"Any discussion of Leonard Warren's artistry must begin with his voice, a true force of nature. The middle of the voice, mahogany-rich in timbre, ascended to a brilliant upper register that would have been the envy of almost any tenor. All of this vocal gold was couched in a flawless legato...Take for example, ...the great solo from the last act of Verdi's Macbeth. In the opening of the super-charged recitative ("Perfidi! All Anglo contro me v'unite!"), Warren ideally captures the Scottish king's defiance. But, as Macbeth begins to realize the futility of his life ("Eppur la vita"), Warren brings the color of infinite sadness to his voice. The ensuing aria ("Pietà, rispetto, amore") is a miracle of legato singing, featuring variations of light and shade and a masterful application of rubato. All of these elements give the music a wonderful sense of flow and momentum. And, as if this were not enough, Warren caps the aria with an absolutely spellbinding A-flat. It is golden-age singing by any standards. ... The second disc, consisting of "Sea Shanties," "Songs of Rudyard Kipling," "Songs of America," "Italian Songs," "Irish Songs," "Songs of Love," and "Sacred Songs," is an unalloyed delight. Unlike some opera singers, Leonard Warren understood that the song literature is not merely a vehicle of grandiose vocal display. Certainly, the glory of the voice is evident in each selection. But it is remarkable that a singer with such a prodigious vocal instrument resists the temptation to play to the gallery. The recording of Tosti's "Ideale" for example, is perhaps the most restrained and beautiful I have ever heard. There are many visceral thrills as well. The climax of "Danny Deever" is absolutely hair-raising. And Warren's heartfelt and stirring rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is sure to inspire a tear or lump in the throat."
- Classical Review
"I might add that though the Warren Foundation's booklet contains all the texts and, if needed, translations for every single aria and song, his enunciation of the English texts is ultraclear. Most of the songs, especially the ones that use Kipling texts, thrive when delivered by his dark, "covered" voice. He sings them with what I might have to describe, for lack of a better adjective, as a "masculine" heartiness and sincerity. When power isn't appropriate, he can scale down his sound. Amazingly, one finds that this hackneyed material can still deliver a few thrills when sung by a master who has respect for it and knows enough not to oversell it. Three of the Italian songs (the ones not by Tosti) are being released for the first time. Warren caresses the Tosti, Denza, and Santoliquido songs because they don't require the "passion" that is sometimes inflicted on such material; only the Cimara (it's the old Met conductor, Pietro) song, dedicated to Titta Ruffo, calls for some power and gets it. ... The booklet (over 100 pages), with the aforementioned texts and profuse information about Warren and his recordings, is a mode of how such an enterprise should be done. The whole production is a tribute worthy of the great singer it honors. The CDs are individually packaged with it in an attractive little box that will easily fit on your shelf."
- Fanfare
"This Commemorative collection contains forty examples of Warren's recorded legacy, sixteen arias and twenty-four songs. The selections have been perceptively chosen to illustrate the range of his artistry. Warren was at his best and most typical in ringing declamation, dramatic utterance, evocation of pahtos without resort to sobbing and in sustained soft phrases. The voice is very resonant and cleanly produced. Warren's top notes seem to have no limit and his diction is clear and distinct. Although he is capable of expressing humor, he is essentially serious and it is hard to imagine him in really comic roles. ... With forty of his best recordings included in this album, it hard to single our any for detailed comment. CD-1, the operatic arias, contains recordings spanning the period 1941 to 1959. It happens that both the earliest, "Scintille, diamant" from Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and the latest "Pietà, rispetto, amore" from Macbeth, was first issued it seemed to me to be the finest thing Warren had done on record. ... Warren's rendition of Kipling's Danny Deever in a setting by the conductor-composer Walter Damrosch is a case in point. Warren does a superb job in differentiating between "Files-on-Parade" and the "Color Sergeant". His version of Ernest R. Ball's A Little Bit of Heaven is worthy to stand beside that of John McCormack. The sweeping phrasing of Shenandoah is captured with rare beauty."
ARSC Journal
"Warren's voice had an easy top register which suited well the Verdi roles he undertook. Two good examples (not of Verdi) are the G-sharp ending "Scintille, diamant" and the top A in the last line of "Haul-a-way, Joe", both as fine as one is likely to hear from a baritone. 'Urna fatale' [La Forza del Destino] calls forth a vigorous cabaletta to end the first disc. ... The second CD is devoted to songs, Italian, Irish, American, songs to poems of Kipling, and sea shanties. Warren becomes more and more frenziedly depressed as he marches over Africa in "Boots", but it is "Danny Deever" which is the gem for me. I love the song, which here is taken at the pace of a slow march until the quick steps takes over for the final stage after Danny's hanging. One critic described the performance as Mahlerian. ... The set is very well presented, with a hundred-page booklet listing all the texts and with many photos, and the sound is extremely good, more open than in the Romophone transfers."
Classical Express (England)
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