The second recital of Mozart arias and songs for soprano to have come my way in recent months, Sumi Jo’s record naturally recalls Renee Fleming’s and suggests a few comparisons as a way into it. Both include the aria from ll re pastore, “L’amero, saro costante”, and one ‘hears’ a contrast, mentally, without playing the records: Fleming’s tone will be warmer, rounder, Jo’s will be brighter, the style a shade more refined, the line a degree more even. In fact, as one listens (but now with the ears) the difference is less clear-cut. Both singers give delightful performances, and if a contrast claims attention it lies rather more in the instrumental work and perhaps that of the conductors. The violin obbligato is played on this new record by Paul Barritt with sweeter tone than that of his counterpart, and the movement of the aria as a whole has a more relaxed, beneficent feeling about it. In “Ach, ich fuhl’s” (Die Zauberflote) Mackerras, conducting for Fleming, takes an unusually fast tempo, while Kenneth Montgomery, still quick compared with what became the norm (Beecham, Furtwangler, Klemperer, Bohm, Karajan), avoids the suspicion of didacticism. Interestingly, it is Jo who forfeits elegance in the difficult high run on “Herzen”, while Fleming, at the faster speed, uses her technique to more secure advantage. In Nehmt meinen Dank comparison focuses more exclusively upon the singers, for here Fleming is distinctly the more expressive: warmer (“bleibt immer dar”), more responsive (“so feurig, als mein Herz ihn sprich”).
Delights abound, however, and one would not wish to be without either disc. Sumi Jo, of course, has the apt Susanna voice, and her “Deh vieni” is delicious. In Vorrei spiegarvi the delicate charm is winningly captured, with a beautifully judged interplay between voice and instruments. “Martern aller Arten” has its scales and broad intervals clearly articulated, with plenty of spirit and never a harsh note. There is a lovely middle-range tone in Voi avete un cor fedele and a splendid technical mastery making easy work of the showpiece Ah, se in ciel written for Aloysia Lange. Indeed, throughout the recital this lovely singer shows herself a worthy exponent of the tradition handed on from Mozart’s own time.'