What You Hear Isn’t What You’ll Get

If you’re surprised to see the same soprano singing the disparate roles of Pamina and the Queen of the Night, that’s the point. Dessay’s album argues that Mozart didn’t make the vocal classifications we do today. For him, a soprano was a soprano was a ... well, maybe.

Dessay is excellent in the pyrotechnics of the Queen (and other virtuosic roles), but less persuasive in the fuller lyricism demanded of Pamina (and similar heroines).

Graham brings a rich and creamy (occasionally underpitched) mezzo to music by Mozart and Gluck. But there is something ultimately tiring about her disc. It’s as if beauty of tone trumps all emotional expression. (Texts but no translations, just summaries of the dramatic situation.)

Sprightly tempos, short phrases and dry, vibrato-less string tone are the orchestral norm, whether led by Louis Langree or Harry Bicket.