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.
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.
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