#34 holiday b-job

I have been having the absolute time of my life, doing my best impression of a rich divorcee, lounging around the house and cooking spaghetti, while also making up time to indulge in:
1. learning how to ride a motorcycle (glory Hallelujah!)

(in my case it was a blue bike, but I think it's pretty much the same model)

2. discovering how chromatic one can go and still have it sound right. Case in point:

But holiday's almost over, I'm registering in the local campus of my university in a week (how time flees when you're orchestrating bloody murder of the diatonic scale!) and these good times are nearing an end.

#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.

#30 the cecilia bartoli collection no 1

Arie antiche - Se tu m'ami (piano recital 1992)

Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo soprano
Gyorgy Fischer, piano

01 Già il sole dal Gange
02 Son tutta duolo
03 Se Florindo è fedele
04 O cessate di piagarmi
05 Spesso vibra per suo gioco
06 Caro mio ben
07 Pur dicesti, o bocca bella
08 Intorno all'idol mio
09 Nel cor più non mi sento
10 Il mio ben quando verrà
11 O leggiadri occhi belli
12 Il mio bel foco... Quella fiamma che m'accende
13 Selve amiche, ombrose piante
14 Sebben, crudele
15 Tu ch'hai le penne, amore
16 Se tu m'ami (attrib. Pergolesi)
17 Chi vuol la zingarella
18 Amarilli, mia bella
19 Delizie contente, che l'alma beate
20 Sposa son disprezzata
21 Vittoria, mio core!

*****

This is in my opinion the best of all her recordings, up to and including Sacrificium (Maria comes close, but not quite). It displays all of Bartoli's measurable advantages: a reflective quality of timbre able to summon pathos and unquestioned depths (much like Fleming at her best) which by a turn of a phrase becomes so joyous you couldn't help smiling, a very easy coloratura, immense breath support, and (admittedly an unfair advantage) a complete mastery of the Italian idiom. A must-have for all singing majors, I have especially embedded the lyrics to the songs in each file so that you can follow along as you listen on your iPod (it works on Windows Media Player also). Favourite tracks: Se tu m'ami is a gem; Spesso vibro will set your ears vibrating; Amarilli will break your heart and then piece it together again with mezzo-cream glue; Sposa son disprezzata is a masterclass in breath control and legato singing.

One quip: One wonders why Bartoli hasn't released any more of this type of recording i.e. piano recitals, in which her small voice and breathy inflections (which had been increasing over the years) would at least be less intrusive and taken as attempts to foster intimacy (only two other recordings come to mind, the live recital with Thibaudet and the delightful La danza with Maestro Levine). Perhaps because of limited literature? (She never seems to sing anything other than Italian, Latin sacred music, some French and English eg Semele, and let's face it: 60% of art songs are in German. Maybe she can sing Tosti or the Neapolitan canzone, they're really huge with audiences. A wet dream of mine: Bartoli singing Respighi's Il tramonto.) It really is a pity because her powers of interpretation are basically limitless: I couldn't hear any other Sposa son disprezzata other than  her version in my head.

#29 birgit nilsson in strauss

Salome (1961)

Salome - Birgit Nilsson

Herode - Gerhald Stolze

Herodias - Grace Hoffmann

Jokanaan - Eberhard Wächter

Georg Solti

Vienna Philharmonic

*****

Elektra (1967)

Elektra - Birgit Nilsson
Klytaemnestra - Regina Resnik
Chrysothemis - Marie Collier
Aegisth - Gerhald Stolze
Orest - Tom Krause

Georg Solti
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

*****

One word: gigantic!

#28 strauss lieder - jonas kaufmann

Strauss Lieder (2006)

Jonas Kaufmann, tenor
Helmut Deutsch, piano
(live recording)


01 Zueignung Op 10 No 1
02 Nichts Op 10 No 2
03 Die Nacht Op 10 No 3
04 Wer hat's getan Op 10 No 6 (bis)
05 Befreit Op 39 No 4
06 Allerseelen Op 10 No 8
07 Ruhe, meine Seele Op 27 No 1
08 Cäcilie Op 27 No 2
09 Heimliche Aufforderung Op 27 No 3
10 Morgen! Op 27 No 4
11 Freundliche Vision Op 48 No 1
12 Ich liebe dich Op 37 No 2
13 All mein Gedanken? Op 21 No 1
14 Du meines Herzens Krönelein Op 21 No 2
15 Ach Lieb, ich muss nun scheiden! Op. 21 No. 3
16 Ach weh mir unglückhaftem Mann Op. 21 No. 4 
17 Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still Op. 21 No. 5
18 Traum durch die Dämmerung Op. 29 No. 1
19 Nachtgang Op. 29 No. 3
20 Wozu noch, Mädchen Op. 19 No. 1
21 Breit' über mein Haupt Op. 19 No. 2
22 Schön sind, doch kalt die Himmelsterne Op. 19 No. 3
23 Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten Op. 19 No. 4
24 Hoffen und wieder verzagen Op. 19 No. 5
25 Mein Herz ist stumm Op. 19 No. 6
26 Ich trage meine Minne Op. 32 No. 1
27 Sehnsucht Op. 32 No. 2
28 Schlechtes Wetter Op. 69 No. 5

*****

I hate the Breit' über mein Haupt. Otherwise, it's a fine disc.