0 Arias for Guadagni

GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2012

“Through his effortless line, countertenor Iestyn Davies revivifies Guadagni's Orphic powers...Whether drawing out sustained notes or knitting together filigreed coloratura, he is a paragon of gallant taste: poised, cool, elegant...Jonathan Cohen and his ensemble Arcangelo capture the rapid, unexpected twists of the younger Bach's radical imagination...this [is] a refreshingly ambitious and superbly realised recording.” --BBC Music Magazine, August 2012 *****

British countertenor Iestyn Davies is one of the fastest rising stars on the concert and opera circuit. Following his highly acclaimed recording of Porpora cantatas, he returns for a second solo album with Hyperion, a selection of arias written for Gaetano Guadagni. Italian-born Guadagni was the first ‘modern’ castrato, famed all over Europe for the lyric purity of his voice and his powerful, naturalistic acting style.

Not only did he enjoy a close artistic relationship with Handel, who nurtured Guadagni’s voice to fit the alto roles in his English oratorios, but he effectively created the role of Orpheus in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera he thoroughly made his own. Here, Iestyn Davies is joined again by the renowned period-instrument band Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen.

Detail: Arias for Guadagni

0 Berlioz: Herminie, Les Nuits D'ete; Ravel: Sheherazade

“In her mid-forties, this voice has become richer and even more expressive, and he works on this disc suit her to perfection. She not only pronounces the words, she feels them...Her Nuits d'ete reilshes hues both light and dark, and if she'd been around to sing Berlioz's Prix de Rome cantata Herminie in 1828, who know, he might have won gold instead of silver!” --BBC Music Magazine, October 2012 ****

“[Gens is] alive and vivid, giving a passionate account of the wonderful Sur les Lagunes. Elsewhere, she seems to me in too much of a hurry.” --Sunday Times, 9th July 2012

“warm, sensitive, the lyrical French soprano par excellence...Gens bring [Herminie] to life as sympathetically as any of her operatic portrayals...It is unusual to encounter a recording of Les nuits d'ete in which the colouring is so consistent throughout...Gens has in her sights a purer kind of poetry.” --Gramophone Magazine, September 2012

“As you might expect, Gens's singing has sharpened its musical perceptions still further and acquired even more shades of colour since [her] earlier recording. No one today delivers French song with the combination of tonal beauty and verbal nuance she does, and each number of Nuits d'Eté offers a miniature masterclass...Pure ravishment.” --The Guardian, 21st June 2012 *****

Detail: Berlioz: Herminie, Les Nuits D'ete; Ravel: Sheherazade

0 The Beauty of Baroque

“It's an intriguing and enjoyable programme...The English Concert provides suitable support throughout, from solo theorbo on Dowland's "What if I never speed?" to the trio of harpsichord, theorbo and viola da gamba with her delightful duet with counter-tenor Andreas Scholl” --The Independent, 10th June 2011 ****

“This is a charming recital that shows this popular soprano at her best...she has plenty of vivacity and fresh-toned sweetness. Guardian Angels, from Handel’s “The Triumph of Time and Truth”, is a highlight: a little-known but beautiful aria, sung here with poise and allure.” --The Telegraph, 7th July 2011 ****

 “In Dowland's Come again, sweet love doth now invite and What if I never speed?, she sounds like a sexier Emma Kirkby...The English Concert under its Music Director Harry Bicket provides the stylish orchestral and instrumental backing...You really hear the personality behind the voice - the 'Beauty of the Baroque' is, without question, a real artist.” --International Record Review, July/August 2011

“she keeps things light on this disc, and for the greater part only shows off her many splendid advantages. Indeed, her flirtatious performance of the famous lute-song Come again can rank as one of the most captivating on disc. The duets with Scholl are a delight too. De Niese's sheer joy in singing leaps off the CD and her emotional immediacy is hard to resist.” --Classic FM Magazine, August 2011 ****

Detail: The Beauty of Baroque

0 Mozart: Concert Arias

Mozart's concert arias are not really generically independent from his operas. They were mostly written for insertion into operas by a singer, often Mozart's girlfriend and then sister-in-law Aloysia Weber, who wanted to display her talents to their best advantage. As such, however, they stand out from other operatic arias as some of the most difficult vocal pieces Mozart composed. Several of these pieces are in Queen of the Night territory, with not just individual high notes but lengthy passages that require the singer to be melodic at the very top of her range.

This 1994 release by French soprano Natalie Dessay, just hitting the very top of her game, has been a favorite among aficionados of Mozart's vocal music, and its reissue in Virgin Classics' budget line gives other listeners a chance to try it out. For sheer agility in the top register, it's hard to beat. Dessay not only hits the multiple examples of the E two octaves plus above middle C, she sounds good doing so, and she makes real music as the tune bounces around a few steps below that. There are sopranos with greater dramatic insight than Dessay, and plenty with more sheer power, but for the pleasure of hearing a trained voice enter territory where only a few can go, this disc remains a rare find.

The Lyon Opera Orchestra under Theodor Guschlbauer stays out of Dessay's way, which is exactly the right place for it. The booklet notes, in English, French, and German (the French and German notes are different from the English but identical to each other), are abbreviated from the earlier release; there is no biographical information, but the basic background on the music is helpful. No texts are given, but when you hear Dessay hit the stratosphere, you won't care. --by James Manheim. allmusic

Detail: Mozart: Concert Arias

0 Soprano

An impressive debut recital by this young American prize-winner

Here’s an hour of enchantment from the American soprano who won the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World. There she swept the board with her final item, Teresa’s taxing but rewarding aria from Benvenuto Cellini. Here it forms the centrepiece of a recital that takes her with extreme accomplishment through a varied programme.

 Perhaps the French pieces suit her best of all, and she seems happy singing in the language. She delivers Juliette’s Waltz Song with insouciance, then follows it with a deeply soulful account of Juliette’s last-act aria. “Depuis le jour” is right up there among the best of the past, with the high note towards the end, so often a disappointment, touched with pure lightness. The dash of the bolero from Les filles de Cadix is a fizzing as it should be.

But Cabell can do many other things so well as to satisify the most fastidious connoisseur of fine singing. Her bel canto skills are disclosed in Julietta’s opening aria from Capuleti, with the even legato a pleasure to encounter. Norina’s flighty aria from Don Pasquale is done with just the requisite allure. The two popular Puccini arias again show off her clear, clean tone and secure technique, even if one would sometimes like a bit more light and shade in her bright voice.

It’s big leap from there to Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, but once more Cabell gives every evidence that she knows what she is about and the aching phrases hanging in the air. The Menotti aria is well sung but musically nothing special; “Summertime” gets a lovely reading.

Sir Andrew Davis and the LPO find the right mood for each piece in turn and the recording is faultless. Who knows, maybe Decca has a new Sutherland in view.

-- Alan Blyth, Gramophone [5/2007]

Detail: Soprano

0 Opera New Generations: Greatest Arias

This two-disc set is a sampler of operatic singers from the corporately related Virgin Classics and EMI labels, and like most such samplers it delivers a good deal less than it promises. The marketing is scattershot, for one thing: the two-disc set purports to offer both the "new generation" of singers and "greatest arias" -- whether of these particular artists or of opera in general is not made clear, but neither contention would be defensible. 

The booklet notes consist of a history of opera in five paragraphs, which isn't a whole lot of use to anybody. The selections date as far back as 1991, and the artists involved are as venerable as Felicity Lott, who made her debut in 1976, and, for Zoroaster's sake, José Van Dam, who was born in 1940. All this said, the newbie buyer looking for a selection of opera arias for the car stereo could do much worse than this set. The group of singers represented is diverse, and it would give a U.S. listener, especially, an idea of some exciting new trends in European singing. There are some genuinely newsworthy new artists, such as Latvian soprano Elina Garanca; the drastically different qualities of her low, middle, and top registers make much more of "Come scoglio," from Mozart's Così fan tutte, than is usually the case. 

There are French singers, who get a good deal less ink in anglophone countries than they deserve; Sandrine Piau and Véronique Gens both have soaring instruments familiar to those who have followed recent operatic and sacred releases of the eighteenth century, and some proportion of those who buy this album will be hooked. Countertenors are rarely heard on collections of this kind, but here is the energetic Philippe Jaroussky in an aria from Vivaldi's Giustino. There are superb interpreters who fly under the general radar; hear Susan Graham's passionate reading of "When I am laid in earth," from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, in which she seems to hang on every word. And all these singers are balanced out with a selection of hunks and crowd-pleasers on disc 2, which is devoted to Italian and French repertoire from the nineteenth century; disc 1 starts with Mozart but works its way back to the early Baroque. The Donizetti selections by Rolando Villazón and Roberto Alagna are not the best-known of these young singers, but they're enough to enter the artists in the next-Three-Tenors sweepstakes. Early music fans will be heartened by this collection, and nearly everyone will find something to enjoy. --allamusic.com

Detail: Opera New Generations: Greatest Arias

0 Mission

“Bartoli's plummy mezzo soars, smoulders and seduces, milking the music's vocal and expressive scope to dramatic effect. It's hard to resist her sparkling personality and infectious passion for this repertoire...the animated playing of I Barocchisti enhance the sheer theatre and scale of Steffani's talent...this is truly a revelatory disc.” --BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 *****

Gramophone Magazine
Editor's Choice - December 2012

“Bartoli is to be both congratulated and thanked for this project...Her dazzlingly virtuoso and urgently expressive performances betoken nothing less than total commitment, with every single aria delivered with as much dramatic intensity and focus as if it had been lifted straight from a fully staged production...it is hard to know what more one could ask for.” --Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

“I can't think of another singer who brings such variety of colour, nuance and pathos to slow numbers...Bartoli's performance of the more bravura numbers...is more questionable...Vocal fireworks have always been essential weapons in the Bartoli armoury, but they are now sounding rusty...I don't want to end on a negative note, as there is much to admire and even love here...'Mission' is in every sense a collector's item.” --International Record Review, December 2012

Detail: Mission

0 Opera Intermezzi

“The conductor shows his mastery of phrase and idiom immediately in the opening La Traviata Prelude which is beautifully done, and the same poise gives distinction to the famous Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo and indeed the Puccini items. Where high drama is called for, as in the music of the verismo school, Karajan rises to the occasion and one can hear the resin sizzle as those Berlin string bows bite.” --Stereo Record Guide

Karajan's collection of "Opera Intermezzi" is a real pleasure: fine-spun strings, verismo drama, and space to appreciate the delicate beauty of these gems, from Verdi to Mascagni. --BBC Music Magazine

Detail: Opera Intermezzi

0 Le Belle Immagini

“Kozena's voice is silvery but lacks power in coloratura arias by Mozart and Myslivecek. Tender Gluck in a fascinating collection.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ***

"The Prague Philharmonia led by Michel Swierczewski offers great assistance, and DG's engineers have given the whole project their most natural, warm sound. This CD is not a luxury, it's a necessity." --classicstoday.com

For a singer to begin a recital disc with Sesto's aria "Parto, parto" from Mozart's La clemenza di Tito is a bold statement: The aria requires an exquisite legato, great breath control, an absolutely even range covering two octaves, a real trill, great agility (coupled with great accuracy), and of course, the intelligence and focus to make Sesto's plight (love, resignation, vengeance) come to life. Magdalena Kozena has it all, and more. The voice is billed as a mezzo-soprano, but listeners looking for the heft and/or booming low notes of Marilyn Horne or Ewa Podles will be disappointed; indeed, the voice is lighter than Kasarova's, too. The closest I can come in comparison is to Anne Sofie von Otter, and that's no mean praise. In fact she has everything Otter has and more. Otter's musicianship and sense of style are exemplary, and her production is impeccably natural, but Kozena's mid-range has a sensual throb to it and she uses it for just such communication, whereas her Swedish counterpart tends to keep an emotional distance from what she sings. Both singers radiate class--there's not a vulgar or inappropriate moment here.

The top of Kozena's voice is free and clear as a bell, and from top to bottom the general quality is glowing and beautiful. In fact, I can't find anything wrong with this recital disc, and the program is fascinating. In addition to Mozart's Sesto, we get an ideally understated Cherubino, a warm, happy Idamante, and relative rarities from Lucio Silla and La finta giardiniera--all individually characterized. Gluck's "Le belle immagini" from Paride ed Elena is ravishingly beautiful and worthy of replaying the moment it's over. The other Gluck selections are equally well performed and worthy.

The CD's surprise is three arias by Josef Myslivecek (1737-81), who was admired by Mozart and famous all over Europe during his time. His arias are wonderfully florid and Kozena lashes into them with absolute certainty, executing the most difficult leaps and runs--upward and downward--with what seems to be great enjoyment and absolutely flawless rhythm. She touchingly expresses Sara's unhappiness in an aria from Myslivecek's Abramo ed Isacco and makes you long to hear more from this composer. The Prague Philharmonia led by Michel Swierczewski offers great assistance, and DG's engineers have given the whole project their most natural, warm sound. This CD is not a luxury, it's a necessity.--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

Detail: Le Belle Immagini

0 Amoureuses: Arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

BBC Music Magazine Awards 2009 - Opera Award Winner

“Patricia Petibon's choice of arias by the three greatest of late 18th-century opera composers is tailor-made to display her range, in terms of both drama and sheer vocal compass. …her debut disc for DG is pure pleasure, and Daniel Harding and Concerto Köln provide first-rate support.” --BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 *****

“The French soprano's DG debut is a considerable and attractive success. There are excerpts from Gluck's Armide, too, including a heartfelt air from Act 3. In the last scene, Petibon is mesmerising in the recitative - excellent support here, and indeed throughout, from Daniel Harding - before, again, bursting out in fury.” --Gramophone Magazine, December 2008

Exceptional French soprano Patricia Petibon joins the DG roster with her debut album Amoureuses, featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

Petibon has established herself as one of the most interesting and versatile sopranos of our day and has been widely acclaimed for her outstanding acting abilities that make her merge completely with whatever role she sings and represents on stage

With Amoureuses Petibon circles around the ever-important topic of love and desire – in a series of character-portraits she explores how the very different female characters in the operas of Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck respond to the challenges of love

Ranging from the dramatic fury in Haydn’s Odio, furor, dispetto and Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache . . . to the sweetness in his Deh vieni, and from the desperate sadness of his L’ho perduta . . . me meschina! to the grandeur of Gluck’s Ah! Si la liberté, the album is the perfect showcase for Petibon’s exceptional skills of expression and characterization

For Amoureuses Petibon teamed up with the acclaimed period-instrument band Concerto Köln and conductor Daniel Harding, a collaboration that guarantees an effervescent, entrancing approach to the music of the Viennese masters – a captivating debut to watch for!

Detail: Amoureuses: Arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck