Neil Shicoff.(Neil Shicoff Live)(Sound Recording Review)

[] "NEIL SHICOFF LIVE" With Chernov. Arias and duets by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Gounod, Halevy, Puccini and Bizet. Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Luisi; Chaslin; Viotti. No text or translation. Orfeo C 561 031A (Qualiton, dist.)

Neil Shicoff is such a presence among the artists of his generation that one thinks of his discography as being far more extensive than it is. It is amazing to realize that this is, according to the accompanying booklet, the tenor's first official recital disc--and even this disc is taken from live concert performances, rather than recorded in a studio. The selections were performed between 1996 and 2001, with a noticeably fresher sound in the earlier excerpts and the more recent performances perhaps a bit thicker and darker of tone, but loaded with vitality.

In "Ma se m'e forza perderti," from Un Ballo in Maschera, the tenor immediately creates a sense of the character's heartbreak in the recitative. Verdi's markings are carefully observed in the aria, and given emotional truth. The recitative and aria "Quando le sere al placido," from Luisa Miller, are powerfully presented as well. Verdi is also represented by two duets, in which Shicoff is joined by Vladimir Chernov. The first, "Solenne in quest'ora," from La Forza del Destino, is nicely shaded by the tenor, less so by the baritone, while the second, "Din che nell'alma infondere," from Don Carlo, finds both singers committed, delivering the goods and blending handsomely.

Shicoff is a justly famous Lensky, and his aria, "Kuda, kuda," is sensitively sung and appropriately haunting. Werther's "Pourquoi me reveiller" is filled with angst--a Shicoff specialty--and most effective. In Romeo's "Ah, leve-toi soleil," Shicoff uses Gounod's markings, and creates some of his own, to highlight lines such as "Brillent au firmament," and to taper the ends of phrases elegantly. One of the more ...