49.00 PLN

CD:

Nr kat.: PR89600
Label  : PREISER (Austria)

AllMusic Review by Uncle Dave Lewis [-] Every vocalist has his or her special area of endeavor, which is another way of saying that no singer can sing everything. Soprano Ninon Vallin, though remembered first and foremost as a singer of French opera and song, came pretty close to the ideal of an all-purpose singer. She was magnificent in her chosen field of specialty, but also quite good in Italian and German opera; in late career, Vallin even sang some popular songs on French radio. While the Preiser disc, Lebendige Vergangenheit: Ninon Vallin, does not go into her pop or Spanish-language material, it does a good job of demonstrating her talents in mainstream opera within the confines of a single disc. These recordings come from the French Odeon and Pathé labels, and the sound throughout is quite good, especially in the selections taken from Odeons, which sport quieter surfaces than the Pathés. The orchestral accompaniments, however, range from just tolerable to out and out awful, an unfortunate by-product of the weak and lazy French orchestral tradition of that day. But Vallin doesn't seem to mind, and neither shall you, as she had one of the most glorious singing voices in history and cuts through the clatter of insouciant strings and faltering winds. Vallin is heard here in a range of material that would make many professional sopranos of the current day envious of the money she must have made being able to sing all these parts, and not necessarily of the repertoire itself. Nevertheless, in the French material she is truly without peer; it is difficult for even a soprano of excellent quality to make arias such as Werther! Werther! Werther! of Massenet stand out on their own, but Vallin makes it sound like the most important music in the world. The recorded output of Ninon Vallin is extensive and the reissue market, so far, has only borne one comprehensive survey, Marston's Ninon Vallin: The Complete Pathé-Art Recordings 1927-1929. While there is some overlap of material between the two, either edition represents Vallin to good effect. Whichever way one decides to go, if the greatest singers of opera past or present are one's passion and Ninon Vallin is an artist whose recordings must be savored, Lebendige Vergangenheit: Ninon Vallin is an excellent place to start.