This is an ambitious recital from Sumi Jo, who is developing into one of the most accomplished sopranos of our time. Looking at the list of arias and scenes, is it wise to juxtapose such soprano leggiero material as Nanetta’s aria from Falstaff and the celebratory waltz from the brothers Ricci, Crispino e la comare, with dramatic items such as “Bel raggio” from Semiramide and the Mad Scene from I puritani?
Sumi Jo doesn’t have any difficulty with the notes, or the somewhat elaborate decorations. What is missing from the opening Semiramide aria, as well as the chorus, is that sense of majesty that the Babylonian Queen must have. Contrasting it with Callas’s earliest studio recording of this aria (“Callas Rarities”), recently issued for the first time on EMI, is like two sides of a coin. Callas is strained beyond her limits by the range of the coloratura, but immediately establishes a personality, and puts meaning to the words, even suggesting something of the Queen’s sense of guilt. Sumi Jo sails through the whole thing, tossing off the staccato notes, trills and leaps without a moment’s trouble – but she just sounds jolly and happy. One cannot her singing this role on stage, but perhaps I’m wrong.
La sonnambula is much better; this is a role that suits her and in the recitative she sounds like the vulnerable, slightly confused character that Amina should seem. Sumi Jo has amazing breath control, and her ability to sustain very long lines leads her into a slightly ‘dreamy’ manner in which the voice becomes so instrumental that one loses all sense of the words. Elsewhere her diction is very clear. There is a machine-gun quality about some of her fast runs, but it’s such a pleasure to hear a soprano who can really sing this sort of music that criticism is overtaken by her sense of enjoyment.
I wonder why she has chosen to include Amenaide’s aria from Tancredi, having already recorded the part complete and very well (Naxos, 11/95) – this is clearly a role she relishes. As with Semiramide, it’s difficult to imagine her tackling Elvira in Puritani, let alone Violetta, well though she sings these extracts. So, summing up – Linda, Amina, Nanetta, Annetta – “Si”; Semiramide, Elvira, Violetta – “No”. This leaves Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi and this is the role in which perhaps she would make the surest impact; the scene is given complete with Bellini’s beautiful orchestral introduction with horn solo. Spirited playing from the ECO under Giuliano Carella.'