Samuel Ramey - A Date with the Devil

It's curious that Samuel Ramey has made such a specialty of diabolical roles, because his voice--although pure bass--has never had the jet-black timbre of a John Tomlinson or the threatening muscular attack of a Bryn Terfel. Indeed, it seems most comfortable in lighter repertory: Rossini, Mozart, anything that calls for grace and flexibility. But he has learned to slip a note of menace into the most elegantly well-turned phrase. His devils are urbane, sophisticated: evil in a suit and tie. And for the past six years, he's turned a rather chic collection of them into a recital program that has toured the world. This CD was recorded en route in Munich (it preserves an isolated fragment of audience applause, presumably to let you know). And here they all are: the Berlioz, Gounod, and Boito takes on Faust, together with Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, Stravinsky's Rake, and (stretching the definition of operatic devilry) Offenbach's Dapertutto (Les Contes d'Hoffmann). This recording was made when Ramey was approaching 59 and starting to show his age. The voice is graying at the edges and is sometimes noticeably thin of texture, with a vibrato that rocks the poise of his slower, more lyrical numbers. But there's still plenty of life in the singing and an energy that never loses focus or coarsens into bluster. For that alone, he's still worth hearing. --Michael White