An Inviting Grab Bag of New Stars

ELINA GARANCE
'Aria Cantilena'

You may not know the name of Elina Garanca, but, if you're at all interested in singing, you will. She is a young Latvian mezzo-soprano, and a star in Europe. Ms. Garanca will make her splash here in due course.

She has an attractive, rather dark voice, and loads of technique. A physical beauty, she will be welcome on any stage. And she is a compelling actress, as I have seen at the Salzburg Festival: Her performances as Sesto, in Mozart's "Clemenza di Tito," have been memorable. She is also a famed Charlotte, in Massenet's "Werther."

Her latest album is called "Aria Cantilena" (and is available on Deutsche Grammophon). It is an inviting grab bag, containing several languages and styles. Ms. Garanca said she was "thinking of the international public by including repertoire in Italian, French, German, and Spanish, because I want everyone who picks up the CD to feel that they are being spoken to." Oh, baby, as long as you have music — you can speak to them.

She begins with Chapí's "Hijas del Zebedeo," made famous by the late Victoria de los Angeles. Ms. Garanca sings it more darkly than the beloved prima donna, but she has the requisite fire, and she clearly enjoys the Spanish language — who doesn't? She also sings a piece in Catalan by Montsalvatge: "Madrigal sobra una tema popular." Victoria made that one famous, too.

The French repertoire is represented on this disc by Charlotte's Letter Scene — and also by two fetching arias of Offenbach. Ms. Garanca sings another pair of arias, these by Rossini. And they showcase her serious technique and ample personality.

The disc ends with the Trio and Duet from Strauss's "Rosenkavalier," in which Ms. Garanca is joined by two high-class friends: Adrianne Pieczonka, the Canadian soprano, and Diana Damrau, the German soprano. The album is conducted by Fabio Luisi, leading the Staatskapelle Dresden. A range of repertoire, intelligently and stylishly sung — an old-fashioned vocal anthology, to be cheered by all who love singing.

JEAN-YVES THIBUADET
‘Opera Without Words'

Jean-Yves Thibaudet loves singing — as much as anybody. The French pianist so loves the voice and opera, he has appeared at the Met in Giordano's "Fedora," playing — literally playing — the part of the pianist Boleslao Lazinski. And his latest album (on Decca) is called "Opera Without Words." It contains 10 transcriptions of operatic pieces. And this album is so good — so tasteful, so dazzling, so musical — I hardly have the words to praise it.

Mr. Thibaudet has endless technique, but he also has great songfulness. He is an extraordinary thing: a virtuoso-poet, or a poetvirtuoso. An album like this could easily be kitschy, campy, trashy — but not from Mr. Thibaudet. He is a consummate musician, allowing no silliness. And these transcriptions always remain pianistic. What I mean is, they may be borrowed from opera – inspired by opera — but Mr. Thibaudet never forgets that they are piano pieces.

The transcriptions have been fashioned by a variety of composers, or adventurous pianists, and they include one by Percy Grainger. The Australian idol treated one of the pieces I mentioned in the Garanca review, above: He calls it "Ramble on the Last Love Duet in ‘Der Rosenkavalier.'"

If I could single out just one performance on this disc, it would be of Marietta's Lied from Korngold's "Tote Stadt," transcribed by Mr. Thibaudet himself, along with the composer Randy Kerber. It breathes Old Vienna; it is almost unbearable in its nostalgia. The most ambitious transcription is by the late pianist-composer Yvar Mikhashoff. This is a "Portrait of Madame Butterfly," or "an operatic sonata-fantasy on themes of Puccini in four parts" — fantastic.

And Mr. Thibaudet ends his disc with Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" (transcribed by Louis Brassin, a mid-19th-century composer). Can you believe it's not bombastic, but simply exciting? It is.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is about as good a transcription album as you will ever hear. And you will be hard pressed to find better piano playing of any kind. Mr. Thibaudet joins Rachmaninoff, Godowsky, Horowitz, and other illustrious forebears who have exalted the transcription. Frankly, I am awestruck. You should be, too.

YUNDI LI
Piano concertos of Liszt and Chopin

Is there room for two 24-year-old Chinese pianistic phenoms? There had better be: Yundi Li is Lang Lang's exact contemporary, and he records for the same label — Deutsche Grammophon. His latest CD is his first concerto CD, offering Liszt's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat, and Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor. In the Liszt, Mr. Li is smoking and sparkling. In the Chopin, he is similar, although some of this music could use more richness and elegance.

We should not dwell too long on a mere CD, however, when we can hear Mr. Li play this music — at least the Liszt — in Carnegie Hall. The date is March 5, and the orchestra is the Leipzig Gewandhaus, conducted by Riccardo Chailly. The orchestra and conductor on the disc are the Philharmonia and Sir Andrew Davis. This is an impressive CD by a pianist who need not, and must not, be known as "the other one."