If only the virtues of the quieter de Niese weren’t outweighed by the drawbacks of de Niese at full throttle. The brighter the voice’s dazzle, the fuzzier the words become, as in Handel’s Let the bright Seraphim. She’s also somewhat distressing in her two Bach cantata arias, delivered either with lame “embellishments” or a headlight glare that obscures the litheness of the vocal line. – The Times