Joan Sutherland (soprano)
Personal Choices
No accompanists, conductors or orchestras given
rec. 1955-1962; no locations given
AAD/ADD; live mono/stereo
ALTO ALC1455 [75] 

The title of this new compilation from the bargain Alto label implies that the “Personal Choices” (although its website puts “choice” in the singular) are the late diva Joan Sutherland’s own – presumably her favourite concert items and encores. It would seem, however, that they have instead been selected and compiled by ex-Decca producer Tony Watts, who provides an affectionate and laudatory tribute to a great artist in the general biographical note. The brief note on the reverse cover tells us that the disc “includes rare early recordings and broadcasts,”, but nowhere are specific details of the recording dates, locations or other artists – such as conductors, orchestras and accompanists – given beyond the vague dates 1955-1962 on the CD itself, which is irritating. The cover design with too many font sizes and a multi-coloured text on the reverse both look a bit amateur, too, while putting “Neapolitan Songs” in parentheses plus a colon is clumsy, and the gap between the end of the cheesy slogan “& more” and the appended (redundant) exclamation mark is an obvious typographical error. A bit more care for design and the presentation of information would not go amiss and would make the CD more attractive to the prospective purchaser.

None of which matters much if the content of this album satisfies. Given the Sutherland began recording shortly after the age of first-rate studio, stereo recording was firmly established – as evinced by her legacy of Decca recordings – we might reasonably expect decent sound throughout unless alerted otherwise, but there is no such warning. The listener is first lulled into a false sense of security by the excellent quality of both the sound and singing, but only the first three and nos. 5, 8, 16 and 20 are in stereo; track 4 is in good monophonic sound but otherwise the remaining twenty items are in mostly hissy, distorted mono.

The opening song, “Il bacio”, displays all the most thrilling features of the young Joan Sutherland’s voice: the enormous power, the sparkling agility, the perfect trills, the stunning top Ds – the whole package which rocketed her to fame after her Covent Garden Lucia. The riotous applause tells us that this was a live performance. We hear more of the same in the second Italian song “Io non sono più l’Annetta” and the following two “English birdy songs” are delightful. “Let the bright seraphim” is a coloratura triumph, concluding with a rousing E-flat.

So the singing is superb but from the point of view of sonics, it is mostly downhill after that. Trying to listen through those muffled and/or mono tracks, I hear in them some more wonderful singing, as expected, but their inadequacy is only accentuated by the contrasting few numbers which are well recorded. Tracks 6, 7 and 10, for example – presumably from radio broadcasts – are unpleasantly distorted. One might deduce from the poor sound, the stellar quality of the singing and the imperfect Italian, that “Care selve” is from the late 50s, but all such speculation is guesswork given the dearth of information. The Neapolitan songs, tracks 11 and 12, are in better sound but the Dvořák and Balfe songs are poor, as is the “Last Rose of Summer” – a Sutherland trademark favourite. It is a relief to return to modern stereo in the bravura Piccinni aria, so it is a pity that only the last track provides similar sound quality – although the live-recorded Handel aria. “Tornami a vagheggiar” is acceptable and rightly warmly applauded. “With plaintive note” is a bit droopy in that occasional Sutherland manner but sung with pure tone. Liszt’s “Die Loreley” is the only song sung in (good) German and displays a touch of the lower register that was always sketchy with Dame Joan but the sound is a bit muddy. “Home Sweet Home” provides a suitably touching, even sentimental, conclusion to a beguiling recital which remains a testament to a true vocal phenomenon but whose uneven sonics disappoint.

Ralph Moore

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Contents
1. Il bacio (Arditi) 3.55
2. Io non sono più l’Annetta (Ricci/Piave) 3.07
3. Lo, Hear the Gentle Lark (Bishop) 4.08
4. The Gypsy and the Bird (Benedict) 2.49
5. Let the Bright Seraphim (Handel) 5.46
6. Sweet Pretty Bird (Stanley) 2.55
7. La Fiorala Fiorentina (Rossini) 3.37
8. Nel cor più non mi sento (Paisiello) 3.59
9. Care selve (Handel) 3.02
10. When Daisies Pied (Cuckoo Song) (Arne) 2.26
11. Mattinata (Leoncavallo) 1.50
12. Ideale (Tosti) 3.02
13. Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvořák) 2.13
14. I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls (Balfe) 4.31
15. The Last Rose of Summer (Moore-Irish trad-Flotow) 3:23
16. Furia di donna (Piccinni) 3.09
17. Tornami a vagheggiar (Handel) 4.53
18. With Plaintive Note (Handel) 4.16
19. Die Loreley (Liszt) 6.12
20. Home Sweet Home (Bishop) 4.18