I Carry Your Heart

Ruth Ann Swenson has progressed from being one of opera's great voices to one of its finest singing actresses. Unaccountably, her recording career has lagged behind. In this varied but oddly cohesive program that ranges from 17th- century Francesco Cavalli to 20th-century composers such as Reynaldo Hahn and John Duke, her robust lyric/coloratura voice rings out just a bit too operatically, though she beautifully captures the rapture of Hahn's L'heure exquise. Most of this repertoire will be unfamiliar even to the most educated music lovers, but there are major finds, such as Afred Bachelet's Chere nuit. --David Patrick Stearns