Cecilia Bartoli - Opera Proibita
A touch of the Fellinis as a scorching Bartoli meets the banned
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Antonio Caldara, George Frideric Handel
Genre:
Opera
Label: Decca
Magazine Review Date: 11/2005
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 475 6924DH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Cantata per la Notte del Santissimo Natale |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) giardino di rose (La Santissima Vergine del Rosario), Movement: Mentr'io godo in dolce oblio |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Movement: Un pensiero nemico di pace |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) trionfo dell' innocenza |
Antonio Caldara, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Antonio Caldara, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(La) castità al cimento (Il trionfo della castità) |
Antonio Caldara, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Antonio Caldara, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme, Movement: Caldo sangue |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Movement: Come nembo |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) giardino di rose (La Santissima Vergine del Rosario), Movement: Ecco negl'orti tuoi |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) giardino di rose (La Santissima Vergine del Rosario), Movement: Che dolce simpatia |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
San Filippo Neri, Movement: Qui resta, ove s'innalza |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
San Filippo Neri, Movement: L'alta Roma reina del mondo |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, Movement: Lascia la spina |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme, Movement: Ah! qual cordoglio acerbo |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme, Movement: Doppio affetto |
(Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre (Pietro) Alessandro (Gaspare) Scarlatti, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
Oratorio per Santa Francesca Romana |
Antonio Caldara, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Antonio Caldara, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) martirio di Santa Caterina, Movement: Ahi quanto cieca |
Antonio Caldara, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Antonio Caldara, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(Il) martirio di Santa Caterina, Movement: Come foco alla sua sfera |
Antonio Caldara, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Antonio Caldara, Composer Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
(La) Resurrezione di Nostro Signor Gesù Cristo, Movement: ~ |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
(Les) Musiciens du Louvre Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo soprano George Frideric Handel, Composer Marc Minkowski, Conductor |
Author: David Vickers
Cecilia Bartoli’s latest foray into Baroque music is adorned with what might be a contender for worst cover of the year. Like the sensationalist title, it is no doubt Decca’s attempt to over-glamorise the repertoire. After all, a more literal name such as ‘Arias from Baroque Italian oratorios composed for Rome dating from a short period during which the Papacy forbade secular staged entertainment’ would not set as many pulses racing as Bartoli recreating sensual poses inspired by Fellini’s La dolce vita.
But if Decca’s packaging brings this repertoire to wider prominence then it cannot be a sinful thing to promote a veritable treasure trove. Caldara, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti neatly sidestepped the issue of ‘forbidden opera’ by creating fully fledged dramatic music to religious libretti (often written by connoisseur Cardinals who could not get their operatic fix unless they sorted out their own entertainments). The allegorical or descriptive nature of the libretti is less obviously active than secular opera texts; but the musical vocabulary applied to the expression of intense emotional responses certainly produces undeniably dramatic effects.
Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione and Scarlatti’s Sedecia already have magnificent recordings but Bartoli has plenty to contribute. Her heartfelt performance of Handel’s ‘Lascia la spina’ brings new life to an old warhorse and invites the possibility that this version of the aria provides a more convincing sentimental context for Handel’s music than its later adaptation in Rinaldo (the famous ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’).
The programme flows with strong contrasts between the dynamic impact of vibrant fast arias and slower music aching with pathos and integrity. Scarlatti’s ‘All’arme sì accesi guerrieri’ is a splendid opener, replete with brilliant trumpets and booming timpani, but the finest moments are the measured arias: the overtly operatic death scene from Sedecia (‘Caldo sangue’) and the sweeping beauty of Caldara’s ‘Sì piangete pupille dolenti’.
Bartoli’s extrovert singing finds an ideal partner in Marc Minkowski’s characteristically extreme direction. Both artists have sometimes been guilty of being too volatile in Italianate Baroque music but here they seem to iron out each other’s flaws so that the combination of their passionately communicative styles produces fantastic results.
But if Decca’s packaging brings this repertoire to wider prominence then it cannot be a sinful thing to promote a veritable treasure trove. Caldara, Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti neatly sidestepped the issue of ‘forbidden opera’ by creating fully fledged dramatic music to religious libretti (often written by connoisseur Cardinals who could not get their operatic fix unless they sorted out their own entertainments). The allegorical or descriptive nature of the libretti is less obviously active than secular opera texts; but the musical vocabulary applied to the expression of intense emotional responses certainly produces undeniably dramatic effects.
Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione and Scarlatti’s Sedecia already have magnificent recordings but Bartoli has plenty to contribute. Her heartfelt performance of Handel’s ‘Lascia la spina’ brings new life to an old warhorse and invites the possibility that this version of the aria provides a more convincing sentimental context for Handel’s music than its later adaptation in Rinaldo (the famous ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’).
The programme flows with strong contrasts between the dynamic impact of vibrant fast arias and slower music aching with pathos and integrity. Scarlatti’s ‘All’arme sì accesi guerrieri’ is a splendid opener, replete with brilliant trumpets and booming timpani, but the finest moments are the measured arias: the overtly operatic death scene from Sedecia (‘Caldo sangue’) and the sweeping beauty of Caldara’s ‘Sì piangete pupille dolenti’.
Bartoli’s extrovert singing finds an ideal partner in Marc Minkowski’s characteristically extreme direction. Both artists have sometimes been guilty of being too volatile in Italianate Baroque music but here they seem to iron out each other’s flaws so that the combination of their passionately communicative styles produces fantastic results.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
SubscribeGramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.