Julia Lezhneva is a star on the way to a heavenly career. I am a conductor who has worked with many fine young talents in Carnegie Hall, and am delighted and amazed at this truly outstanding recording. I do not agree with or accept the negativity expressed in some reviews on this page. While Lezhneva is young, her voice is mature, flexible and accurate in pitch and articulation. Her runs and trills are spot-on. I adore this album, and I adore her and her singing. This is the third Lezhneva album I have purchased, and it will not be the last. No wonder she has studied with Dame Kiri and other notable singers of the previous generation. Kudos to the Naive label for outstanding sound, and to Marc Minkowski for stellar preparation and conducting. Five enthusiastic stars!

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OK

Beautiful voice and singing

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019

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Beautiful voice and singing

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Kelvin Brown

Great when she doesn't go out of tune.

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2011

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Only a tone deaf consumer could love this product.

I desperately wanted to fall in love with this CD. I saw preview clips on the Naïve Classic channel on YouTube and fell in love with both singer and conductor. I saw enthusiasm, people having fun, commitment to getting it right, and what I heard was the wonderful Naïve engineering I have recently come to admire. Imagine my disappointment when the soloist, Julia Lezhneva, misses notes in every single track on this CD. She goes slightly sharp as she holds a note, and some of runs and arpeggios don't sound like they are executed by a seasoned professional. It is really noticeable at the end of the selection from Semiramide "Bel raggio lunsinghieri." She can trill, she has a sound quality that stands up against the greats. But God love a duck she can't stay in tune.

Unfortunately, on this outing, the intonation makes Ms. Lezhneva sound like a promising amateur that has simply been let loose on the public a shade or two before she is ready. I don't care if Dame Kiri is her mentor or how many awards she's won up until now. This kind of misstep could ruin her career. Pitch is basic to all music, and it is non-negotiable. They should have made her stand there and do it over until she got it right. The record producer should be beat senseless with a lamp cord. Anyone with half an ear and just OK pitch can hear this. Let me be clear. The engineering is perfect to the point of heavenly. You can rely on Naïve Classics to deliver that delicious, detailed sound every time with perfect imaging. The orchestra is perfect. The accompanying chorus is stunning. Balance between the singers and orchestra is perfect. But this is a solo artist CD with accompaniment. Which leads me to my next point.

Why, on a CD of arias, do we have an OVER SEVEN MINUTE orchestral selection? The label does this on the Vivaldi Edition aria recordings, and on those CDs it is nice because there is so much singing. This CD clocks in at under 58 minutes which, (not counting the seven minutes of instrumental filler) charming as it is, shortchanges the consumer of ten to fifteen minutes of singing.

I love Naïve Vivaldi offerings, but will be more cautious about future purchases until I have had the chance to listen to a few samples. I want my money back on this one. Don't recommend. Next time less fun and more attention to the basics.

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Anna Shlimovich

Diva Desdemona rules.

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2012

I got this CD while preparing for Rossini's Otello in Brussels in May, 2012; my main interest therefore was the aria "Assisa a' pie d'un salice" on this recording. And I was truly rewarded to discover such a great soprano, able to color her voice to suit the tragic role of Desdemona so perfectly.

"Assisa a' pie d'un salice" is also known as The Willow Song, one of the most remarkable passages in the opera Otello, and represents a very real achievement on the part of both librettist and composer. Basically it is a four-strophe ballad, but no two verses are identical. The first is a simple but effective statement of the folk- like melody, with key words emphasized by decorations and, at one point, a falling chromatic line.

The second is more elaborate, the "ruscelletti" or streams mentioned in the text being translated into sound in the form of florid movement in the voice. Further decoration, similarly used for purposes of declamation and emphasis, distinguishes the third strophe, but at this point Desdemona breaks off into recitative. Normally, before she can proceed with the fourth strophe, a mere hint in Shakespeare --

Desdemona: Hark! who is't that knocks?
Emilia: It's the wind.

-- is developed to became a chilling premonition of approaching doom as a gust of wind shatters a pane of glass in the window, but in this recording this part was omitted, altogether with Emilia.

The fourth strophe is the most affecting of all, for as Desdemona's narrative brings her to Isaura's death, so her mounting emotion interrupts the flow of the line, breaking it up into sob-like phrases that so overpower her that she is unable to finish.

This recording does not include the prayer "Deh calma o Ciel", which is all the more expressive since it is as simple, as sustained and as outwardly controlled as the last part of the Willow Song was fractured by emotion. However, Lezhneva's masterly depiction of Desdemona is extremely moving. One can compare her rendition with that of Marilyn Horne (several various recordings) or Joyce di Donato on Colbran, the Muse , and I personally find Lezhneva superior to these singers - her technical agility, trills and runs are marvelously precise, while a soprano voice reaches the heart deeper; especially a voice so expressive of the tormented Desdemona's despair.

In Brussels I was exceptionally lucky to hear the whole opera with Anna Caterina Antonacci as Desdemona, and I concede that Lezhneva here is better than what I have heard in the Royal Opera house (I include the link in comments section for those who are interested in Brussel's performance).

Next on this recording "Bel raggio lusinghier" has been my perennial favorite, since I have first heard it years ago by Joan Sutherland in Rossini Gala: Spectacular Arias . To my astonishment, I found Lezhneva's singing more accurate and instrumental than La Stupenda, although the unattainable beauty of tone and dazzling, luminous, silvery tops firmly belong to Sutherland.

Other pieces on this CD are also sung with utmost quality. I became quite interested in this new young singer and I found that although young, she already had an impressive repertoire, working with some of the best conductors (would anyone really imagine for a moment that they would tolerate singing out of pitch or otherwise bad, especially on a recording???). I also listened to Vivaldi: Ottone in villa [Tesori del Piemonte, Vol. 46 ] with Julia Lezhneva's participation, and predictably, she is marvelous there.

It is a very impressive recording; I hold back one star only because for all the greatness, Lezhneva does not have the thrilling beauty of tone as the most amazing divas of opera had. Yet her voice is splendid enough and I'd love to see and hear her in the theater, a true projector of one's vocal powers.

Lastly, the part of Desdemona was sung by Isabella Colbran, Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran, among the few; I do think Rossini would also be pleased with Julia Lezhneva's tragic heroine.

Recommended.

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Amazon Customer

Lots of potential

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2011

I tend to agree with Kelvin Brown regarding this disk, though I'm a little less disappointed than he is!

There are certainly several notes that are distinctly poorly pitched, and overall one has the sense that Ms Lezhneva is seldom spot on with her pitching - it slides just off the head of the note. Apart from that, the voice is rather unidiosyncratic - it is not a voice that one will remember, not distinctive, though not at all unpleasant either.

But her runs and trills are fabulous! I'm listening again to Nacqui all'affanno from La Cenerentola. The hops between upper and lower registers, the long runs down, and turns upwards, all are done with such light clarity and precision - really to listen to!

Maybe she just needs a bit more time for her voice to cook?

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Mario Lawrence Monteiro

Rossini Opera Arias - Soprano voice - Julia Lezhneva

Reviewed in Canada on September 16, 2017

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This CD of Julia Lezhneva is a Christmas gift for my 2 sons. I had given them the CD 'Alleluia' by Julia Lezhneva and they liked listening to her. Hence this purchase of this CD.

D. Bourgain

magnifique

Reviewed in France on January 5, 2013

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une superbe soprano, avec la promesse d'un avenir de diva. Rossini lui convient parfaitement, mais on l'entendra sûrement, au sommet, dans des rôles aussi bien mozartiens que verdiens

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C. Wake

A young Russian who recalls Joan Sutherland - in a good way!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2012

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It's not an immediately distinctive voice. It does'nt scream for attention in the manner of (say) Bartoli. What you notice first is the exceptional coloratura technique - Lezhneva can sing scales, arpeggios and trills cleanly at any speed, without any audible difficulty. Only Emma Kirkby is as good; but Kirkby has a tiny soubrette of a voice, where Julia Lezhneva (as far one can tell from recordings) is a middle-weight lyric soprano. After enjoying the technique for a while you start to pick up the underlying tone-colour. It's a sweet sound in the old sense - dolce - which reminds me very much of Joan Sutherland; but this is a Sutherland who never scoops up to a note, and whose every word is clear. Lezhneva sings without vibrato, unless that vibrato is an ornament, and has a magnificent messa di voce.
What she does not do is to impose emotion onto the vocal line. Modern Rossinians nearly always do (DiDonato is an example) and it's perhaps inevitable when a singer has to put across a 19th century artwork in big 21st century theatre to an audience more interested in personality than vocal skill. Lezhneva's failure to emote is perhaps what made some critics dislike this recording, but she offers other rewards to the attentive listener, including the realisation that Rossini's emotions are rooted in the 18th century, and are more nuanced and ambiguous that ours.
I came to this CD having been impressed by Lezhneva's technique in Handel (the new Decca recording of "Alessandro"), and expecting to admire coloratura showpieces (which I did) but the track that struck me was Desdemona's Willow Song, "Assisa a' pie d'un salice". Here is a style of expressive singing which is very unusual today, but one that Rossini might perhaps have recognised.
How a 21-year-old Russian learned to sing with so much skill, taste and judgement is a mystery to me but I certainly hope to hear much more from her.

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ケンちゃん

天使の歌声

Reviewed in Japan on July 10, 2015

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レージネヴァの特長が良く出ています。バルトリの若い時に匹敵。

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Tobias Fabian-Krause

Gelungener Einstieg!

Reviewed in Germany on May 20, 2011

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Die Sopranistin Julia Lezhneva, Jahrgang 1989, gab letztes Jahr ihr Debüt bei den Salzburger Festspielen, wo sie, begleitet vom Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg unter der Leitung von Marc Minkowski, unter anderem Mozarts Mottete "Exsultate, Jubilate" zu einer gefeierten Aufführung brachte.

Nun liegt ihr Debüt-Album vor, ihr Begleiter ist wieder Marc Minkowski, dieses Mal mit der Sinfonia Varsovia und dem Kammerchor der Warschauer Oper. Das Album widmet sich Arien von Gioachino Rossini aus seinen Opern "L'assedio di Corinto", "La donna del lago", "Otello", "Semiramide" und "Guillaume Tell".

Ich hatte das Glück, Ihr Debüt in Salzburg vor Ort live miterleben zu dürfen, war sehr angetan und habe daher dieses Album mit Spannung erwartet. Julia Lezhneva hat für meinen Geschmack eine wunderschöne, wohlklingende Stimme, ihr technisches Vermögen ist bereits sehr gut ausgefeilt, ihr Gesang wirkt natürlich und unangestrengt, Vibrato setzt sie sparsam ein und so hat mir auch das Anhören dieser CD sehr viel Freude bereitet.

Natürlich gibt es noch viel Entwicklungspotenzial für das Nachwuchstalent. Passagenweise singt sie eine Spur zu leise, ob das ein Mangel an Volumen, ein tontechnischer Fehler oder ein Fehler des Dirigenten ist, der das das Orchester etwas hätte bremsen müssen, übersteigt meine Beurteilungskompetenz. Es ist auch kein gravierender Effekt. Ich habe nur einige Arien zum Vergleich von Joyce DiDonatos "Colbran, the muse"-Album herangezogen und da ist mir aufgefallen, dass Frau di Donato etwas vordergründiger im Gesamtklang wirkt. Auch was Ausdrucksstärke, Temperament und den schauspielerischen Teil des Gesangsvortrags betrifft ist noch Entwicklungspotenzial. Frau Lezhneva ist diesbezüglich noch ein wenig zu zurückhaltend. Am besten gelingen ihr meines Erachtens lyrische, innige Passagen. Eine vollausgereifte Gesangsdarbietung von einer jungen, knapp über 20 Jahre alten Sängerin zu erwarten wäre allerdings vermessen, würde ich ihn kriegen würde es mir vielleicht gar als unnatürlich erscheinen. Der Vergleich mit der 20 Jahre älteren Joyce DiDonato ist insofern von der Grundidee schon hinterfragenswürdig (davon abgesehen, dass Mezzo und Koloratursopran natürlich immer unterschiedlich klingen).

Die Orchesterleistung finde ich sehr gut. Marc Minkowski ist ein Dirigent mit viel Opernerfahrung und auch viel Praxis im Bereich der Alten Musik. Beides hat ihn geschult, auf Zusammenarbeit zu setzen und sensibel auf seine Solisten einzuehen. Das kommt auch Julia Lezhneva zugute. Der Kammerchor der Warschauer Oper macht seine Sache ebenfalls sehr gut, wobei mir im Vergleich zum Album von Frau DiDonato aufgefallen ist, dass es eben noch etwas klarer und temperamentvoller geht. Ich will das nicht zum großen Mangel hochstilisieren, aber ich denke, es ginge noch ein wenig besser.

Eine Einschätzung, wo in der Rossini-Sopran-Diskographie sich diese CD einreiht kann ich mangels Übersicht über diese nicht mal ansatzweise leisten. Mein Eindruck ist, dass dem Rossini- und Sopranfreund diese CD viel Freude bringen wird und ihn Bekanntschaft mit einem vielversprechenden Nachwuchstalent schließen lässt. Daraus abzuleiten, dass diese CD ein Muss ist hielte ich allerdings für gnadenlos übertrieben und der Superlativinflation der Marketing-Abteilungen möchte ich mich nicht anschließen. Es ist einfach eine richtig schöne CD!

Wir werden sicher noch viel von Julia Lezhneva hören? Das weiß ich nicht, aber das will ich hoffen. Hoffentlich nicht zu viel. In den letzten Jahrne haben wir Klassikfreunde ja z.B. sehr viel von Rolando Villazon gehört und gelesen und das war nicht nur Gutes. Ich kann nur hoffen, dass die Erwartungen an Julia Lezhneva auf ein kluges Management treffen und sie ihre herrlich schöne Stimme nicht durch zu viele Auftritte kaputtsingt, ihr Auszeiten gegönnt werden, die dann nicht hämisch kommentiert werden wie dies z.T. beispielsweise bei Elina Garanca geschehen ist. Es wäre schade, natürlich um den Menschen Julia Lezhneva, aber auch um diese herrliche Stimme!

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