FRENCH OPERA ARIAS. Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano; Royal Opera Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate, conductor. EMI 7 49863 2 (compact disc).

As pure sound, the creamy, sumptuous voice of Kiri Te Kanawa is a consistent source of pleasure. She has no technical problems and even sports a decent trill. Here, as usual, she reveals little emotional involvement. Her French is as muddy as her Italian has been, making her reading of the original-text “Don Carlos” aria beside the point. That she can ignore the wrenching music and words of Berlioz’ Marguerite aria, for example, making it little more than a vocalise, is cause for amazement. Otherwise the only signs of life are in the “Manon” excerpts, which show she can be affecting when she chooses to be. Tate’s contribution is as bland as his soprano’s.