Bryn Terfel Sings Favorites

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The title of this CD tells it all. Here is one popular classic after another, some folk or traditional, some operatic, some religious or inspirational, some pop. The result in the throat/mind/sensibility of any other singer might be soupy, sappy, or simply uninteresting, but Bryn Terfel--he of the rolling bass-baritone voice who can smoothly deliver notes and phrases at any dynamic level--turns this generous, somewhat sentimental recital into something beautiful and special. After a rousing "Toreador Song" from Carmen, sung with just the right weight (most baritones find it too low, most basses too high) comes a ravishing version of "Shenandoah"; a fine Welsh song is followed by the stunning duet from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, with Andrea Bocelli singing the tenor part gleamingly and Terfel considerately underplaying his hand. And so it continues through Brahms' Lullaby and Schubert's Ave Maria; the "Love Theme from Titanic" sung with great restraint; renditions of "Danny Boy" and "Home Sweet Home" which are just beautiful; the spirituals "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "At the River," slightly anachronistic but still effective; the gluey "If I Can Help Somebody"; and a few more. It's amazing that Terfel can bring such variety to material which is temperamentally so similar. Some of the arrangements are a bit sticky and overdone, but overall, this disc is a beauty for all seasons. It will make a lovely gift to music lovers of all types. --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Couplets: 'Votre Toast Je Peu Vous Le Rendre' (Toreador Song)
Shenandoah
Bugeillio'r Gwenith Gwyn
'C'etait Le Soir' - 'Aufondu Du Temple Saint'
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Danny Boy
Bella Notte
Goin' Home
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Home Sweet Home
Ave Maria D 839
Il Mio Cure Va
At The River
None But The Lonley Heart
If I Can Help Somebody
Wiegenlied
Abide With Me
Lazybones

Amazon.com

The title of this CD tells it all. Here is one popular classic after another, some folk or traditional, some operatic, some religious or inspirational, some pop. The result in the throat/mind/sensibility of any other singer might be soupy, sappy, or simply uninteresting, but Bryn Terfel--he of the rolling bass-baritone voice who can smoothly deliver notes and phrases at any dynamic level--turns this generous, somewhat sentimental recital into something beautiful and special. After a rousing "Toreador Song" from Carmen, sung with just the right weight (most baritones find it too low, most basses too high) comes a ravishing version of "Shenandoah"; a fine Welsh song is followed by the stunning duet from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, with Andrea Bocelli singing the tenor part gleamingly and Terfel considerately underplaying his hand. And so it continues through Brahms' Lullaby and Schubert's Ave Maria; the "Love Theme from Titanic" sung with great restraint; renditions of "Danny Boy" and "Home Sweet Home" which are just beautiful; the spirituals "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "At the River," slightly anachronistic but still effective; the gluey "If I Can Help Somebody"; and a few more. It's amazing that Terfel can bring such variety to material which is temperamentally so similar. Some of the arrangements are a bit sticky and overdone, but overall, this disc is a beauty for all seasons. It will make a lovely gift to music lovers of all types. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Voice, Cheap Music.......2006-04-27

Bryn Terfel sings everything beautifully. The difficulty with this CD is that some of the music is extremely tawdry.
"The Lord is My Shepherd" and "Abide With Me" are very nicely sung, although the arrangements (like almost all hymn arrangements) leave a good bit to be desired.
The big surprise was to hear him sing "Lazybones" to perfection.
But on the whole it is far better to hear him sing music whose quality matches that of his voice.

You are all idiots.......2006-04-04

Bryn is aweful. This CD is horrific. Listen to real opera you morons. Listening to Bryn is like pouring sugar down your throat until you vomit. Does anyone know what an "operatic baritone" really sounds like. Bryn is the emproer with no clothes and you all are fools.

Bryn Terfel, the Magnificent, sings 'Something for Everyone'.......2005-06-28

Surely one of the most beautiful baritone voices on the opera stage and in the recital hall today is that of Welshman Bryn Terfel. He is one of those rare artists who has a magnificent voice, intense musicality, and magical stage presence. Terfel could sing the telephone book and make it beautiful.

And sadly that is what this album resembles: the choice of songs and the arrangements and friends with whom he elects to perform raises some concern about his artistic integrity. Having purchased this CD based on hearing 'Toreador Song' from 'Carmen' - clearly the finest, most highly nuanced performance of this famous aria ever sung! - this listener expected a concert of similar arias. Wrong! This is like a summer night at Hollywood Bowl with bits and pieces of all manner of songs, some tasteful, others less so, but whatever Terfel sings it is good to hear his voice.

Some of the more successful tracks include 'Shenandoah', 'Danny Boy', Brahms' 'Lullaby', and a Welsh tune 'Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn' sung in Welsh. But then Terfel opts to sing Tchaikovsky's 'None but the lonely heart' in English rather than Russian, a Disney song (from Lady and the Tramp) in Italian, and for some reason includes duets with a soprano by the sole name of Sissel ('Ave Maria'), an awful pairing with Andrea Bocelli for The Pearl Fishers duet (terrible to compare these two polarized voices!), and some choral and jazz ditties. Whew!

If you can get past the pick and save repertoire here and just relax with Terfel's artistry you are in for a treat. Not for the purists, but definitely a find for the 'crossover crowd'. Grady Harp, June 05

Bryn Terfel's voice is magnificent, this album superb........2005-05-05

I am hoping every possible purchaser of this album will read this review. Bryn Terfel is a singer whose voice has been touched by God. Rich, powerful, masculine, elegant, emotionally moving. His taste in music is varied and wonderful. I listen to him more often than any other vocalist in my vast vocal music collection. Therefore, I get more value out of his CD's than any other I own. If you love great vocal music sung by one of the greatest baritones of all time, buy this CD immediately. It will quickly become one of your treasured favorites. And Mr. Terfel, please know that your voice touches people all around the world. Thank you for the great music and inspiration, Sir.

Popular favorites sung by a fine concert baritone-bass.......2005-04-20

First of all, we have to recognize that Bryn Terfel is one helluva fine concert/operatic baritone with a huge, powerful, and beautiful voice. (I think any other assessment must be based on nit-picking and misses the forest for the trees.)

In the present program we may wonder whether Terfel's particular (and enormous) talent is well matched to the popular selections chosen. Overall, I say yes: Terfel gives fine and generally convincing performances of this widely varied program--and there are precious few (if any) who could do better.

Let's take a look at what's here:

On the famous toreador song from Bizet's "Carmen" Terfel gives a very fine, operatic rendition of the bull-fighter's swaggering, macho aria. His diction in French is faultless and his singing style unreproachable. What more do you want?

In "Shenandoah" Terfel takes on an American folksong, and here is hardly in his home territory. He sings it well, as a concert artist, and perhaps a bit more dramatically than necessary. His pronunciation of American English is very good--except that he's deceived by the "ss" in Missouri and does not give us the "z" sound which every American would. The use of the pipes by Neil Martin adds a lovely, wistful touch to this sentimental bit of lovesick nostagia.

The tender Welsh lovesong is sung in a fine concertish style, but manages to be quite intimate and convincing anyway. Terfel's pronunciation of the (South Wales?) language is perfect, as far as I can detect, and should probably not be taken for granted in this day when English dominates. The harp--mainstay of Welsh folk music--is welcome here as played by the expert fingers of Catrin Finch.

Bizet's well-known Pearl Fishers' duet is operatic territory, and Terfel shines here. Bocelli offers a warm and appealing, though smaller, tenor voice to the combination and the two do a good job overall. Terfel's French is again impeccable.

The lovely setting of the 23rd psalm by Goodall is a welcome bit of church music and the soloist-with-chorus arrangement puts Terfel into a familiar idiom, which he--and the London Voices--make the most of. It's a fine performance and will remind listeners of "The Vicar of Dibley" program on PBS, for which the hymn serves as themesong.

Danny Boy was, I believe, originally in English, though it is one of the best-loved Irish folksongs, so we can't fault Terfel for not singing it in Irish. He sings it well, in spite of its demanding range, and communicates the sad and longing tenderness a father feels for his son about to go off to battle. Terfel's sweet, pianissimo ending is gorgeous, impressive, and most apt.

I don't particularly like the song "Bella Notte," so I won't say much, except that it seems well presented. "Going Home" is performed as a concert piece which owes much more to Dvorak than to the Afro-American spiritual from which it is reportedly derived. Even so, Terfel manages a quite convincing southern American dialect. In the same mood, more or less, we get the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," which Terfel and the London Voices bring off well, though not at all in the way a Black church choir would do it.

I won't take space to describe each of the following tracks, as I think the foregoing gives a pretty good idea of what to expect. The folksongs are not what a purist might want in the way of homespun simplicity--they are prettied up in artistic renditions. The concert pieces are very well done and leave little to be desired.

I will comment on only two more: I was not overly happy with the Brahms lullaby ("Wiegenlied"), because it is a bit too dramatic and artsy in style where it should be utterly simple. Still, we have to give T. credit for his excellent German pronunciation and his fine, if not cribside, style of singing.

In "Lazybones" Terfel gives us a thoroughly charming and delightfully bluesy performance of a Hoagy Carmichael song. Against all odds, it shows a warm understanding and affection for this idiom so alien to the hills and valleys of T's Welsh home. I defy anyone not to be charmed and delighted by this piece.

A strong commendation is in order for Chris Hazell's remarkably fine arrangements of most of these works, and the excellence of the performances by the accompanying groups. This is a musically first-class production!

The liner notes are generous, with song texts and photos of the participants in this recording. It is definitely up to Deutsche Grammophon's high standards!

If you like the pieces presented here and would like to hear them performed beautifully by first-class artists in fine arrangements, you should get this recording. With over 74 minutes of music, you'll be getting your money's worth several times over!