Soprano Jessica Pratt’s newly released album, Delirio, is a magnificent rendition of some of the most famous “mad scenes” in the world of opera. It features arias of five characters, the title roles of Lucia di Lammermor, Emilia di Liverpool, and Linda di Chamounix by Gaetano Donizetti and Elvira from I Puritani, together with Amina from La Sonnambula by Vincenzo Bellini. The orchestra and choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is directed by maestro Riccardo Frizza, and the CD was released by Tancredi Records. The other singers heard on the record are Adriano Gramigni, Jungmin Kim, Dave Monaco and Ana Victória Pitts.
All the scenes featured on this record are incredibly complex in structure on multiple levels. For one, there is a very strong presence of the element of the “otherworldly”, the sensation that the characters are in a world of their own inside the stories they live in. This is rendered technically by using instruments like the glass harmonica, combined with the way in which the music was composed, oftentimes written at the extremity of the voice. It is as if the audience has to be able to tell these characters apart from the others on all levels possible. On the other hand, this effect is created by the interpret on stage, at the dramaturgical level; Jessica Pratt realizes this incredibly beautifully, and one can easily hear the sense of absence from the “real” world, the disconnection of these characters to the world of the others.
On the other side, there is a firmness to these characters, an indubitable strong presence which contrasts heavily to the previously described disconnection of these characters. This is because they have, after all, strong personalities. The only reason things don’t go according to their plans is because of context. It is almost as if the fact that they go mad is because of this internal conflict between their strong wills, the steps they take to fulfil their wishes, and the unfavourable results. As a consequence, their psyches create these other worlds in which we then see them act. This, too, Jessica Pratt renders masterfully; it is about the way she keeps her voice velvety, flexible, and seemingly ready to take on its extremities with utmost ease and candidness, all-the-while maintaining an underlying sense of presence, almost virility, to it.
If, while listening, one is not aware of the music sheet, one could easily think it is a lot easier vocally than it really is. Jessica Pratt makes everything look, although very engaging and energetic, rather effortless. The stability with which she approaches every kind of high notes, directly, or using messa di voce, is also incredibly smooth.
The element of messa di voce is acutally one of the aspects that makes Jessica Pratt be one of the best of the best in the world in the belcanto repertoire. The fact that she possesses a flawless messa di voce in any given circumstance is impressive enough already. What makes the listener awe at Jessica Pratt’s use of it is also the way in which she uses it dramaturgically. Rather than just being an already-spectacular look-at-what-I-can-do type of vocal virtuosity, she makes use of the messa di voce in a dramaturgical way, employing it, depending on the case, as a mirror towards the depths of the characters’ souls, bringing them closer to the audience, at times showcasing the fragility of one character, or in other instances their candour.
Listening to this album is a great pleasure. It takes the listener away to a different realm, and, when the player reaches the end of the last track, there is a great chance you will feel compelled to hit the repeat button.
