ARIAS BY GOUNOD, MEYERBEER, CHARPENTIER, BIZET, STRAUSS,...

ARIAS BY GOUNOD, MEYERBEER, CHARPENTIER, BIZET, STRAUSS, PUCCINI. Montserrat Caballe, soprano; assorted orchestras and conductors. DG 415 4346-1. This survey of Caballe’s recitals from the DG vaults makes a dandy budget reissue and an excellent introduction to the Spanish soprano at the zenith of her career in the mid-1970s. The final scene from “Salome” amazes with its youthful sensuality, even if Caballe can’t always dominate the febrile accompaniment of Leonard Bernstein and the Orchestre National de France. The French arias glow without really scintillating. Caballe finds a passable trill for Marguerite and Juliette, but her generous temperament and mellifluous instrument can’t disguise the fact that her voice is too weighty for this material. A radiant “Depuis le jour” finds the artist at her best.