Carnaval! - French Coloratura Arias

The Penguin Guide has been co-branding CDs with Universal Classics, and this has proven a great way to get some key ex-Polygram titles back into the catalog that were unavailable since the company changed hands back in 2001. Penguin has instituted The Rosette Collection, a series of discs that were at one time or another awarded the coveted Rosette in the Penguin Guide, which means the editors consider such a disc to be the "best" for a particular work or genre. So far the series runs to 12 discs, and in this case the Rosette goes to soprano Sumi Jo for her disc of French coloratura arias, Carnaval!, which originally made its bow back in 1994.
Nineteenth century French opera, outside of the perennials Carmen, Romeo et Juliette, and Faust, has largely wound up having to take a back seat to Italian and German opera of the same era. Then along comes Sumi Jo, a glamorous, golden-toned, and exciting soprano whose realm of expertise happens to be in nineteenth century French opera. Rather than force her to sing Wagner or Verdi, certainly it is best to showcase Jo in the music that she is best at, even if names such as Ambroise Thomas, André Messager, Michael Balfe, and Adolphe Adam do not exactly seem to motivate music lovers to take flight to the nearest record store or concert hall. Make no mistake about it, Jo is simply incredible in this music -- light, airy, and able to scale some of the highest, most treacherous passagework in opera without the slightest sign of strain or discomfort. Every pitch is true -- at the end of "Le jour sous le soleil bèni," Jo's voice moves up into the stratosphere and just sits there until the end of the piece, without wavering in the slightest. Jo is wonderfully expressive in the slower arias; the "Couplets de Mysoli" from Félicien David's La perle du Brésil is usually done as a cheesy soprano showpiece, but here Jo puts it over as the piquant gem that it is. The accompaniment, provided by Richard Bonynge and the English Chamber Orchestra, is lively and spontaneous, and the occasional instrumental solos heard in these pieces are played beautifully.
None of the contents have changed from the original release except that now the notes are only in one language, English, although the French/English translations of the aria texts have been retained. But the title of the disc has been changed to the rather less celebratory French Coloratura Arias and the former front cover has been shrunk down to a size roughly two inches square. Apparently Penguin feels that it is more interesting to look at an ugly brown border and the sublimated background of a blooming rose rather than a well-taken picture of the most beautiful soprano to come along since Maria Callas. Such is the cost of co-branding, but at least now the disc is available at mid-price. If you missed this one the first time, there's no good reason to pass it up now.