Search - Richard Wagner, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :: Siegfried Jerusalem - Great Tenor Arias

An Interesting Collection of Arias Performed In German

Timothy Kearney | Hull, MA United States | 11/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Tenor Siegfried Jerusalem has received faint praise by many critics. Some will say he's adequate, maybe even good, but the qualifier "given what we have today" at least s far as the German repertoire is concerned. With this collection, he does hold his own.



This compilation includes tracks recorded for a recital album and tracks from complete operas he's recorded. The range is amazing. He sings everything from Mozart to Weinberger and while the selections are primarily from the German repertoire, he does include Lensky's farewell from EUGENE ONEGIN, Meyerbeer's "O Paradis" from L'AFRICAINE and "Jungfrau Maria" from Flotow's ALLESANDRO STRADELLA, but these tracks are performed in German rather than the native languages (although with the Flotow track, I'm not sure of the original language). Jerusalem seems to lean more toward a sweet and even sound than power, which wouldn't always work in recordings of the complete operas, especially a recording of DIE MEISTERSINGER or LOHENGRIN, but are pleasing for this compilation.



I'll admit, I didn't purchase this CD because I'm a diehard Siegfried Jerusalem fan and had to have at least one solo recording of his in my collection. The CD was reasonably priced, included arias I enjoy as well as one I wasn't familiar with at the time of purchase, and thought it would be interesting if nothing else. I have enjoyed it, and even if some of the renditions of the arias will not rank with the all time greats, it's still a good CD and is interesting to listen to from time to time.

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