October 1995

Bryn Terfel: Opera Scenes, Mahler Kindertotenlieder.
A. Hagley; English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner/Philharmonia, Sinopoli/Berlin Philharmonic, Abbado. DG 447578

Bryn Terfel is a gifted, charismatic artist with a dark, somber sonority. His solid low notes are beneficial in conveying a canny, belligerent Figaro, well supported by John Eliot Gardiner's incisive pacing. The Mahler Kindertotenlieder cycle reveals dynamic variety and an effective mezza-voce that occasionally borders on crooning. The Tannhäuser "O du, mein holder Abendstern" could be more tightly focused, but Sachs' "Fliedermonolog" augurs well for future Wagner.

- GEORGE JELLINEK