First is the aria Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben from Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” as sung by Helen Donath. Helen is and American soprano who is 70-ish years old and is still singing. Don’t ignore how the flute ends his phrases as well. A translation is on the video.
At first I didn’t know if I enjoyed the sound of the Bach, and her somewhat strange facial expressions along with the unflattering camera angle made it a little difficult to be engaged. From the side it seems there is a lot of extra movement, as a dabbler in extra movement, what I didn’t enjoy was how sometimes her shoulders raise up really high in order to sink into a high note. Only a very few times I didn’t here a secure entry— The sound is very fluid (the flute too) and it is carried to the end of the phrase, which is denoted almost entirely in the beginning with the t consonant. By minute 4, I’m really into it, she’s won me over with her long lines and commitment to the text, not to mention sheer musicality. I would have absolutely loved to hear this performance live, I bet the performance was absolutely amazing.
Secondly is an English soprano called Catherine Bott. The aria itself is over after about 5 minutes and 5 seconds but leads right into a chorus that is worth listening to. If you’ll allow yourself the time you won’t be disappointed. What do you hear?
Upon the third listening I still can’t seem to find anything wrong with her technique. She stays intimately grounded along with full breath support throughout. She really uses the orchestration to her advantage in flourishes and artistic choices. Overall, this is an incredible recording and I’m lucky to have heard her. There is an ounce of flatness in the very beginning— the inconsistency of her vibrato creates a confusion somewhat to my ear, though it is really objective, this thought of artistic choices versus technique.
At the “when I am laid section” there is a little airiness to begin with, but she really settles into her voice— the distinction is really a matter of opinion. The straight tone is very baroque I presume, and she does it very well. Sometimes she fills out a thinness to her tone, and perhaps with a different singer this would not work, but Bott seems to excel at this. Thank you for sharing this recording!
Bach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0YHer1-hYQ
Purcell
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