Giacomo Puccini (18581924)
Heroines
Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano)
Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra/Enrique Mazzola
rec. live concerts, February 2025, Chicago
Italian texts and English translations provided
Reviewed as download
Pentatone PTC5187491 [76]
Women characters are a very important component of Puccini’s works; of his twelve operas, no fewer than seven of them have titles which are the names of, or refer to, the main female character. It is not, therefore, surprising to see CDs or recitals dedicated to Puccini heroines. What is more surprising concerning this recording by Sondra Radvanovsky is that it includes arias from all but one of Puccini’s operas, which means that it spans a big range of roles (roughly half of which she has not sung on stage), from the seductive Musetta to the tyrannical Turandot, requiring very different types of singing.
The arias were recorded during three concerts which Sondra Radvanovsky gave in Chicago in February 2025. Here she is obviously “at home” in more ways than one. She was brought up in Chicago, performing in the Lyric Opera as early as 2002. Moreover, she has sung Puccini roles all through her career, and three (Tosca, Turandot, and La fanciulla del West) figure large among her recent and announced performances.
This almost exhaustive recital of Puccini’s arias for soprano enables us to appreciate the sheer range of female characters and their predicaments which Puccini was able to portray in his music. From a youthful Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, through a sexy Musetta in La bohème and a tragic Tosca, all the way to a formidable Turandot, Puccini’s female characters draw out of him music of expressive depth and touching empathy.
The opera that Radvanovsky has most recently added to her Puccini repertoire is Turandot, the recording of which, with Antonio Pappano, was approvingly reviewed on this site (review ~ review). The part is obviously a big test for a soprano, requiring a penetrating, dramatic voice. It is with Turandot’s “In questa reggia” that she concludes her programme (apart from the encores), and she shows that she has what it takes. She can summon both the necessary stentorian tone and some tender singing, introducing complexity into the character. The flow of sound when under pressure is impressive, and the high notes have a solid core and an attractive vibrato.
The challenge facing a soprano who decides to tackle all these very different arias is to show that she disposes of the vocal means to do them all justice. Sondra Radvanovsky is a consummate artist, but she has set herself quite a task here. There are moments, like in the arias from Le Villi and Edgar, when one would have liked more lightness; but even here, she shows considerable skill, as when she floats a high note delicately, or, on the other hand, produces a solid climax.
Certain arias require an evenness of tone which Radvanovsky has trouble producing. The start of Mimi’s aria, for example, could be tidier, and the beat which is too often present mars the smoothness needed in places in the arias from Madame Butterfly and La Rondine. “Senza mamma” from Suor Angelica produces a mixed reaction in me: the sound could often be cleaner, but the final note is floated very effectively and the aria as a whole is performed with considerable pathos.
Where Radvanovsky is at her best, in my view, is in the arias that require the most dramatic commitment, and where the necessary voice type is more spinto, or even dramatic, than lyric. She brings a very impressive range of expressive dynamics to bear on “Vissi d’arte”, for example, producing a mere sliver of a note at the end. The aria from Manon Lescaut is another good example: her Musetta may lack sparkle compared to some, but how many sopranos who can sing Musetta’s aria coquettishly could do justice to the big, long phrases of Manon’s that Radvanovsky sings so richly and movingly?
In such a demanding recital, the soloist clearly needs a rest now and again, which explains the presence of five orchestral pieces (preludes and intermezzi). Two of these are from his earliest operas, Le Villi and Edgar, which are not often performed, and are light and charming. The intermezzo from Manon Lescaut is clearly the product of a more confident hand, with its gorgeous warmth, which the orchestra brings out well. By the time Puccini came to write Madama Butterfly and La fanciulla del West, he undoubtedly knew how to use the rich potential of the orchestra to set the scene in a very dramatic way. All these pieces are played with delicacy or pathos, as appropriate, by the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, conducted by Enrique Mazzola.
This CD obviously invites comparison with similar compilations by other sopranos, contemporary or of the past. Preferences will depend on personal tastes, of course. Anna Netrebko’s Verismo disc from 2016 includes some Puccini, but I think she was already trying to punch above her weight. Adrianne Pieczonka’s 2009 Puccini album contains almost the same selection as we have here; her timbre is very attractive, to my ear maybe rounder than Radvanovsky’s today. Moving further back, someone in search of vocal perfection would probably want to listen to Caballé, Callas, Tebaldi, Leontyne Price, or Gheorghiu. but my personal favourite, for the sheer beauty of her voice, would be Kiri Te Kanawa (a Verdi plus Puccini compilation, on Sony, MK37298).
To come back to Sondra Radvanovsky’s CD: this is undoubtedly an impressive performance. Her tone is rich, the voice fluid, and she has remarkable control of the dynamics, being able to sing big phrases with ease and also to pull the volume back to a thread. The characterisation of the many roles is therefore quite well differentiated. To my ear however, the beat in the voice, while not unpleasant, is rather too ubiquitous, tending to militate against the lightness which is necessary quite often, and there is even occasionally (as in Mimi’s aria) a suggestion of acidity. Listeners keen to hear Radvanovsky at her best can turn to her CD of Verdi Arias on Delos, made in 2010, when her voice was, for me, fuller, more rounded, and without any intrusive vibrato.
This recording is also the record of a rather special occasion. Radvanovsky is performing, with all the skill and experience she has at her disposal, in her home town. We can clearly hear, thanks to the audience’s enthusiasm and laughter, particularly during the encores, that she is charming them with her musicality and theatricality; the local girl has them eating out of her hand.
David James
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Contents
Le Villi (1884)
1 Prelude
2 Act I · Se come voi piccina
La bohème (1896)
3 Act I · Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì
Madama Butterfly (1904)
4 Intermezzo
5 Act II · Un bel dì vedremo
Tosca (1900)
6 Act II · Vissi d’arte
Manon Lescaut (1893)
7 Intermezzo
8 Act IV · Sola, perduta, abbandonata
La fanciulla del West (1910)
9 Prelude
10 Act I · Laggiù nel Soledad
Suor Angelica (1918)
11 Senza mamma
Edgar (1889)
12 Prelude
13 Act III · Addio, mio dolce amor!
La rondine (1917)
14 Act I · Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
Turandot (1926)
15 Act II · In questa reggia
La bohème
16 Act II · Quando me’n vo’
Gianni Schicchi (1918)
17 Act I · O mio babbino caro
