Bryn Terfel Sings Favorites

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.

Tracklist

1. Carmen Act II. Toreador Song: "Votre Toast, Je Peux Vous Le Rendre"
2. Shenandoah, folk song
3. Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn
4. Les Pêcheurs de perles, Act I. The Pearl Fisher's Duet: "Au Fond Du Temple Saint"
5. Psalm 23 (Theme from "The Vicar of Dibley" TV series), for chorus, strings & organ
6. Londonderry Air (Danny Boy), folk song
7. Lady and the Tramp, film score Bella Notte
8. Goin' Home (adapted from Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", 2nd movement)
9. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
10. Home, Sweet Home!, song for voice & piano (from the operetta "Clari")
11. Ellens Gesang III ("Ave Maria"), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6)
12. My Heart Will Go On (from the film "Titanic")
13. Shall we gather at the river?
14. None but the lonely heart, song for voice & piano, Op. 6/6
15. If I Can Help Somebody
16. Wiegenlied ("Guten Abend, gut Nacht"), song for voice & piano, Op. 49/4
17. Abide with me (Tune: Eventide)
18. Lazy Bones