Bruce Martin: A Life in Song ABC Classics 476 3439 in conjunction with Decca

Opening with two of my favourite Mozart operatic excerpts, the Catalogue Aria from Don Giovanni and Non piu andrai from the Marriage of Figaro, bass-baritone Bruce Martin immediately captures one’s attention. His is a voice which is commanding, powerful, engaging and full of passion and drama.

This magnificent double album features not only opera classics (Verdi, Wagner, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov), but also highlights from oratorio (Mendelssohn’s Elijah), art song repertory (Schubert, Ravel), music theatre (Paint Your Wagon, Man of La Mancha, Carousel, Showboat), spirituals (Deep River) and even pop standards (My Way, For the Good Times, A Day in the Life of a Fool, And I Love You So).

It is as though there is something very definitely worth singing about, or even proving. Coming a year after Martin’s controversial walk-out from Opera Australia following the release on the English label Chandos, the singer has redeemed his reputation with this amazing collection and left a wonderful treasury for all to hear and savor.

Martin left the OA after believing his voice had been compromised (“trashed” was how it was described at the time) when a recording was released from a live performance of Rusalka at the Opera House, under the baton of the late Richard Hickox.

Bruce Martin first stepped onto the professional stage in Perth in 1969 as Mephistopheles in the WA Opera production of Faust. He then lived overseas for most of the 1970s, singing at Covent Garden, lecturing in South Africa and now has retired to Perth.

Carefully selected, the first disc displays the classical side of this singer, whilst the second disc is a surprising display of the more popular or lighter pieces in his repertoire, all of which Bruce Martin sings with equal ease and stylistic charm.

This 2 CD set has been amassed from a lifetime of recording, mostly in live performances, proving that Martin is indeed a living Australian legend from the world of opera.