Harmonia Mundi's two-disc tribute to mezzo-soprano
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson focuses on her legacy in Baroque opera and oratorio, particularly the works of
Handel. The recordings span a relatively brief time (1989-1995) from early in her career, beginning only about five years after she began singing professionally, so it's a testimony to the fact that so many of the elements that characterized her singing -- a voice of exceptional warmth, sensuality, depth, and color deployed in performances of devastatingly focused expression of the music's emotional core, whether in opera or concert works -- were solidly in place from the beginning.
Hunt Lieberson's absolutely technical security freed her to devote her considerable gifts to bringing the music to life with absolute honesty. Her performances are so consistent in their tonal beauty, musical refinement, and transparent communicativeness that it becomes almost meaningless to speak of highlights or stand-out tracks. Her duet with counter-tenor
Drew Minter in "To Thee, Thou glorious Son," is heartbreaking in its piercing emotionality. The solos from Messiah are so familiar to most listeners that they require truly spectacular performances to make an impact, and here they do; "But who may abide the day of his coming" practically blazes and "I know that my Redeemer liveth" shimmers with radiance.
Nicholas McGegan, a frequent collaborator of
Hunt Lieberson's in both live performances and recordings, leads the Boston-based
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (and in excerpts from one opera,
Freiberger Barockorchester) in stellar accompaniment, sensitive to the conventions of informed period performance practice and lively in expression. Harmonia Mundi's sound is consistently very fine, warm, detailed, and present. This gorgeous recording will be indispensible for
Hunt Lieberson's fans.