The fact that Hera Hyesang Park was almost revealed in Montreal and that she had spectacularly developed her voice and career made us impatient to discover this second DG recital. But what to say? That vocal recitals are no longer what they used to be? To hear the amalgam — extracts from the 3e Symphony by Gorecki, In Trutina by Carl Orff, tunesOtello set to music by Rossini and Verdi, Hail Maryneoclassical chants, Requiem Korean, interspersed with duets with the excellent Emily D’Angelo, including that of Lakme, all accompanied by a purring orchestra in a soft recording – we say to ourselves that we have not heard such a rosewater soup since the memorable Philips CD of Takemitsu’s choral works in 1994. Read the justifications personal post-pandemic surrounding the project (“people disappeared like dead leaves”, “myriad of emotions”, etc.), we cannot doubt the sincerity of the artist and the project. So, softness, prettiness, velvet and, sometimes, sentimentality as an outlet, so be it!
To watch on video