SIGMUND ROMBERG: “WHEN I GROW TOO OLD...

SIGMUND ROMBERG: “WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM.” Eastman-Dryden Orchestra. Donald Hunsberger, conductor; Teresa Ringholz, soprano. Arabesque Digital Z6540. VICTOR HERBERT: “L’ENCORE.” Eastman-Dryden Orchestra, Hunsberger, conductor; Ringholz, soprano. Arabesque Digital 6547. Romberg’s splendid songs are here performed without the ardor and spirit of abandon that they require. The orchestra is rigid with its rhythm and too fixed in volume. Ringholz’s voice is clear, but her mood is too careful; she rarely takes risks or unleashes her feelings. And others--like Andre Kostelanetz, Beverly Sills and the London Symphony (on Angel SFO-37160)--have shown us what color and power Herbert’s music contains, but in “L’Encore” such qualities are missing. Under Hunsberger, the orchestra, though clean and accurate, rarely modulates the flow of the music, and doesn’t raise the mighty force of volume of which it may be capable. Ringholz chooses a safe middle course in her singing.