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PrintHole 'Nobody's Daughter' (Mercury)
In case you missed all the commotion, Courtney Love is back.
She's battling Billy Corgan on Twitter, spilling secrets on "The Howard Stern Show" and generating high drama wherever she goes and with whatever she touches.
Fortunately, she pours that same passion into "Nobody's Daughter," the first Hole album in 12 years. It's a Hole album merely in the sense that the 45-year-old punk queen is at the mike. In a whole separate drama, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur and guitarist Eric Erlandson were excluded from the project and replaced with such ringers as Micko Larkin, who more than holds his own on guitar. On board with lyrical aid, tea and sympathy are Linda Perry and the Smashing Pumpkins frontman, now claiming that Courtney swiped some of his songs (and that she's a lousy mother, but that's a different story).
On "For Once in Your Life," Courtney mentions that "I lost my voice," and while it's hardly gone, the first thing you notice on "Nobody's Daughter," is that it's more ragged than when we last heard it on her solo album "America's Sweetheart." It simply adds to the desperate quality of the songs, particularly the bare-naked ballad "Letter to God," on which she pleads, "I never wanted to be/some comic relief/please show me who I am!" It's one you'll either love or hate, depending on your tolerance for self-pity.
Courtney rages in one way or another on just about every song, which is exactly what people want from her. She comes on low and menacing on the opening track, "Nobody's Daughter," quickly setting this album back in the haze of early '90s Seattle grunge, as she purrs, "you don't understand how damaged we really are."
Under producer Michael Beinhorn, we're back in familiar "Celebrity Skin" with thrashy and nasty rockers like "Skinny Little Bitch" and "Loser Dust," and jangly-to-angry tracks like "Pacific Coast Highway," one of several songs on which her vocals mimic those of Dylan.
While hardly breaking any new ground, it's a shock given all she's been through that "Nobody's Daughter" is as solid as it is. The choice for listeners is whether they still feel like dealing with Courtney Love's drama.
-- Scott Mervis
Nicolai Gedda 'Lyric Poet of the Tenor Voice' (EMI Classics ICON series)
If I could, I'd insist that every aspiring tenor listen to and memorize this magnificent bargain-priced 11-CD collection, honoring Nicolai Gedda's 85th birthday. It's a virtual compendium of the tenor repertory and of how to sing it. Mr. Gedda lacked the charisma and mass appeal of a Domingo or a Pavarotti, but he was as close to a perfect singer as his generation produced. When it came to technique, language skills, musicality, versatility, he had the others beat by far (although it might be argued that Domingo matched him in versatility).
The miracle of Mr. Gedda is not just how well he sang, but the way he managed to impart to every aspect of the repertory its own particular style, rather than a homogenized loveliness. Going through these wonderful discs, there is the virtuosity of his Bach (all three solo tenor cantatas are included), the purity of his Mozart (Belmonte's "Konstanze" from "The Abduction" is a prime example), still another sort of virtuosity in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" ("Ecco ridente in cielo") and the power demanded by Wagner's "Lohengrin."
Then there's his French repertory: a thrilling sustained high D in an aria from Adam's otherwise forgotten "Postillon de Lonjumeau," sweetness and subtlety in familiar excerpts from Bizet's "Pearl Fishers," and passionate romance in his enactment of Gounod's Romeo. There's a refreshing coolness in his Puccini (arias from "Tosca," a ringing "Nessun dorma" and the "Madama Butterfly" love duet with Maria Callas); and at the other end of the spectrum, highly nuanced art songs and oratorio arias in seven languages, including an intimate, excruciatingly personal rendition of Schubert's complete song-cycle, "Die Schoene Muellerin."
-- Robert Croan
Giacomo Meyerbeer "Il crociato in Egitto" (Naxos)
This the second complete recording of a dated and very obscure opera, justified by the presence of Peters native Michael Maniaci, a male soprano -- not quite the same as the more common alto-range countertenor -- who is nothing short of sensational in the leading-man role of the crusader Armando.
The opera itself, pleasant enough although by no means a masterpiece, is a product of the German-born composer's brief sojourn in Italy (1816-24), before settling for life in Paris to literally invent the phenomenon that become French grand opera. The libretto of "Il crociato" centers on a medieval knight who has secretly married an Egyptian princess in a Christian ceremony, but the plot contains a curiously modern message of Christians and Moslems learning to live in peace and harmony. At the end, the Sultan forgives Armando and allows his daughter to leave with him and live as a Christian in Europe.
Not only is Mr. Maniaci dazzling in his vocal virtuosity (and apparently, on the evidence of a DVD version, his histrionic skills), but the remainder of the cast, led by Emmanuel Villaume with Patricia Ciofi as the princess and Marco Vinco as the sultan, is uniformly excellent. "Il crociato" is peppered with virtuoso arias and energetic ensembles for all the protagonists, but ultimately this is Mr. Maniaci's show, and he comes through as a genuine star.
-- Robert Croan
ALSO NEW THIS WEEK:
Melissa Etheridge, "Fearless Love": The rocker has said that her 10th studio album, dwelling on love and fear, is an homage to the likes of the Who, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen.
Mary Chapin Carpenter, "The Age of Miracles": Five-time Grammy winner returns with an album produced in Nashville by longtime collaborator Matt Rollings and featuring guest vocals by Vince Gill and Alison Krauss.
Bullet for My Valentine, "Fever": Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) produced the new album for this Welsh heavy-metal band, featuring the singles "Your Betrayal" and "The Last Fight."
Peter Frampton, "Thank You Mr. Churchill": Beloved '70s hero gets help from Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron, the legendary Funk Brothers and longtime collaborator Gordon Kennedy on this autobiographical effort.
Sons of Sylvia, "Revelation": Debut album from sibling rock trio that recently opened here for Carrie Underwood.
Various Artists, "Punk Goes Classic Rock": Warped bands such as Pierce The Veil and Forever The Sickest Kids take on the likes of Journey, Queen, KISS and Blue Oyster Cult.
Critics Andrew Druckenbrod and Scott Mervis talk about music on "The Beat," available exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.
