Fresh Czech Discography Acquisitions: Barbora Polášková´s Opera, Song and Operetta Favourites
If today a Czech solo opera singer wishes to present themselves in the form of a CD, they will mostly find themselves left to their own resources. This was also the option taken by Czech mezzo-soprano Barbora Polášková de Nunes-Cambraia who recorded, with pianist Peter Valentovič, an album released under the starkly informative title, Polášková de Nunes-Cambraia - Mezzo-soprano (including a concisely texted booklet in English, with basic biographical data). The record´s contents offer a cross-section of the artist´s current repertoire encompassing the genres of opera, song, and operetta.
Polášková´s album opens with the Habanera from Bizet´s Carmen, a flamboyant introductory aria characterizing the gypsy title heroine as she traverses a Seville square on a sultry day, titillating local menfolk with a provocative song describing love as a reckless fledgeling. This is followed by Seguidilla with which the indomitable gypsy girl enchants her soldier warden, Don José, so much that he lets her escape. Actually, it was her creation of Carmen which catapulted Polášková, at the very outset of her career in 2010, to the centre of attention. In a pulsating, dynamic production mounted by the Olomouc opera house, she combined her talent and youthful esprit in an account of Carmen as a charming ingénue, a kitten capable of not just displaying but also tangibly using her claws once she doesn´t get what she wants. The Olomouc concept of Carmen proved the perfect match for this singer´s pliant and technically flawless, equally balanced voice, without being obliged to stretch out its volume to tearing the theatre down. And it was again Carmen, this time out in Opava, which earned the artist nomination for the 2016 Thalie Award.
Her profile album presents Barbora Polášková in a select set of numbers from her extensive repertoire. It ranges from Baroque music, represented here by the aria Bereite Dich, Zion, from Johann Sebastian Bach´s Christmas Oratorio, or the aria Lascia ch´io pianga from Handel´s Rinaldo, to Mozart´s Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Rossini´s Rosina from Il barbiere di Siviglia, or Gluck´s Orfeo; on, to the Romantic era, showcased on this album by Verdi´s Azucena from Il trovatore, Dvořák´s Ježibaba (Rusalka) and Smetana´s Maid Róza (The Secret). Nor does the programme omit the illustrious aria of Saint-Saëns´ Dalila, Mon coeur s´ouvre à ta voix, which Polášková embued with every bit of the sensuous appeal used by the Philistine woman in seducing the mighty Hebrew, Samson, to make him disclose to her the secret of his strength.
Polášková intertwined this offer of operatic arias with an assortment of songs from Dvořák´s Gypsy Songs, Janáček´s Moravian Folk Poetry, or Mahler´s Kindertotenlieder. She demonstrates her capacity to empathize with more introspective hues of mood in her rendition of, among others, the Asturiana from Manuel de Falla´s series of Seven Spanish Folk Songs. Relevantly enough, the album´s song tracks also make up for the handicap suffered by the opera instalments due to the inevitable limitations resulting from the accompaniment being pared down to piano, notwithstanding the sophistication of Peter Valentovič´s performance.
Mezzo-soprano Barbora Polášková de Nunes-Cambraia studied singing at conservatories in Prague and in Plzeň, combining it with language studies at Charles University. Soon after making her debut in the Olomouc production of Carmen, she was offered a major artistic opportunity to partner, in an instalment of the concert series World Opera Stars, the soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, where she vemtured, then perhaps somewhat precociously despite her undeniable talent, to sing the dramatic parts of Eboli from Verdi´s Don Carlos, and Princess de Bouillon from Francesco Cilea´s Adriana Lecouvreur. Since then, Polášková has created a copious gallery of roles on opera stages in Olomouc, Ostrava, Plzeň, Ústí nad Labem and Brno, including Cherubino in Mozart´s Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gertrude in Thomas´ Hamlet, and several leading parts in Verdi operas, including Fenena in Nabucco, Maddalena in Rigoletto, or Mistress Quickly in Falstaff. She was also Káte in Dvořák´s The Devil and Kate, or Olga in Tchaikovsky´s Eugene Onegin. Even when given the limited space of a single aria in a recent Plzeň production of the abridged Italian version of Cherubini´s Medea where she sang the part of Medea´s confidante, Neris, Barbora Polášková made use of it with true brilliance and exquisite musical feeling, offering a breathtaking portrayal of her character´s devotion coupled with reserved strictness vis-a-vis her despotic mistress. There, the singer gave a living proof of there being no small roles. Also in the Plzeň opera, she showed commanding prowess in capturing the youthful vacillation of Idamante in Mozart´s Idomeneo.
In structuring her current profile album, Polášková likewise ventured into the genre of operetta. Alongside Carmen, Prince Orlofsky from Johann Strauss´ Die Fledermaus is yet another role ideally suited for her vocal type. In her account, the couplet in which the prince invites his guests to enjoy the magnificent party he has thrown, literally sparkles with esprit.
In fact, the present album showcasing Barbora Polášková´s repertoire is not her first record. Her debut CD, Amor eterno, with love arias from operas by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi, plus songs by Alma Mahler, was released ten years ago. Her performance of Alma Mahler´s Seven Songs in a live concert at Prague´s Smetana Hall, under the baton of Zdeněk Mácal conducting the Prague Symphony Orchestra, in 2011, was also recorded and subsequently released by ArcoDiva. Elsewhere, Barbora Polášková documented her affinity for contemporary music on the album Umění milovati (The Art of Love), featuring the dramatic musical fresco by contemporary Czech composer Zdeněk Zahradník setting Ovid´s verse, as well as in her interpretations of the cycle The Magic Wheel of the Zodiac, by contemporary Australian composer Margaret Brandman. Polášková´s regular collaboration with the guitar duo Siempre Nuevo was captured on the album Guitarra Cantante, featuring Czech and Spanish songs.
This new recording attests to the breadth of repertoire today´s Czech solo singers need to encompass with a view to asserting themselves on the opera market. It charts the artistic development of Barbora Polášková de Nunes-Cambraia, in the course of which her initially fairly light mezzo-soprano has gone through a process of settling down, enhancing its palette and sharpening its intonation accuracy. This evolution has by now ranked her among leading Czech soloists in this voice type.
