.., make lemonade. The infamous quote is one of Joan Collins’s contributions to mankind. Her acting skills were unfortunately not one of them, but the lady has attitude, one must concede her that. One can only guess how far she would have gone if she could do what Helen Mirren does… When it comes to opera, how often one regrets nature’s avarice when listening to some singers who really deserved a great voice. For instance, Danielle de Niese. Although I do not subscribe to the Beyoncé-like routine she displayed in her recital with the Giardino Armonico in the Konzerthaus this evening, her energy, imagination, commitment and hardwork are hard to overlook. Life gave her a lemon – and she made limoncello.
If one had to classify de Niese’s voice, soubrette would be everyone’s first idea. But her diligent efforts to extract everything and a bit more from it has pushed her into other directions. Her middle register is modest, but she generally tries to keep it as light and conversational as possible, limiting her tonal colouring to a sexiness à la Kathleen Battle (to whom she cannot otherwise be compared, I am sorry to say). When things get low (and she is naughty about how low she should go), she manipulates her registers to produce some sound down there. On the other hand, I have found her high notes very healthy, fully produced and never shrill. At first, a light soprano in baroque repertoire who has an ersatz for a low range and who sings some rich top notes seems admirable indeed. But this gimmick has a price – which is her tonal purity. As it is, her alternative is to sing notes without vibrato, which ultimately comes about rather as tremulousness.
Nevertheless – and this is a big nevertheless – she is a singer I would gladly see in baroque repertoire, provided she does not take the prima donna role, i.e., as Morgana (in Alcina), as Dalinda (in Ariodante), as Poppea (in Agrippina) etc. First of all, she has a remarkable instinct to establish the mood of an aria. Even in a restricted tonal palette, she never sings two arias the same way. One can even distinguish different characters when they appear in a row in a recital like this evening’s. Second, although she is no native Italian, she definitely knows how to use the text in her favor. After some very tame accounts of arie di furie, it is always good to hear someone who sings Morrai, sì as if she were really threatening someone. Also, in Volate, amori, from the way she sings the word due bei cori, one can feel Ginevra’s girly excitement about her upcoming wedding. Third, she really revels in athletic coloratura passages. Her account of Cleopatra’s Da tempeste, for instance, was undoubtedly exciting. God knows that this can be preferable to bloodless propriety… I have also noticed that the microphone is not very kind to her voice, exposing the lack of firmness in the middle of her range and adding a metallic quality to her high notes that one does not hear live.
Although de Niese’s program involved only Handel opera characters unsuited to her voice, she has chosen items which more or less flatter her. Predictably, lamenti such as Laschia ch’io pianga and Ritorna, o caro were the arias in which her lack of tonal depth and richness were more immediately felt. Fortunately, Giovanni Antonini and the Giardino Armonico were there to provide all the atmosphere one could wish for. These musicians have unending supply of panache and technical abandon, phrasing with protean quality, infusing every little decibel with energy, surprising the audience with their verve and theatricality. Never before have I heard such a sunny performance of Handel’s concerti grossi (op.6, no.1 and no. 6) and Geminiani’s Concerto Op. 5 no. 2 was an absolute tour de force. No wonder the orchestra got the greatest share of the applause (truth be said, the soprano was warmly acclaimed as well). And they do live up to the concert occasion with their extrovert personalities. Their nonchalance about their virtuoso quality is comparable to the naturalness with which Romans cross the Piazza della Rotonda as if the Pantheon was just another building. Between the pieces, they chatted, smiled, made jokes… I only hope that the collection of bizarre ties was a practical joke (that Berliners are unable to notice, I am afraid)…
I HEAR VOICES 
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