The inimitable John Nelson, conductor of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, has a knack for giving little known musical pieces and as-yet uncelebrated artists their due. He has made good on this worthy capacity by conducting his consort in a debut recital CD of one of our moment’s finest contraltos.
Stephanie Blythe works her way sensuously through this Baroque repertoire with all the gravitas of an ancient mariner, yet as well with the supple litheness of youth.
We have all thrilled to the glass-shattering pyrotechnics of the great sopranos. Deep-voiced women like Blythe present a different pleasure, as different from the atmospheric-testing soaring of the high voice as a very large Mercedes-Benz is from a Mustang. Both are class leaders. One works as well in late evening after a storm as in the sunlit avenue at noon.
Blythe is something close to majestic in this EMI/Virgin Classic 2001 release. You could be forgiven for wondering whether a Baroque composer was permitted to feel anything this deeply. Blythe’s voice is not a period instrument, after all. The castrati alone played those.
Yet, coming in after their time, Blythe makes a convincing retrospective argument that if there had been female singers of this sobriety and passion around, fewer boys would have been called upon to sacrifice their undergirding in the service of art.
The music, be warned, runs deep.
Canter Bridge 
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