The Wonderful Julia Lezhneva. And Carl Heinrich Graun

Music that has lain undisturbed for around 250 years is usually best left in peace. But not always, and the opera arias of Carl Heinrich Graun (a contemporary of Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, et al) have turned out to be a happy resurrection, thanks also to the inspired singing of Julia Lezhneva, the Jascha Heifetz of the soprano world. What a lovely voice, what intelligence and enthusiasm, and what an incredible vocal technique! Unlike Sonya Yoncheva, the last soprano I listened to, Lezhneva really feels the words she is singing. Ten of the eleven arias on this new CD of Graun's music are world premiere recordings. All eleven well-varied arias are well worth listening to. All the arias are in Italian, the opera language of the day, and Ms Lezhneva's diction is exemplary; a lesson to many of her rivals.

True, Herr Graun did not have Handel's genius when it came to writing memorable music for the orchestra in operatic works; but neither did anyone else in the eighteenth century until Mozart came along. Ms Lezhneva, now at the ripe old age of 27, is an amazing voice and a major artist. My thanks to a good friend who sent me a copy of this CD as a present. It's a CD I will not file away for a long time to come. Enjoyable and interesting listening on a Sunday afternoon. A sample is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pls5Yzzw1yM