Dramma per Musica
Castrato arias excavated by Sony’s star soprano Kermes
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Giuseppe de Majo, George Frideric Handel, Giovanni Pergolesi, Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Johann (Adolph) Hasse, Leonardo Leo
Label: Sony Classical
Magazine Review Date: AW/2012
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 77
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 88691 96396-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Arianna e Teseo |
Giuseppe de Majo, Composer
Giuseppe de Majo, Composer La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Polifemo |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Mitridate |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
(L')Agripinna |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Germanico in Germania, Movement: Empi, se mai disciolgo |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Ifigenia in Aulide |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Zenobia in Palmira |
Leonardo Leo, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Leonardo Leo, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
(L')Olimpiade |
Johann (Adolph) Hasse, Composer
Johann (Adolph) Hasse, Composer La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Adriano in Siria |
Giovanni Pergolesi, Composer
Giovanni Pergolesi, Composer La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Germanico in Germania, Movement: Se dopo ria procella |
Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer
La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Nicola (Antonio) Porpora, Composer Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Rinaldo, Movement: ~ |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
George Frideric Handel, Composer La Magnifica Communita Ensemble La Magnifica Communita Ensemble Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano Simone Kermes, Singer, Soprano |
Author: Richard Wigmore
In reflective music Kermes is more controversial. Handel’s ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ – the sole familiar number here – is touching in its inwardness. Elsewhere, as in a rapt invocation to Jove from Porpora’s Polifemo, she makes expressive use of messa di voce – gradual swelling and ebbing on long-held notes – that in her booklet-note she rightly cites as indispensable to an 18th-century singer’s armoury. But in her search for maximum intimacy she tends to overdo the cooing, slightly breathy tone, à la Bartoli: in a richly scored pastoral siciliano from Porpora’s Ifigenia in Aulide and a gentle harpsichord-accompanied aria from Hasse’s L’Olimpiade. In this mode her inadequate breath support can mean intermittent flatness. That said, Kermes is never dull. And at her finest – say, effortlessly negotiating vertiginous leaps while exuding mingled seductiveness and defiance in Pergolesi’s ‘Sul mio cor’ – her energy, technical brilliance and imagination silence criticism. La Magnifica Comunità matches her in zest and colour. Voice and orchestra are well balanced. The notes by Kermes and Andreas Dommenz provide useful background, though, irritatingly, we get no dramatic context for any of the arias, several of them recorded for the first time.
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