Not My Favorite
Matthew S. Baggarly | 10/12/2009
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I must say that the track listing was very catching and I was delighted to see that Inva Mula put out a new CD. I have to say I am slightly disappointed. I am not extremely familiar with Inva Mula's career, but I must say that she sounds a bit tired and overwhelmed here. Her Puccini arias are the best on the CD and there are some really pretty and artistic moments; however, I am not a fan of the remaining repetoire. Her La Traviata numbers seem to cause trouble for her as far as strength and stamina. I must also say that her pitch tends to fall slightly flat and this is apparent in the "Addio" from Traviata. Her "Sempre Libera' lacks agility and grace and gives a clumsy feeling to the aria. Notes are left out and there are no original embellishments. If you sing standards without bringing something new to the table then you need to sing them extremely well and that was not the case in this recording. I am not washing my hands of Inva Mula, just not so happy with her newly released CD. Sorry!"
What happened to her voice?!
C. Pacheco | Houston, TX | 01/20/2010
(3 out of 5 stars)
"I remember being 9 years old and watching "The fifth element". I was so mesmerized by the amazing voice coming out of that blue alien diva, and I became so inspired by this singer (Inva Mula) that I awaited a solo album since then, hoping for some more of that beautiful well supported bel canto soprano voice with that immaculate agility and extraordinary vocal range.
Forward 12 years later to "Il bel sogno" (The beautiful dream), well, let me tell you...this is no beautiful dream, it's a rude awakening actually. Some of the Puccini arias are ok, but after a while they start to blend together. The first aria is sung lovely with a floating quality, and the "O mio babbino" as well, but the rest...just do not raise up to the ocassion.
Inva's coloratura technique is truly bad...reminds me of Renata Tebaldi, it's like she is dragging the notes as if they were huge weights instead of simply touching the note and moving on (which would be what a coloratura singer would do). The thing is...being a lirico-leggero, SHE SHOULD BE ABLE to handle basic coloratura runs. That's not the case in the "Mireille" arias.
Then we get to the mirror aria from "Thais" and OMG...it's a hot ghetto tranny mess, what the hell? Her voice completely disappears in the mid-low register, it has that asthmatic suffocated quality that Gruberova or Devia get in the middle voice, it is truly terrible...and also no high D at the end, which a lirico-leggero such as Inva Mula SHOULD be able to sing.
In "Addio del passato" there's some beautiful singing reminescent of why I first fell in love with her voice, but then on "E strano...Sempre libera" it's the same unsupported sound shown earlier, and OMG...the coloratura is taken SO SLOOOOOOW. Again, reminds me of Renata Tebaldi (and not in a good way). She sings a high E-flat but it is sung in the nastiest thinnest tinniest falsetto sound I've ever heard.
I wonder whatever happened to her voice!!?? 12 years ago she had a full bodied agile instrument with a marvelous range, but not it's just a lirico-leggero soprano with no middle voice, no agility and no sovracuti. Too much Mimi perhaps? The same thing is happening to Anna Netrebko after singing Mimi, which is a role that even my cat can sing, so it puts the voice in a comfortable place where it never has to be challanged or kept awake...it can be sung in auto-pilot pretty much.
Anyways, for the memory of the voice I once loved and that inspired me to become a classical singer myself, I give this album 3 stars."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1