Aigul in Bloomington, MN

Every few years, a new singer seems to come along from the Central Asian states, but here is a mezzo-soprano with a standout voice that one will remember after having heard ten seconds of it.
Aigul Akhmetshina
is from the Russian state of Bashkortostan, and interestingly, she says she has no desire to be considered Russian and hopes for British citizenship. She burst onto the scene with a series of high-profile appearances as
Carmen
, one of them as a sub, and her voice has been much talked about since. The voice is remarkable -- rich in colors, burnished, and without apparent weakness across its range. On
Aigul
, her debut album with the major
Decca
label,
Akhmetshina
leads with her strong suit in four excerpts from
, including the famed "Habanera" and "Seguidilla." Just looking at her, one suspects she will make a wonderful
, and the voice, commanding and strong, confirms the impression. She follows
Bizet
up with
Massenet
's
Werther
, in which she is very near as good. The second half of the program is given over to Italian opera, and here,
is a trifle less convincing, just because she has less room in the more squarish tunes of Italian arias to diverge from the basic tone of her voice. Where she does have that room, as in
Rossini
's "Una voce poco fa," from
Il barbiere di Siviglia
, everything is great. Even where she doesn't, one could luxuriate in the voice all day.
receives appropriately circumspect support from the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
under conductor
Daniele Rustioni
. This release has stirred up a lot of excitement that is all to the good, and it is no surprise that the album made classical best-seller charts in the summer of 2024. The next step for
may well be a full-scale operatic recording in which she can display her dramatic gifts. ~ James Manheim