Aigul Akhmetshina: Aigul
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Label: Decca
Cat No: 4870262
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 26th July 2024
Contents
Works
I Capuleti e i Montecchi » Ascolta! Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio ...La tremenda ultrice spada
» Tu sola, o mia Giulietta ...Deh! tu, bell'anima
Carmen » Carreau! Pique! La mort!
» L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
» Melons! Coupons! (Act 3)
» Pres des remparts de Seville 'Seguidilla' (Act 1)
Werther » Va! Laisse couler mes larmes (Air des larmes)
» Werther! Qui m'aurait dit
Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) » Io sono docile
» Una voce poco fa
La Cenerentola (Cinderella) » Nacqui all' affanno ...Non piu mesta
The Nightingale (orch. KY Rakhimov)Artists
Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)Freddie De Tommaso (tenor)
Elizabeth Boudreault (soprano)
Kezia Bienek (mezzo-soprano)
Apollo Voices
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor
Daniele RustioniWorks
I Capuleti e i Montecchi » Ascolta! Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio ...La tremenda ultrice spada
» Tu sola, o mia Giulietta ...Deh! tu, bell'anima
Carmen » Carreau! Pique! La mort!
» L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
» Melons! Coupons! (Act 3)
» Pres des remparts de Seville 'Seguidilla' (Act 1)
Werther » Va! Laisse couler mes larmes (Air des larmes)
» Werther! Qui m'aurait dit
Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) » Io sono docile
» Una voce poco fa
La Cenerentola (Cinderella) » Nacqui all' affanno ...Non piu mesta
The Nightingale (orch. KY Rakhimov)Artists
Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)Freddie De Tommaso (tenor)
Elizabeth Boudreault (soprano)
Kezia Bienek (mezzo-soprano)
Apollo Voices
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor
Daniele RustioniAbout
Aigul Akhmetshina is the fiery young mezzo taking the opera world by storm. In her debut album Aigul, the illustrious young opera singer Aigul Akhmetshina finds her voice in the role of Carmen and traces a path through her own remarkable journey. Her story is one of determination and perseverance against the odds, starting in a rural village in the mountains of Bashkortostan. She left home aged 14 to pursue her singing career. Despite facing rejection from a conservatory in Moscow, where she was told she lacked the right voice and appearance, at the age of 27 Aigul has already etched her name in history. She has become the youngest artist ever to take on the title role of Bizet’s Carmen at both the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera, both of whom have created new productions around her. Performing the role all over the world, Aigul feels an affinity with the character.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Bizet: Carmen: Habanera ‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’
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2Bizet: Carmen: Seguidilla ‘Près des remparts de Séville’
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3Bizet: Carmen: Card Scene ‘Mêlons ! Coupons !’ –
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4Bizet: Carmen: ‘Carreau ! Pique !’
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5Massenet: Werther: Letter Scene ‘Werther ! Werther ! Qui m’aurait dit la place ...’
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6Massenet: Werther: ‘Va ! laisse couleur mes larmes’
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7Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi: ‘Ascolta. Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio...’ –
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8Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi: ‘La tremenda ultrice spada’
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9Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi: ‘Tu sola, o mia Giulietta... Deh! tu, bellanima’
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10Rossini: La Cenerentola: ‘Nacqui allaffanno e al pianto’ –
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11Rossini: La Cenerentola: ‘Non più mesta’
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12Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia: ‘Una voce poco fa’ –
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13Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia: ‘Io sono docile’
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14The Nightingale (trad. Bashkir, arr. and orch. KY Rakhimov)
Europadisc Review
It’s a daring debut solo recital disc that opens with the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen. But that bravery pays off when you have mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina in the title-role. Still only 27 years old, she has already garnered superlatives in several productions of Bizet’s masterpiece (most recently at Covent Garden), and at the time of writing is about to undertake the role again in a new production at Glyndebourne. In the notes accompanying this new album – her first under a contract with Decca, titled simply ‘Aigul’ – Akhmetshina talks of feeling ‘a strong connection’ with the character, particularly her yearning for freedom and her inner pain. Freedom might seem the opposite of the discipline needed to master such a formidable role, but paradoxically the technique behind Ms Akhmetshina’s rich, velvety voice allows the freedom to evoke both a fierce independence and an underlying vulnerability.
In the opening Habanera, there’s just the right degree of sensuality in the swooping portamenti, and this Carmen cuts an imposing figure against the supporting chorus provided by Apollo Voices, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Rustioni (who also conducted Akhmetshina in the same opera at the New York Met earlier this year). Even more compelling is the Act 1 Seguidilla, where the plushness of her chest register as well as the brightness of her upper notes is fully on display, and Freddie De Tommaso contributes a ringing cameo as Don José. Akhmetshina’s tonal security is never at the expense of the drama, and her French diction is admirable.
There’s further drama in the Card Scene from Act 3. Elisabeth Boudreault as Frasquita and Kezia Bienek as Mercédès provide a bright tonal contrast with Carmen’s fated tones, which rise magnificently over the orchestra in her solo. Her closing line, ‘Encor ! encore ! Toujours la mort !’ sends shivers down the spine. If you’ve yearned for a Carmen with the majestic tone of Jessye Norman but with a keen sense of dramatic engagement, you certainly need to hear this performance.
After these Carmen excerpts, there are samples of other roles that Ms Akhmetshina has sung on stage. Staying initially with French repertoire, she turns to the character of Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, and both she and the orchestra under Rustioni delve deep into the work’s melancholic atmosphere. Here the velvety vocal timbre comes into its own in an impassioned delivery of the Letter Scene, the Wagnerian seriousness only momentarily lifted by the image of children playing happily, to lively orchestral accompaniment. Charlotte’s subsequent prayer for spiritual aid, ‘Va ! laisse couler mes larmes’ (its introduction briefly echoing Philippe’s similarly ‘Elle ne m’aime pas !’ in Verdi’s Don Carlos) is utterly heartrending.
Thus far, the disc has demonstrated Akhmetshina’s gifts in French dramatic roles; but she also has the vocal flexibility to tackle the Italian bel canto repertoire, as she shows in a thrilling account of Romeo’s spirited ‘Ascolta. Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio... La tremenda ultrice spada’ from Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi, with rousing support from the male chorus. The magnificent lower range is again in evidence, but so are the gleaming, agile and incisive upper registers, with a gripping ascent at the close. Contrasting emotions come with Romeo’s Tomb Scene lament, ‘Tu sola, o mia Giulietta’. The carpet of sound under the voice is not perhaps quite as gentle or seamless as it could be, but it’s sung with moving tenderness, and the bloom is enhanced (as throughout the disc) by the sensitive recording in St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead.
The mood lightens with two Rossini roles that Ms Akhmetshina has made her own. First, Angelina, the title character in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and an account of the closing rondo ‘Nacqui all ’ affanno e al pianto… Non più mesta’ sung with fearless agility and flair throughout its wide range. It’s enough to cheer even the most flagging spirits, and reveals a considerable talent for this repertoire, equal to such illustrious predecessors as Berganza, Gheorghiu and Bartoli. Akhmetshina brings a similar combination of vocal command and expressive sparkle to a fizzing performance of Rosina’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ from Il barbiere di Siviglia. As with all the other excerpts here, one longs to hear her in complete recordings of these works; for the time being, however, this is a striking showcase for her wide-ranging talents.
Aigul Akhmetshina hails from Bashkortostan, a territory between the Volga river and the Urals, and part of Russia since the 16th century. But it has its own distinct language and culture, to which the singer pays tribute in the disc’s closing track. Kamil Rakhimov’s arrangement of the Bashkir folksong The Nightingale has more than a whiff of the luxuriant textures of Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, and the orchestra gives sumptuous support to the voice. Singing in her native tongue, Akhmetshina’s voice is expansive, evocative of wide, open vistas and distant skylines. It provides a touching and very personal end to a very special album. This is an already vastly accomplished singer to listen out for in the years to come!
Reviews
Now, following a much-publicised signing to Decca, we have [Aigul Akhmetshina’s] debut album, and a fine achievement it is in many ways. Carmen, inevitably, is integral to it, though the programme essentially summarises her career to date, as well as reminding us that there is more to her than Bizet’s heroine, effective though she unquestionably is as the latter. ... She has a superb voice, no question, warm and even in tone, admirably agile, with a full, effortless top, and a tangy lower register. ... It all adds up to a fine recital, and a most auspicious debut. Tim AshleyGramophone September 2024
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