Jennifer Lopez Music:

		List Price: $16.98		Label: Teldec Salesrank: 94551 Released: May 18, 1999
		Our Price: $69.49
		Used Price: $5.88
		Media: Audio CD

Bellezza vocale ~ Beautiful Opera Duets Track Listing:
1. Belle nuit, 6 nuit d'amour: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Hoffmanns Erzählungen) -
2. Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren: Der Rosenkavalier
3. Caro....Bella: Giulio Cesare (Julius Cäsar) -
4. 'Signor, hoffi rinasco': L'incoronazione di Poppea -
5. ' Non ci pentiam': La Clemenza di Tito
6. 'Viens, Malika': Lakmé
7. 'Mira, o Norma': Norma
8. 'Dio, che mi vedi in core': Anna Bolena
9. 'Una nave da guerro': Madame Butterfly - Blumenduett
10. 'Fiero incontrol': Tancredi -
11. 'Sandmann war dal': Hänsel und Gretel - Abendsegen

Editorial Review:
This generous disc of duets for soprano and mezzo-soprano offers a wonderful selection: from the very familiar "Barcarolle" of Tales of Hoffmann, the "Flower Duet" of Madama Butterfly, and the Presentation of the Rose in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier to the more exotic Anna Bolena-Giovanna Seymour duet from Donizetti's opera and Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, there's not a bad piece of music or performance here. To be sure, these two singers do certain things better than others--Hei-Kyung Hong's silvery soprano is not ideal for the emotional outpourings (and low notes) of either Anna Bolena or Butterfly, but it's a perfect fit for Sophie in Rosenkavalier, Cleopatra ,and Poppea. Jennifer Larmore's creamy, agile mezzo is gloriously suave in the "Barcarolle," her Seymour is compelling, and her Adalgisa is stunning, but the voice lacks some of the color necessary for Octavian or Nero. But this is a very high-class, entertaining undertaking, and the program is nicely varied. Love good singing? Here you are. --Robert Levine

Bellezza vocale ~ Beautiful Opera Duets Reviews:
Voices of Angels!
2007-03-08 - Purchased for one song: Viens Malika (lockme), but like the entire cd. Purchased a few more elsewhere and gave as gifts to my opera buff colleagues.

Where Is the Sparkle?
2003-11-11 - I found this CD very disappointing. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I was hoping for lightning, but found only a lightning bug. Something seems slightly OFF in the blending of their voices in some of the tracks. They are not the worst I've heard, but I have not "imported" any of this CD's tracks to my computer's hard drive to listen to while I'm doing other work. Verrett and Caballe are the ones to listen to if you wish to hear how bel canto duets SHOULD be done.

Miss Hong not in her element
2003-01-11 - This recording must have been driven by the Larmore camp. For Miss Larmore, who was in good voice for this recording, the selections were in her fach for most of the CD. However, the same cannot be said for Miss Hong. Especially disappointing was the Anna Bolena. Miss Hong's voice is much too light for this role. Additionally, she chose not the take many of the upper embellishments more suited for her voice. Miss Hong should have researched her options more carefully on this selection seeing that it takes up 15 minutes on the CD. Similarly, Miss Hong was not well suited for Butterfly. Both divas were out of tune on the Hoffmann. However, the Lakmé was one of the more beautiful recordings I have heard. Likewise, the Rosenkavalier was particularly affecting and the Norma was immaculately in tune.

If you choose to buy this recording, buy it because you want to here a mezzo in good voice. It's a showcase for Miss Larmore. Although Miss Hong is a wonderful singer, this recording does not show what her voice can do when she is in her element.

Magnificent!! 5 stars do not suffice!!
2002-12-20 - I was astounded by the quality of the singing and the absolutely gorgeous music that was sung on this album. The two singers sing like goddesses and are very committed to the drama of the music.

The sound is excellent, both spacious and crystal-clear. Teldec sure knows how to capture voices and operatic music on CD. Many thanks to Teldec for recording this exquisitely sung duet album. If only they were around to record a duet album featuring Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne. Now that would have been great!

The soprano, Hei-Kyung Hong, has an excellent coloratura technique. Her trills vary from mediocre to very good. Overall, her fioritura is first-rate. Her diction is crystal clear. Her Italian is exquisite. Almost every "r" is rolled. Her French is generally excellent. Her German is quite good. I love the sound of her voice. It is bright and silvery-toned with a brilliant top. The mezzo-soprano is Jennifer Larmore. She has a gorgeous voice, rich and dark. Her voice reminded me of the voice of that great coloratura mezzo, Marilyn Horne. Her coloratura may be a bit below that of the soprano's but it is more than passable. Her trills also range from mediocre to very good. Her diction is sometimes obscured by her rich tone but it is generally excellent. Her track record with rolling the "r's" is not as good as the soprano's but it is more than passable.

The first duet is the Barcarolle from Offenbach's "Les Contes d'Hoffman". I had never heard it before. The simple yet exquisite quality of the music is just wonderful. Both singers acquit themselves admirably in this duet. Their voices blend together beautifully in this love duet.

The second duet is the wonderful duet from Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier". I had never heard this duet before. Strauss' music is sparkling and brilliant, an absolute joy to the ears. The two singers are wonderful in this duet.

The third duet is a fine love duet from Handel's "Giulio Cesare". The harp accompaniment is fantastic. It was the harpsichord's sounds that made this duet so enjoyable. Handel did a great job writing the music for this very fine opera. Hong is breathtaking in this duet. Larmore supports her wonderfully. I can't decide if I like this duet the most or the one from "L'incoronazione di Poppea". The notes in the booklet say that this duet comes at the end of the opera. This is incorrect. It comes well before the end of the opera.

The fourth duet is from Claudio Monteverdi's underperfomed and underappreciated masterpiece, "L'incoronazione di Poppea". It was an absolute delight to hear this exquisite duet with its fine Baroque music. From Hong's first note, the listener knows that he/she is in for a wonderful treat. The perfomance of this duet is so good that words do not do it justice.

The fifth duet is from Mozart's "La Clemenza di Tito". I didn't realize that Mozart could write such fine Baroque music. The music is beautiful and noble. The singing is excellent.

The sixth duet is the Flower Duet from Léo Delibes' "Lakmé". It is an exquisite piece of French music. I love this duet. No wonder it is considered by many to be the most beautiful operatic piece ever composed. The singing done by Hong and Larmore is transcendental. Mere words cannot describe the sounds that they make with their beautiful voices.

The seventh duet is from Bellini's "Norma". What you get is wonderful, vigorous bel canto music at its best and gorgeous singing by two very able singers. The coloratura is amazing! The staccati notes done in unison are wonderful. The high notes of both singers are powerful and clear. Larmore makes a powerful and convincing Adalgisa, but Hong is clearly not suited to Norma. She doesn't have the temperament to sing the role and her voice is too light to tackle the role's heavy dramatic demands.

The eighth duet is from Donizetti's masterpiece, "Anna Bolena". The bel canto melody found in this piece of music is very fine indeed. Hong tries her best to sound like Bolena, but this role does not show her in the best light. Her voice is too light for this heavy role and she doesn't have the queen's regal temperament. Larmore is very convincing as the repentent Jane Seymour. The singing is fabulous. So is the diction of the two singers. The high C done in unison that ends the duet is spectacular and breathtaking.

The ninth duet is from Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". This is the other Flower Duet on the album. The singing is magnificent. Larmore makes a very fine Suzuki. Hong's Cio-Cio San is excellent. She would make a fine recorded Butterfly. She is, after all, Asian. Some people say she is not good enough to be a Butterfly. I strongly disagree. If Freni and Scotto, two of the lightest-voiced sopranos to have sung the role, were allowed to record "Madama Butterfly", then Hong should be able to do so too.

The tenth duet is from Rossini's "Tancredi". This taxing piece of bel canto is handled superbly by Hong and Larmore. It is 10 minutes and 35 seconds of some of the most difficult coloratura ever written. I was astounded by the singers' amazing virtuosity in this piece. They show us why their coloratura techniques are world-class. The trills, runs over octaves, and roulades are tossed off expertly. Even though this music is very taxing, they still manage to characterize! Sutherland and Horne would be proud.

The eleventh and last duet is from Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel". The duet opens with beautiful music but I found this piece to be the weakest of the selections chosen for this album. The music doesn't rise to new heights after the opening notes. The singing is more than average but the piece is not a good showcase for the talent of these two singers. Really, another duet from a better opera should have been included that would have done justice to these singers' unique talent.

Finally, I have to comment on the superb conducting and orchestral playing on this album. Jesús López Cobos is an above average conductor, that's for sure. His conducting supports the singers very well and never intrudes upon their singing. The Münchner Rundfunkorchester provides excellent orchestral playing. They never play too loudly as to drown out the singers. Overall, this duet album is one of the finest ever made with two female singers.

More Duet, less Recit-chat
2002-01-11 - While the vocal talents of these two ladies is considerable, and the duets, when they get to them, are lovely, thrilling and so forth, there is way too much recitative included. It would not be an exaggeration to say that 2/3 of this CD is recitative. Added to that, Teldec has not bothered to include side-by-side translations of the text. Instead, previous to the text, are synopsi of the plots of the various scenes. These things really detract from the overall listening enjoyment. I would prefer just to listen to the duets, but even all the recitative wouldn't be that bad if the translations were included.