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In Regal Splendor

Booboo | London | 11/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
This 1991 concert given by soprano Grace Bumbry with the Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland is a magnificent event. Considered a "local gal" in Lugano where she owns an estate, Bumbry offers some riveting readings of the choicest arias from Italian and French opera, including gems from Forza, Don Carlos, Adriana Lecouvreur, El Cid and Herodiade.



A stunning woman, Bumbry is in very fine voice, singing with that lush, velvety, regal splendor that is her trademark. Passionate, sensitive, delicate, determined, she is captivating, alluring and provocative throughout.



The highlights include the haunting "il est doux, il est bon" from Massenet's Herodiade and Eboli's "O Don Fatale," from Verdi's Don Carlos. Bumbry made the role of Eboli her very own in the 20th century and reminds us that, even at 54, she could take on without trepidation this treacherous aria that catapulted her to fame and render a definitive, poignant and powerful interpretation.



Brava, La Bumbry!"