Véronique Gens - Mozart: Opera & Concert Arias (2010)

Soprano Véronique Gens possesses a beautifully refined voice with a pearly sheen: an ideal voice for Mozart, and the operatic and concert arias and scenes on this 1998 recital effectively showcase her gifts. The repertoire is wide-ranging on several counts; it includes both very familiar and more obscure selections, and there is music from both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles. Gens has the necessary range and the solid technique to comfortably negotiate the music for both voice types; the Countess' "Porgi, amor" is lusciously ripe and rounded, and Cherubino's "Non so più cosa son," taken at a breakneck speed, showcases Gens' agility in her lower register. Gens' tone is absolutely pure and focused, and her legato is smooth as butter. She is also a subtle but superb singing actress, and brings intelligent and expressive honesty to each of the roles. The album ends on a spectacular note with a sophisticated, thrilling, emotionally probing account of Fiordiligi's "Per pieta, ben mio." In Ivor Bolton, Gens has a collaborator whose skill and sensibilities are a terrific match with hers, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, one of the finest European ensembles, plays with exemplary polish and nuance. Virgin Classics' sound has excellent presence and is wonderfully clear. -- Stephen Eddins