What a nice CD! Filled with Life.
It's obvious that there are differences of opinion on Danielle de Niese's CD. But I have recently listened to CDs by three promising young sopranos--de Niese as well as Nicole Cabell and Kate Royal. What stands out for me is the exuberance with which de Niese "attacks" the music. Both Cabell and Royal, to me at any rate, do nice work and show promise--but they both take the music rather carefully.
de Niese is exuberant and sings Handel with some degree of abandon. I find it infectious.
The two pieces from "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" are captivating. "Tornami a vagheggiar" from"Alcina" is sung quite well. I find her voice to be quite attractive and she sings with great agility. Certainly there is room for growth. Her efforts at trills here and there are hardly compelling. She ought to grow in her characterizations and subtleties in the art of singing.
But what a nice start in this CD!
Of the three sopranos at the start of their careers, she seems the most animated, the most willing to "take chances," and the most enchanting. Where her career goes? We cannot say. But this is a very promising harbinger of future accomplishment.