Felicity Lott & Ann Murray: Sweet Power...

Felicity Lott & Ann Murray: Sweet Power of Song. Duets and Solos by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Berlioz, Gounod, Chausson, Saint-Saens, Faure; Graham Johnson, piano. EMI 7 49930 2 (compact disc). This set, reminiscent of an album made a few years ago with Judith Blegen and Frederica von Stade, takes us into the once-popular duet form that reached its peak during the Victorian era. The repertory here is mostly fresh, and the voices blend captivatingly. Lott’s soprano occasionally scoops to top notes, but otherwise the vocalism of both women is limpidly sensitive. Especially charming and witty is Murray’s way with “English Bulls,” one of Beethoven’s Irish Songs. The French duets reveal some real treasures, such as Gounod’s “D’un coeur qui t’aime” and “L’Arithmetique,” sung in its original French and repeated in the English version he made while in London. Chausson’s “Reveil” is of the same ecstatically lyric quality as the composer’s “Poeme de l’amour et de la Mer,” while Saint-Saens’ “El Desdichado” is a bolero on a Spanish text. At the piano, Johnson is as equal a partner as the women.