‘Lumina’
Samuel Mariño, male soprano; Covent Garden Sinfonia; Ben Palmer, conductor; Jonathan Ware, piano (Decca)
The cover of Samuel Mariño’s new album is not exactly subtle. It shows him in a three-quarter profile, bare from the shoulders up, bathed in light, a display of dewy naturalness. Remember, it seems to say, that he is a male soprano, not a countertenor, which means that his voice naturally sits in a high register. He doesn’t need a falsetto to hit high notes; he was born this way.
That subversion of gendered expectations extends to repertoire. Unlike countertenors, who hew closely to Baroque opera, Mariño also attempts soprano pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries on this album. Many of them are associated with Renée Fleming, lyric soprano par excellence, and her audaciously yet accurately titled 1998 album, “The Beautiful Voice.” For every “Ombra mai fu,” he sings a Rachmaninoff vocalise and a Strauss “Morgen.”
This comparison to Fleming isn’t wise to invite. Mariño’s essential timbre is pretty, a songbird’s coo, penetrating, fluttery and mellifluous. His approach to melody is gentle, even fragile. In the booklet, he calls his sound “alien,” and while that descriptor might be extreme, his voice does convey an otherworldly softness where one expects a soprano’s warmth, thrust and bloom. Unfortunately, Mariño’s sound quickly turns rickety: a shudder of instability in a long line; a hint of tartness in a high note; breathiness perforating his tone; scooping into notes for dramatic effect. Technical shortcomings pile up.
The Covent Garden Sinfonia, conducted by Ben Palmer, and the pianist Jonathan Ware are thoroughly supportive partners, matching Mariño’s sway between mildness and flourish. OUSSAMA ZAHR
Adès: Suite From ‘The Tempest’
Kirill Gerstein, piano; Christian Tetzlaff, violin (Platoon)
The post 5 Classical Music Albums You Can Listen to Right Now appeared first on New York Times.
