(The) Radiant Voice of Barbara Bonney

When you think of female opera singers, chances are you get an image in your head of a 20 stone monster wearing a Viking helmet and shattering glass as she screeches a note only audible to the neighbourhood cats. But luckily this stereotype is becoming very outdated as singers like Barbara Bonney bring a fresh sound to classical singing. Bonney has a refreshing lightness and silvery tone to her soprano voice, but unlike singers like Emma Kirkby who ...
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For anyone unfamiliar with Classical vocal music, Bonney’s voice provides the perfect introduction, with her light and clear tone, simplicity and absence of wide vibrato making her easily accessible to those unfamiliar with the genre, as well as being incredibly pleasing to classical lovers. There are few singers who can sound equally as comfortable singing a quirky 20th Century song as they do singing early music, but Bonney has ... more

When you think of female opera singers, chances are you get an image in your head of a 20 stone monster wearing a Viking helmet and shattering glass as she screeches a note only audible to the neighbourhood cats. But luckily this stereotype is becoming very outdated as singers like Barbara Bonney bring a fresh sound to classical singing. Bonney has a refreshing lightness and silvery tone to her soprano voice, but unlike singers like Emma Kirkby who specialise in early music, her voice possesses a lovely warmth.

For anyone unfamiliar with Classical vocal music, Bonney’s voice provides the perfect introduction, with her light and clear tone, simplicity and absence of wide vibrato making her easily accessible to those unfamiliar with the genre, as well as being incredibly pleasing to classical lovers. There are few singers who can sound equally as comfortable singing a quirky 20th Century song as they do singing early music, but Bonney has this tremendous versatility. Her singing also displays an intelligence often lacking in modern singers, giving her songs a huge emotional impact.

‘The Radiant Voice of Barbara Bonney’ reads like a ‘greatest hits’ album, filled with individual gems which reflect the success which she has had in her professional life. The track listing flows roughly chronologically (in terms of when the works were composed) which works well, giving the listener a sort of mini tour of the history of music. There is a rich variety of music on this album, putting early music alongside operatic arias and 20th Century songs, and the accompaniments also lend a fantastic variety, ranging to the lute accompanied Dowland song, to the full symphony orchestra used in the operatic arias.

The album begins with a selection of early music, including ‘Come again’ by Dowland, ‘Dido’s Lament’ from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and ‘Heute noch, lieber vater’ from Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Bonney demonstrates superbly that early music doesn’t have to be lacking in emotion- her Dido is subtly drawn but full of pain and tragedy.

The Alleluia from Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate shows an impressive technical flexibility and skill, with Bonney making the scalic coloratura runs sound ridiculously easy (and having sung the piece I can assure you that they are not!). But for me it is in the Mozart operatic arias that Bonney really shines. She has the perfect voice for Mozart opera- light but warm and full of personality. Her ‘Deh vieni non tardar’ from The Marriage of Figaro and ‘Ach ich fuhls’ from The Magic Flute are both sublime, full of lyricism and emotional vulnerability, making it easy to see why her Mozart roles have been so celebrated. The Donezetti ‘Chiedi all’aura lusingiera’ marks a move away from Bonney’s traditional Mozart roles, but the result is a stunning duet with the tenor Gosta Winbergh, which makes a fascinating contrast to the Mozart arias and shows Bonney’s versatility.

But Bonney has always described herself as ‘a lieder singer who happens to do opera’ and this is reflected in her superb rendition of Schumann’s ‘Mondnacht’. Her lightness of tone ensures that her voice seems to float effortlessly above the gorgeous piano (played by Vladimir Ashkenazy) and she perfectly captures the rapt stillness that characterises this song. Bonney has the ability to ‘colour’ different words in different ways, illustrating why her voice suits the German lieder genre so well. It’s just a shame more lieder isn’t included on this album!

This is immediately followed by Greig’s ‘Solveig’s Song’ from Peer Gynt. This much-performed song has a rich and weighty orchestral accompaniment and Bonney’s lyrical voice has a haunting tone and simplicity which lends itself perfectly to the sad character of Solveig. I was surprised at Bonney’s success with the two Sibelius songs, initially fearing that they would be too ‘big’ for her voice, but she has a striking expressiveness here and the gorgeous virtuoso piano accompaniment by Antonio Pappano reinforces this sense of drama.

And we even have a bit of Andrew Lloyd Webber with the inclusion of Pie Jesu featuring Anthony Way. And no matter what your opinion of Lloyd Webber, there’s no denying that this is an example of his most gorgeous song writing.

The recordings are all of a consistently high standard and in fact the only downside to this album is that there are no translations included, something which, in foreign language recordings, is so essential to the English speaking listener’s understanding of the music.

This really is a must-have study aid for any young soprano, and a wonderfully accessible album which provides snippets of the best of her other recordings. I have listened to this too many times to count and still fail to tire of it and, unlike many other classical albums, the sheer variety of different genres ensures that it can be listened to in one sitting without becoming repetitive or dull! Highly recommended for all music lovers and especially as an introduction to classical vocal music.
 

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