Oksana Volkova, Constantine Orbelian, and the Kaunas City Symphony’s Poison d’Amour album is named an Opera News Critic’s Choice!
“an audacious compilation of mezzo-soprano (and soprano-adjacent) arias… Poison d’Amour announces Volkova as the real deal: a full-bodied, lyric mezzo-soprano with intelligence, passion, nuance and a healthy dose of chutzpah… And Constantine Orbelian’s decadent and limpid conducting of the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra gives Volkova a solid foundation on which to create and experiment. … The disc begins with a hit. “O ma lyre immortelle” is the ruminative, decidedly un-flashy final aria from Gounod’s Sapho, with which a singer can either completely captivate the listener or put them to sleep. Here, it’s an opportunity for Volkova to display the strength and beauty of her voice, which shines its brightest in the middle. She gives her full attention to each word and musical phrase and is bewitching in her embodiment of Sapho’s melancholic resolve and poetic transcendence. … Volkova makes a bold statement about the artist she is…and the artist she may become.”
—Steven Jude Tietjen, Opera News
