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 1 Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur Adriana's Aria 'See now, I am exhausted…'
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'I am the humble servant of God's immortal art'
2 Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades Lisa's Aria
'You need not close the windows just yet'
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'Oh why am I so tearful'
with Gillian Keith, soprano
3 Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (The Touring Party) Nedda's Aria
'His eyes were flashing with anger'
– 'Through the air they soar'
4 Nedda and Silvio's Duet
'Nedda!' – 'My fate is in your hands'
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'Then will you say why you have enslaved me'
with William Dazeley baritone
5 Boito’s Mephistopheles Death of Marguerita
'To the moonlit waves they cast him'
6 Heggie’s The End of the Affair A Bargain and a Prayer
'Nineteen forty-four. March. May. June'
with William Dazeley baritone
7 Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades
Lisa's Scene and Arioso 'It's nearly midnight now'
8 R Strauss’s Arabella Arabella and Zdenka's Duet
'He's not the one who is right for me' - 'The one who's right for me'
with Gillian Keith soprano
9 Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur Adriana's Aria 'Poor little flowers'
10 Williamson’s The Violins of Saint-Jacques Berthe's Song 'How can I explain to you'
11 Catalani’s La Wally Wally's Aria 'I'll float into the distance'
12 R Strauss’s Arabella Arabella and Mandryka's Duet 'I'm very glad. Mandryka'
with William Dazeley baritone
London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by David Parry
Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London London 5-8 April 2009
Producers Brian Couzens (Executive) and Brian Pidgeon
Sound engineer - Ralph Couzens, Assistant engineer - Jonathan Cooper
MusicalCriticism.com 'Barker's voice thrills in the theatre because it is very large with a great deal of vivid colour and a thrilling cut to it... Two of the best tracks on the disc are the arias from Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. Barker has no difficulty finding the legato in the face of such syllabic setting at low tessitura in the first part of 'Oh why am I so tearful', and she phrases very naturally, connecting lines through the breaths to give a great sense of momentum and logical, consequent thoughts. She dominates the second section easily where the higher set vocal arcs show her off to her best advantage. Barker brings similar qualities to the second aria, 'It's nearly midnight now', in which she sustains Lisa's lament for her fate throughout the whole scene with impressive intensity.
Barker is very effective in 'A Bargain and a Prayer' from Jake Heggie's The End of the Affair, an opera in which she created the role of Sarah at its premiere in San Francisco in 2004. The almost Mussorgskian scale of the piece suits Barker's vocal weight, and the tense situation in which Sarah finds herself plays to the singer's interpretative strengths as she resolves to renounce her lover in the face of what she believes is a sign from God. Another rarity, 'How can I explain to you' from Malcolm Williamson's The Violins of Saint-Jacques is similarly successful... Barker spins a subtlely inflected legato line over the orchestra, allowing the changes in instrumental textures to do the work in terms of painting the text, which the London Philharmonic Orchestra under David Parry do to great effect.
Baritone William Dazeley and soprano Gillian Keith provide excellent support in the ensemble numbers, and the luxury accompaniment from the orchestra, under Parry's singer-friendly yet spirited direction helps to create an overall impression of high quality.'
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BBC Music Magazine
PERFORMANCE ****
‘Any criticisms in what follows should be prefaced by awed admiration for Cheryl Barker's achievements as a fine singing actress. Her portrayal of Puccini's Suor Angelica included a Callas moment of naked anguish and her Salome was the most powerful I've seen since Hildegard Behrens. Alas, Strauss's final scene is not part of this generous selection, though we do have Barker achieving poise and dignity as Arabella. Anguish is more the keynote, coming across best in Margarita's prison aria from Boito's Mefistofele and Lisa's midnight soliloquy in Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades. |
