Marie-Josée Lord
Marie-Josée Lord; Orchestre Métropolitain; Giuseppe Pietraroia
ATMA ACD2 2649
“A star is born” should be the headline in The WholeNote on the occasion of the announcement of the 2012 JUNO nominees. I speak in particular of one contender for Classical Record of the Year, Vocal and Choral Category, the self-titled Marie-Josée Lord. Alas, it takes a long time to become an overnight success. Lord has been charming Quebec audiences with her magnificent voice since her debut in the fall of 2003. Be it Liu, Mimi, Nedda, Suor Angelica or Carmen – passionate, dispossessed or heartbroken heroines are her royal domain. But there is also Gershwin’s Bess and Marie-Jeanne of Plamondon’s super-hit Starmania. Each of these roles gets transformed by Lord’s smoky, fascinating voice. Soft and velvety in the lower registers, it has a lovely, robust and crystalline quality in the upper range. To call her “a soprano” is like describing Mozart as “a composer.” Her voice has the power to send shivers down your spine, make you grip the armrest and lean forward in your seat. This artist is all her own, not emulating anybody else’s style, rendering her instantly recognizable and unforgettable. With all this attention on the vocals, one barely notices the competent, if sometimes ham-fisted playing by the Orchestre Métropolitain under Giuseppe Pietraroia.
These selections are well known, but you have never heard them sung like this. I have yet to see Lord sing on stage, but if this recording is anything to go by, it will be a memorable occasion.
