Search - Leonard Warren :: On Tour in Russia

A strange collection with some real gems

madamemusico | Cincinnati, Ohio USA | 08/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Leonard Warren was a baritone noted mostly for the power of his dark baritone voice, but he could also sing quite sensitively as this collection proves. Unfortunately, he does NOT sing sensitively in the heavy-handed, old-fashioned readings of Handel, Bach, "Aamarilli" or "O del mio amato ben," but his performances of tracks 3, 7, 9, 10, 13, 17-22 and 24 are superb. Especially interesting is his baritone version of the tenor specialty "Mattinata," which he turns into an intimate love ballad...I have never heard the like, and it is surprisingly effective. In the arias, of course, Warren is in his element; the "Faust" is sung much like Alexandru Agache in the Rizzi recording, and "Nemico della patria" is a predictable tour-de-force. William Sektberg's pianism is competent and perfunctory, nothing more. American-based singers of this era (among them Steber, Merrill and Bjorling) didn't exactly use the best pianists most of the time; the singing was the focus of things. Recommended, then, with a few reservations."