Anne Sofie von Otter - In My Element (2008)

There has rarely been a singer as polymorphically talented in as diverse a repertoire as Anne Sofie von Otter. Few other singers are as at home in Monteverdi as in Mahler, in Mozart as in Haas, in Handel as in Weill, in Dowland as in Costello, in Bizet as in ABBA. Whatever the repertoire, the Swedish singer's diction is as perfect as her intonation; not a syllable or a note sounds anything less than utterly natural. Her performances are as fully thought through as her emotions are fully felt. No matter how expressive the music or how affecting her singing, she understands what she is performing with her head as well as her heart. Some listeners may complain that von Otter's mezzo-soprano is not a perfect instrument, that her tone lacks creaminess, and her phrasing is sometimes wanting in warmth. But the broad consensus is that von Otter's voice is so ideally deployed, her technique so supremely polished, and her feeling so clearly honest, that her occasional lack of warmth is of negligible importance. Whether accompanied by her pianist Bengt Forsberg or by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, von Otter's performances are beautifully framed. In these performances recorded between 1988 and 2004, Deutsche Grammophon's digital sound is invariably transparent and immediate.