#33 classical grammy awards 2011

Vivica Genaux got ripped. And the engineers, apparently, are more important than the soloists in a Verdi Requiem nowadays (regardless of Muti beloved).

#32 the cecilia bartoli collection no 3

Rossini Arias (1989)

Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano)
Giuseppe Patanè (conductor)
Arnold-Schönberg-Chor
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Volksopernorchester


01 Cruda sorte! amor tiranno! (L'Italiana in Algeri)
02 Pronti abbiamo... Amici in ogni evento... Pensa alla patria (L'Italiana in Algeri)
03 Mura felici...Elena! O tu, che chiamo (La donna del lago)
04 O patria... Di tanti palpiti (Tancredi)
05 Assisa a'piè d'un salice... Deh! calma, o ciel (Othello)
06 Fac ut portem (Stabat mater dolorosa)
07 Se l'Italie contrade... Se per voi lo torno (La pietra del paragone)
08 Nacqui all'affanno... Non più mesta (La cenerentola)


The first recording in a glorious catalogue, the arias included are butter and bread Rossini pieces. Surprisingly most of the pieces are commonly performed by mezzos with lower tessituras (Horne, Baltsa, Larmore, Genaux et al) as opposed to one with a higher tessitura, as Bartoli clearly is e.g. Cruda sorte, Mura felici, Di tanti palpiti. On the other hand, Rossini's stab at the Willow Song is always welcome (I still believe von Stade's version on the Otello recording with Carreras and López-Cobos is the very very best) and the Cinderella piece has always been Bartoli's showpiece.

#31 the cecilia bartoli collection no 2

Rossini Heroines (1992)

Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo soprano)
Ion Marin (conductor)
Orchestra e Coro La Fenice

01 Riedi al soglio (Zelmira)
02 Ah! non potrian esistere (cantata: Le nozze di Teti e Pelo)
03 Giusto ciel! in tal periglio (Maometto II)
04 Tanti affetti in tal momento (La donna del lago)
05 Quant'è grato in alma mia (Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra)
06 Fellon, la penna avrai (Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra)
07 Ah! che invan su questo cielo (Maometto II)
08 Serena e vaghi rai... Bel raggio lusinghier (Semiramide)

Made back in the days when Cecilia is a true-blue mezzo, as opposed to the faux-lite version of a soprano (sopranista?) she is today. Giusto ciel! profited immensely from Cecilia's inherent quality of pathos. I like that she draws out the tanta in tanta felicitá in the La donna del lago piece. The Semiramide extract is weird, particularly when one's first exposure to the grand aria was by one Dame Joan. As most cases when coloratura mezzos record this aria, they fall prey to the fast figures in the Il bel momento section and notch up the tempo when what would have worked better is to maintain the same pace and let each note 'speak'. But essentially what this disk is missing is the agilitá di forza that most of these pieces require; Bartoli is the textbook definition of agilitá di grazia (male counterpart: Juan Diego Flórez) and this jarring lack is especially evident in the Zelmira, La donna (but she did the second part i.e. Fra il padre e fra l'amante very beautifully), Elisabetta and Semiramide arias. Otherwise, it's a fine output, especially considering the absence of mannerisms and audible gasps and SUPERB diction: after all Rossini is probably Cecilia's part of a healthy breakfast every day.