to be wreaked a real, anguished profundity, not least in his ease with the abrupt leaps and the top register that the line continually returns to Turnage’s ultimately shattered protagonist Heegan, the role Finley created at the opera’s 2000 premiere, similarly looks back musically to perform a Celtic song, but the short extract makes less of an impact here.

Of the big scenes, neither of which Finley has yet sung on stage, the Mastersingers finale is the more surprising choice, in preference to Sachs’s two monologues. So it is the cobbler-poet in lecturing mood we hear, and he sounds a reasonable chap in this recital context, the orchestra under Edward Gardner’s fairly relaxed baton holding back until the very end.

Scarpia’s scene is similarly a slow burn, and Finley finds a darker tone for the character, as he does for Weber’s villainous Lysiart in the scene from Euryanthe. The other, more cantabile numbers, from Donizetti (with nice horn playing from the LPG) and Wagner (Wolfram and his ubiquitous harp) are beautifully sung, and Escamillo has real swagger. Finley’s Tchaikovsky roles so far are Onegin and Yeletsky: here, instead, it is Robert from Yolanta who gets the disc off to a flying start, and’ Some enchanted evening’ brings it to a civilized close.

Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio 3 CD Review, 1 May 2010 [transcription]

…perhaps you prefer your Wagner in English? Canadian baritone Gerald Finley can oblige on his new recital of Great Operatic Arias with examples from Mastersingers and Tannhauser

Song to the Evening Star from Tannhäuser

Wolfram’s Song to the Evening Star from Wagner’s Tannhäuser, sung by Gerald Finley with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. It’s one of three Wagner excerpts on Finley’s recital of Great Operatic Arias in Chandos’s Opera in English series, which if nothing else shows Finley’s versatility, beginning with Tchaikovsky’s Iolanthe, ending with Some Enchanted Evening from Rodger and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, and stopping along the way for Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Lucy Crowe as Zerlina, Verdi, Bizet, Donizetti and Puccini, and for me the best things in the recital, two of the signature roles he created – Oppenheimer in John Adams’s opera Doctor Atomic and Harry in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie.

Fiona Maddocks, Observer, 2 May 2010

Opera recital discs too often play safe with repertoire. Not here. This intelligent compilation from Chandos Opera in English, with vivid support from Edward Gardner and the LPO, satisfyingly mixes popular with unfamiliar. Finley, a versatile stage presence, brings integrity to every dark, burnished note he sings. All these arias come alive, even robbed of their original context. As expected there’s Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Wagner, Puccini, but the original English works stand out: “Oh bring to me a pint of wine” from Turnage’s The Silver Tassie and, especially, “Batter my Heart”, the Donne setting which indeed battered the heart in John Adams’s Doctor Atomic and does so again here.

David Laviska, Musicalcriticism.com, 7 June 2010

4 1/2 stars

Canadian baritone Gerald Finley is one of the most versatile artists currently active on the world’s stages. As a robust, lyric baritone, he is perfectly poised in a hybrid vocal category that easily encompasses traditional operatic roles, the intimacy of the recital platform, and even musical theater.

Thus, his new recording on the Chandos label – ‘Great Operatic Arias in English’ – provides a particularly suitable glimpse of the sheer breadth of his talent at bringing to life music from widely disparate genres. As a keenly intelligent singer, Finley is in demand for modern works: he has created several roles in contemporary operas, two of which are represented on the present program.

In addition, there are roles from the more traditional baritone repertoire, and also a few rarities. Like previous singers in the series, Finley has taken the opportunity to spread his wings a bit, and offer a few selections that he would be unlikely to sing in the theater. And as always with discs in this on-going series from Chandos, there are both advantages and disadvantages of having everything sung in English translation: further elaboration seems unnecessary. If you’re a stickler for ‘original language’, you won’t be purchasing this disc.

To some extent, the homogeneity of Finley’s vocal production can work against the individual flavors of the music he sings, though to be fair, part of this also can be attributed to the language factor. The opening track on the disc is an excellent example of this effect. Robert’s aria ‘My only beloved Mathilde I claim’ from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta makes for a bracing opening to the disc, with brilliant orchestral surges and robust, earnest vocalism. Still, the combination of Finley’s vocal technique (smoothly mellifluous and somewhat lacking in point and angularity) and the slightly arch sound of the English translation gives an unwelcome feel of musical theater to the glowing embers of Tchaikovsky’s melody. Yet, these very same attributes work to opposite effect by invigorating the following selection from Weber’s Euryanthe. Finley’s performance of Lysiart’s ‘What refuge here?’ is a true tour-de-force, impressively showing off his extensive range and immaculate coloratura. His clean, concise diction helps keep the vocal line well-delineated and he makes good sense of Weber’s angularly instrumental, exceptionally difficult vocal lines.

In the third track, Finley steps up to an altogether higher level of accomplishment, holding the listener mesmerized with his rendition of Oppenheimer’s ‘Batter my heart’ from John Adams’ Dr. Atomic. Finley’s traversal of this staggeringly difficult aria is reason enough to acquire this album, and deserves the highest praise in every respect. He handles the unrelentingly high tessitura with aplomb – never letting the slightest strain slip into his singing – and conveys the intensity of the character’s emotions with startling lucidity. I’ll admit it: I listened to this track seven or eight times before letting it go and moving on with the program. It is sensational. The music fits Finley’s voice like a glove – no surprise as he created the character – and his extensive experience with the role at the Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere pays handsome dividends. Another contemporary role created by Finley is Harry Heegan in Turnage’s The Silver Tassie. Here again, Finley negotiates difficult vocal lines with seeming ease. If the overall impression is less viscerally exciting than in the Adams excerpt, it must be admitted that Turnage’s music simply falls less gratefully on the ear. There is much less body to the vocal line: there is less inspiration for the listener’s imagination to take flight.

Among the remaining selections, Wolfram’s two arias from Wagner’s Tannhäuser, the duet ‘Là ci darem la mano’ from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Antonio’s aria from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix are all ideal for Finley’s lyric voice and suave vocal production. Conductor Edward Gardner could have elicited more shimmering sound from the mostly superb London Philharmonic Orchestra in both of the Wagner excerpts – particularly the latter ‘Look down, oh gentle evening star’ – but Finley’s contributions are beyond criticism. The orchestra is likewise a bit too straight-laced in the Mozart duet, where a more lilting and playful approach would have been welcome. Soprano Lucy Crowe is an excellent, full-bodied and voluptuous sounding Zerlina. Finley’s strong, stylish assumption of Antonio (Linda di Chamounix’s father) makes one regret that bel canto baritone roles are so often sung by heavier, Verdian voices. Finley’s lyric amplitude is precisely what is called for in this music.

As mentioned above, Finley has also included selections from roles he would be unlikely to assume on stage. He is mostly successful, with the only major mis-fire being Escamillo’s ‘Toreador Song’ from Bizet’s Carmen. Escamillo requires a true bass-baritone: baritones always have trouble with the low end (as Finley does here) and basses struggle with the top. Finley adds several interpretive straight tones as well as a few ’shouting’ effects, all of which mar the flow of the music and don’t really convince the listener that he is the swaggering toreador who becomes the object of Carmen’s sexual desire. Iago’s ‘Credo’ from Verdi’s Otello is given a beautifully nuanced reading with suave, sculpted vocal lines, but he’s not really quite evil enough, nor can he muster the requisite power at the climaxes. Finley offers a handsome, youthful Hans Sachs from Die Meistersinger, though he is undermined slightly by Gardner’s somewhat flat, faceless conducting. The Geoffrey Mitchell choir sound magnificent here – critical to the success of the scene – just as they do in Carmen and Puccini’s Tosca, where they are especially thrilling. While there can be no question that Finley’s basic sound is too lyric for Scarpia, this recording has captured him on stunning form, and the ‘Te Deum’ packs the tremendous punch that Puccini surely intended. It’s a lot of fun.

In closing the album, Finley includes ‘Some enchanted evening’ from Rodgers’ South Pacific, and it is a perfect fit for him. Here, his naturally smooth, virile sound pours forth with sincerity and an utter lack of applied effects. In other words, Rodgers’ rolling melody suits Finley’s strengths as both a singer and an interpreter, and the result is refreshingly direct and emotionally involving. All the qualities that make him such a profoundly eloquent and probing recitalist are shown to perfection here, and it’s a fitting conclusion to such a successful disc. Several singers in this series of recordings have recorded multiple volumes, and I hope this will be the case for Finley. He is at the height of his powers and such indelible artistry should be captured on disc to be enjoyed by as many listeners as possible.

Salvatore Calomino, Opera Today, 20 May 2010

Listeners who have appreciated Gerald Finley’s stylish and moving singing of baritone roles in operas by Mozart and other composers will be pleased with the recent CD release of Great Operatic Arias in English.

In addition to Don Giovanni’s famous duet with Zerlina, several roles created by Finley on stage are featured in excerpt on this recording. Arias from Doctor Atomic by John Adams and The Silver Tassie by Mark-Anthony Turnage are performed here by Finley with great commitment, reminiscent indeed of his original live performances. One also has the opportunity to hear Finley in less accustomed repertoire by Weber, Donizetti, Puccini, and Wagner. Several of the excerpts performed are operatic ensembles or duets in which Finley is well supported by soloist colleagues and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir. The London Philharmonic Orchestra provides accompaniment under the skillful direction of Edward Gardner.

In the earliest pieces composed and featured in this collection, the duet from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and an aria from Weber’s Euryanthe, Finley shows his characteristic ability to inhabit a role, so that he sings and acts with his voice as one. In both excerpts Finley communicates urgency and emotions that suggest a complexity of character. Lysiart’s aria from Euryanthe begins with a declamatory style at which Finley excels, his diction matching the soul-searching questions of the character. As the piece increases in melodic interest Finley’s approach gains intensity with full decorative force layered onto phrases such as “death and vengeance.” At the close of this scene, the longest in the collection, one has gazed via Finley’s interpretive singing into the conflicting sides of Lysiart’s character, the forces of destruction ultimately winning the upper hand. The duet from Don Giovanni, “Là ci darem la mano,” shared here with Lucy Crowe and performed as “There will my arms enfold you,” illustrates well the rich legato, which is a hallmark of Finley’s singing in such roles where it is appropriate. One can sense the voice performing the act of a seductive embrace as he allows the lines to flow with baritonal resonance.

In yet other styles Finley makes an equally strong impression, such as Robert’s aria “My only beloved Matilde I claim” from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. In this piece, requiring a strong lyrical approach punctuated by dramatic accents Finley builds gradually in his contemplation of the mutual passion with his beloved. During the initial recitation the singer emphasizes Matilde’s name and its effect on Robert; here Finley intones the word “overpower” in order to give musical expression to his ardor. As often, it is refreshing to listen to Finley sing such words or phrases forte and in upper registers without giving the least sign of strain. Further accents on “her face” and “her eyes” lead to the acceptance of Matilde’s physical “perfection” — and its communication of emotion — with a carefully modulated coloration of the voice. In the repeat of the text’s first half the dramatic result is underlined by Finley’s sustained pitches on “like flame or like wine,” with which the aria effectively concludes.

In those contemporary operatic selections here included, which were originally composed to English texts, Finley’s performances set a standard for the repertoire. The aria sung by Harry from Turnage’s opera The Silver Tassie is performed just before the lead character must return to the trenches of World War I after having spent leave-time in his native Dublin. After a dissonant orchestral beginning each verse accompanied by a simple, repeating line serves as an understated reflection on service and the toll it takes on individual feelings or private loyalties. Finley approaches the overtly song-like nature of the piece as an exercise in variation. He sings the first four verses softly, nearly piano, in a melancholy yet determined resolve to fulfill his military duty while not forgetting the calls of the homeland. Although each line follows essentially the same pattern, the vocal decorations are varied subtly just before or at the point of the end-rhymes. The omnipresent mood of war is suggested by an orchestral intrusion starting at the mid-point of the aria and returning intermittently until the end. Finley responds to these reminders of conflict by inflecting his statements with controlled yet rising pitches, which essentially yield a disciplined variation of the opening lines. The old is confronted by the new, as inevitable change caused by the War is registered in the spirit of Harry and his generation. The second piece from this group is the aria “Batter my heart” from John Adams’s opera Doctor Atomic. Finley’s performance as Oppenheimer in this work has been celebrated in various productions throughout the operatic world, e.g. at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Here the justly chosen aria, based on a poem by John Donne, showcases both the music and Finley’s association with it. The dilemma of Oppenheimer in his work on the horrific weapon causes him to turn to God and to appeal for renewal in his feelings for humanity. Finley negotiates convincingly the undulating intonations in the first four verses and their repetition, as exemplified in the lyrics “three person’d God” and “break, blow, burn, and make me new.” These verses are surrounded by intricate orchestral colorings functioning almost as an interlude of contemplation for the main character. As Finley’s voice rises with intense expression on individual words (“never shall be free,” “except you ravish me”), the listener senses the inner struggles which continue beyond the moment of appeal.

As an example of Finley’s versatility in other repertoire we may look to Antonio’s scena from Linda di Chamounix — composed as an aria and duet sung together with the figure of Maddalena — during which the father’s fears for Linda are expressed. In the introductory aria Finley demonstrates a mastery of bel canto singing in his ideal combination of broad legato and carefully placed decorative melismas on key words such as “altar” and “father.” The accompanying duet shared with Anne Marie Gibbons illustrates Finley’s skill at participating in a vocal line with an emphasis on expressive ensemble singing. The remaining selections in this cd are well chosen and give indication of Finley’s potential future projects for both operatic stage and recording. Several of the translations used in this cd were recently commissioned or produced at the time of the recording.

Derek Greten-Harrison, Opera News, July 2010, Vol 75.1

Chandos’s newest entry in its “Opera in English” series features Gerald Finley in a substantive program of both familiar and lesser-known arias and ensembles sung in English translation. It would be hard to imagine a more attractive bass-baritone voice than Finley’s, and his vocal gifts combined with his musical and dramatic acumen make these performances a delight. Included here are two arias from roles that Finley himself created (Oppenheimer from Doctor Atomic and Harryfrom The Silver Tassie, both originally written in English), as well as some rarities such as Lysiart’s aria from Weber’s Euryanthe and Robert’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s one-act opera Iolanta. All of these are superbly sung, as is the recital’s finale, “Some Enchanted Evening,” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific. Somewhat less successful are the finale from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger and Iago’s aria from Verdi’s Otello; Finley’s voice is not yet quite so rich as one might want for the former,nor so powerful and steely as required for the latter.

Throughout the disc, Finley’s diction is impeccably intelligible without being fussy — no small feat considering the wide vocal range encompassed by these works. Only rarely do his text-articulation choices fail to serve the vocal line as the composer originally conceived. One such moment occurs during Wolfram’s aria from Act III of Tannhäuser, “Look down, o gentle evening star”(better known as “O du mein holder Abendstern”). In the middle of the climactic ascending phrase, “far from this world to heaven ascending,” Finley adds a lift after “world” that robs the line of its flow and creates an awkward, clunky rhythmic moment between the voice and the harp. This selection is also the only one in which the singer’s pitch tends to sag — ever so slightly, yet noticeably.

The London Philharmonic Orchestra plays with precision under conductor Edward Gardner, and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir provides excellent support, particularly in the Meistersinger excerpt. Chandos’s recording captures a myriad of subtle details found in the colorful orchestral textures. Occasionally the singer is overpowered by this luscious wall of instrumental sound, such as on the final high notes in the arias from Iolanta and Otello, but in general the balance is well judged.

The only potential stumbling block to listeners will be the English translations, which vary from adequate to uninspired. Yes, it is lovely to know exactly — make that approximately — what is being sung at all times without a libretto in hand, but the translations pale in comparison to the power and subtlety inherent in the original texts. Regardless, Finley’s accomplishment with this album is impressive. Buy it and hope that this artist will have a future opportunity to record some of these works in their original languages.

Henry Fogel, Fanfare Magazine, 8 July 2010

This disc is interesting, and valuable, on many levels. It offers strong, distinctive singing and conducting, an unusually imaginative intelligence applied to the programming, extremely natural and clear recorded sound, and extremely clear diction that makes sense of the concept of performing all of these in English. The result is a uniquely communicative recital disc, one that rewards repeated hearing with even greater satisfaction on each repeat.

Gerald Finley possesses a tightly focused but smoothly produced baritone, fairly light and extremely flexible. It is not the kind of dark Verdi baritone that we might associate with Iago, for instance, but the combination of vocal coloration and dramatic inflection supplied by Finley make Iago’s “Credo” extremely powerful, particularly when we can understand the words with specificity. Yes, it is possible to follow the text with a libretto on a recording, and yes, the music was composed to fit the Italian language, so no, I don’t want to hear it in English all the time, or even most of the time. But the experience of tying each note to a specific word is different enough and valuable enough to be of interest to any opera lover, especially in the kind of compelling performance Finley turns in, along with the very dramatic and incisive conducting of Edward Gardner.

And so it goes for all of these scenes, the overly familiar ones and the rarities. The arias from John Adams’s Doctor Atomicand Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassieare wonderful additions to the baritone repertoire, and I would not be surprised if 50 years from now they turned up regularly on whatever the audio medium for vocal recitals turns out to be in 2060. >

It is hard to single out specific performances because the disc is at a high level throughout, but I would be remiss if I did not invoke the particular beauty of Wolfram’s “Song to the Evening Star” from Tannhäuser . Finley spins a legato worthy of being set alongside some of the classic recordings of this solo, and the intelligence and imagination of his dynamic shading take second place to none.

One of the most impressive aspects of this disc is the variety of styles it covers, all of them idiomatically and well. It is very difficult for a listener to become bored when being taken from Tchaikovsky to Weber to Adams to Verdi to Wagner. There seems an overall sense of shape and balance to the program as laid out on the disc, even though it is not apparent when looking at the contents. Add John Steane’s very intelligent notes, and full printed texts, and you have an ideal recital disc, one quite above the ordinary in every way.

Göran Forsling, Musicweb International

Born in Canada fifty years ago Gerald Finley has enjoyed a career on both sides of the Atlantic. Mozart has played an important part for him but he has also ventured into contemporary repertoire, and two roles that he created are also represented on this recital, making it a bit more than the usual run-through of a dozen standard arias. Moreover he chose several other rarities to show off his versatility. The aria from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta isn’t everyday fare, nor is – even less in fact – Lysiart’s aria from Weber’s Euryanthe. These two items bring the recital off to a successful start; the former intense with highly strung Slavonic sentiment, the latter powerful but also meltingly beautiful. This testing aria is sung with clean attack and admirably assured runs. I admired Tom Krause in the recent reissue of the, as far as I know, only available complete recording of the work, and Finley runs him close. It’s a pity Euryanthe is so notoriously difficult to stage, due to a more or less impossible libretto, since it is filled with inspired music.

In Doctor Atomic we recognize John Adams’ very personal rhythmic minimalism, well known from Nixon in China but more varied here. The opera was premiered in 2005 with Gerald Finley singing the central character Oppenheimer. Sometimes labelled as bass-baritone he has an easy top register, where the lyrical beauty of tone is rather reminiscent of Thomas Hampson.

He sings Iago’s Credo with face and conviction, and with such warmth that one feels the character is just perplexed at his own evil. Wolfram’s two songs from Tannhäuser are warm and lyrical, Finley lightening his voice – but expressive and keen with words. The well known Song to the evening star is beautiful and restrained – not just another showpiece.

He is a seductive though initially rather aggressive Don Giovanni and Lucy Crowe is an excellent Zerlina. The jump to Mark-Anthony Turnage The Silver Tassie is long, in time as well as in style, and this is another of his creator’s records. Fascinating music and glorious singing. So is, by and large, the Toreador song from Carmen, where his marrowy low notes reveal a healthy bass register. Rhythms are springy but the part seems to stretch his voice to the limits – or maybe he is just over-acting.

I wouldn’t have thought him a natural Hans Sachs but he manages surprisingly well with Verachtet mir die Meister nicht, as it is known in the original. His diction is excellent and it is well sung but one ideally wants a darker timbre. Here as well as in the Carmen aria the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir are really splendid.

The aria from Linda di Chamounix is another rarity, where my benchmark reading is that by Renato Bruson. Finley sings it very well but lacks the roundness of tone and seamless legato of his predecessor. Anne-Marie Gibbons assists him well. Scarpia in Finley’s impersonation is not the snarling animal of certain readings but a more civilized nobleman with understatement – just as horrifying, in fact. The concluding lollipop Some enchanted evening, comes as a striking contrast to Puccini’s Chief of Police and here he challenges even Bryn Terfel with a lovely final pianissimo.

Edward Gardner, since 2007 Music Director of the ENO, has had a lot of rave reviews lately, and he lives up to his reputation. As always with these Chandos issues production values are high: excellent sound, a fine essay by John Steane – personal in expression and deeply knowledgeable – artists’ profiles and session photos. In short: another highly desirable issue in this ever-growing series Opera in English – a joint venture with the Peter Moores Foundation.