None but the Lonely Heart, English soprano
Amanda Roocroft's first solo song recital, starts with six songs by Tchaikovsky, moves through five by
Debussy, and concludes with seven by
Strauss. Best known as an opera singer,
Roocroft brings the virtues of an opera singer to her recital: a big voice, a strong tone, and a dramatic delivery. This works in all three sets of songs, but it works better in some sets better than others. In the deeply emotional Tchaikovsky songs,
Roocroft is completely persuasive in putting across the music's acute sensitivity. In the highly sensuous
Debussy songs, she is equally convincing in communicating the music's erotic intensity. But in the emotional and sensuous but more technically difficult and musically intimate
Strauss songs, she cannot entirely modulate her voice for the more personal scale of the songs. Still, for the loveliness of
Roocroft's voice and the attractiveness of her Tchaikovsky and
Debussy, plus the skillful and sensitive accompaniments of pianist
Malcolm Martineau, this 2007 Onyx disc is well worth hearing for fans of vocal music. The digital sound here is a bit close to
Roocroft's voice and a tad distant from
Martineau's piano, but still quite warm and colorful.