Customer Reviews

Cecilia Bartoli - Gluck Italian Arias ~ Dreams & Fables

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Cecilia Bartoli haws been my favorite (mezzo? soprano? singer!) for years now so it didn't surprise anyone who knows me that I got this CD as soon as it was released and play at least some of it nearly every day. What was a surprise was the fact that so many of my non-opera-loving friends now own this.
Gluck is treated here to a thoughtful, vivacious, and totally wondrous revival of some of his too-long-neglected works...(something the world experienced previously with Cecilia's "Vivaldi Album") and, as usual, the performances are imbued with a spirit and depth which only an artist of Bartoli's talent can achieve.
From the opening trumpets on "Tremo, fra dubbi miei" to the consummate beauty of voice in the closing aria, " Berenice, che fa?" Bartoli and The Akademie fur Ault Musik take us on a journey through some of the most beautiful music (and poetry) any of us is likely to hear.
In a year with some excellent vocal recordings, Bartoli was awarded her second consecutive Grammy for this effort. And just like last year, the voters hit the mark. So does Cecilia.

This CD is arguably an even greater achievement than Ms Bartoli's Vivaldi Album. The Amazon reviewer's assessment is correct in that the best passages are not necessarily those that demonstrate the greatest "technical" virtuosity (though that is plainly evident in Ms Bartoli's typically amazing coloratura runs). Rather, some of the more restrained and plaintiff passages--particularly in the 11-minute "Se mai senti spirarti sul volto" (La Clemenza di Toto)--achieve precisely what Gluck and Metastasio aim to achieve: that is, a sublime, "equal-footed" marriage between poetry and music.

No matter her technical merits in the area of range, trill, vibrato, etc., Ms Bartoli is at her best, in my opinion, when tackling more deliberate, contemplative vocal passages (rather than fast, nervous "runs"--think "Amarilli" from Live In Italy, which reduces me to a puddle every time). In such a context, Ms Bartoli's voice imbues the music she sings with a warm, amber quality, and the characters she plays with an extra poignancy. A great CD--and a delightful introduction to Gluck, who up to now was a relative unknown to me.

We have been visiting this page ever since the recording was released, expecting to find a flood of enthusiastic reviews. The CD seems to sell very well though and that's what really matters, but the relative silence of reviewers is surprising. One of the reasons behind it may be the simple fact that Bartoli's new disc is really difficult to write about. Yes, it is beautifully produced, with the booklet richly illustrated and filled with fantastic liner notes (really WORTH reading along with the arias!) by Bartoli's boyfriend and collaborator Claudio Osele. And yes, it is gorgeously sung and equally gorgeously played (an improvement since the Vivaldi disc where the orchestral accompaniment was too rough). But how to describe the music, especially when so much of it hasn't been performed since the 18th century and it is impossible to refer the potential buyer to existing recordings, however obscure. Of course, the Vivaldi disc posed the same problem, but there the composer's name - familiar to so many - combined with Bartoli's reputation guaranteed its success. Gluck never enjoyed this kind of popularity and even among real opera aficionados it is hard to find those who are familiar with his works except the ubiquitous "Orfeo ed Euridice". And yet, Gluck's place in the history of opera is much more important than Vivaldi's - he was the great reformer, the man who transformed Baroque opera into Classical. But perhaps this very quality of being a transitional figure, neither wholly Baroque nor wholly Classical (plus his cosmopolitanism - he was a Bohemian who wrote operas in Italian, French and German for most of the major European cities) has made him difficult to fit into any category. People tend to think of Classical opera as sounding like Mozart - Gluck's reform operas don't and so they mistake his deliberate simplicity for lack of skill. As for his early work before his reforms of the 1760s, this has been almost entirely forgotten - after all, the reasoning goes, if it needed reforming then there was clearly something badly wrong with it. This new CD proves how mistaken that judgment is.

All the arias here are set to the words by Pietro Metastasio, the most successful librettist of the eighteenth century and perhaps of all time. His 27 different libretti were apparently set 800 times by 300 different composers, so eighteenth century audiences coming to an operatic premiere would often know the words by heart before they had heard a note of the new musical version. Many of those composers enjoyed only a brief fame, but some of Gluck's arias recorded here can be contrasted with rival settings by the greatest: Handel, Haydn and Mozart. Track 3 brings a marvellous recitativo followed by a da capo aria from Gluck's 1750 opera "Ezio". Handel set the same Metastasio text (slightly adapted) to music some 20 years earlier. The contrast between Handel's lilting, dancelike melody and Gluck's passionate rage is striking (audio sample 23 on CD2 ASIN #B000001KDX if you don't have the recording). The very title "Clemenza di Tito" immediately brings associations with the Mozart opera of the same name. Unfortunately, Mozart used an adapted text (by Mazzola) but it is still possible to compare the two works. A piece which Mozart set as a trio appears here as an 11 minute long aria, "Se mai sentirti spirar...". It is (literally) breathtaking, as life and hope slowly die away and Bartoli's performance is electrifying, time seems to stand still as she sings. The daring harmonies in this piece provoked immense controversy in its day. When his pupils told the famous Italian music teacher, Durante, that such unconventional music was obviously the work of a 'German donkey', he replied that no rules existed to justify such a combination of sounds but only a genius could have thought of it. This aria also shows one reason why Metastasio had such a strong appeal to musicians. Metastasio often wrote his texts around a single metaphor or simile (this one is based on the idea of 'breath), allowing composers the opportunity for vivid musical illustration. Anyone who has heard the Vivaldi Album might remember the two Metastasio arias there, with their metaphors of a storm at sea and of freezing winter. Here we also get arias based on the idea of Cupid's lyre, inspiring Gluck to a wonderfully rococo pizzicato accompaniment, and of a gentle stream gradually building to a great river ("Quel chiaro rio"). But human passions are also directly depicted - one of our very favorite tracks, "Berenice, che fai?"(#8), is a magnificent scene set to a superb text, that also inspired Haydn ("Scena di Berenice", Hob.XXIVa:10) and apparently Handel. Haydn's "Scena di Berenice", composed in 1795, is more classically controlled and not as intensely dramatic as Gluck's, but it is no less powerful. Those who are lucky to have Arleen Auger's delightful recital of Haydn's arias and cantatas (Decca/L'Oiseau Lyre 1990, nla) can hear it in her touching interpretation.

What you won't hear on this CD is Gluck's most famous aria "Che faro senza Euridice". We heard so much about Cecilia's struggle with Decca over her refusal to record the aria, that it almost became a legend. Of course everybody would love to hear it but in a way, its absence is a symbol of the artist's personal victory (besides the aria's text is not by Metastasio) - she got it her way and she is to be congratulated for her faith in this little known but quite wonderful music. Those who fall in love with Gluck through this superb recital and would like to explore more, should start with Minkowski's recording of "Iphigenie en Tauride", one of the best recordings of any Classical opera. There, if you still hunt for comparisons, you can find Gluck's own reworking of the two last arias on this CD. Enjoy!

I have watched with dismay the shrinking of the sphere of classical music. First it was the loss of WFLN, Philadelphia's classical music station. It is hard to imagine a major city with no full-time classical music radio station, but... welcome to Philadelphia. Having moved to Paris, I am surrounded by a wealth of classical music; reasonably priced concerts in many churches, featuring vocal and orchestral and instrumental works of an infinite variety. There are several classical radio stations.

However, the signs of shrinkage are appearing here as well. I have watched the large classical area of the Virgin Megastore on the Champs Elysées shrink multiple times. There is no longer a separate room, and the range of choices has been radically reduced. Their store in the Carrousel du Louvre still features a reasonable selection, and it is there that I found this CD yesterday.

OK, off my soap box. This CD is a delight for me. Discovering "lost" works such as these is one thing that keeps classical music alive. These elegant, stirring works of Gluck will transport you back to the glory and power of the 18th century. The glorious voice of Cecelia Bartoli suits these works perfectly. This is music that will transport you, lift you, embrace you, transform you. It is heavenly music that warms the soul.

I highly recommend this CD. The packaging is outstanding, with informative and well-written liner notes. If you want a brief escape from the hassles of modern life, or if you simply want to swim of the glory of sublime music in the hands of a superb artist, this CD will serve you well.

This week Bartoli sang a major part of this cd in her Amsterdam-recital and in particular the Berenice-aria was incomparable. It must be so gratifying for Gluck, on his cloud up there, to be restored to acclaim by such a singer centuries later.

I once overheard two ladies calling the music of composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) dull and slimy. In my opinion those ladies were unfair to the composer, but they were entitled to their opinions. This superb and exciting disc shows that Gluck was far from dull or slimy and he found a most worthy champion in Cecilia Bartoli. Gluck's position in the history of music is an uneasy one. As for in his music still sounds the Baroque but it already heralds the Classical period, thus setting the stage for Haydn and Mozart. On this disc Cecilia Bartoli dusts off several (lesser known) opera arias by Gluck and in her hands these sound fresh and new. This disc features eight arias which were taken from 'La Clemenza di Tito', 'Il Parnasso Confusso', 'Ezio', 'La Semiramide' Riconosciuta', 'La Corona' and 'Antigono' all set to libretti by Pietro Metastasio. Ms. Bartoli is accompanied by the Akademie fuer Alte Musik, Berlin conducted by Bernhard Forck. The gorgeous booklet contains information on the composer, Cecilia Bartoli, the Akademie fuer Alte Musik, Berlin and the texts and translations.

Cecilia Bartoli's superb performance of these eight arias takes the listener on a roller coaster of joy, grief, passion and heartbreak. Her dedication to this music and her capability to submerge herself completely in it, provides the listener with a riveting and powerful disc. As she does this wonderful music, the expressive and passionate texts by Metastasio [which concern Mythology or Antiquity] fully justice. Cecilia Bartoli shows the full range of her emotions going from rage to reflectiveness or to tenderness and grief. Her beautiful, warm and low voice captures these emotions all perfectly and every nuance and colour is brought out. The two faces of Gluck (Baroque/Classical) or rather his duality can be observed in the first and sixth arias with their whirlwind of emotions and magnificent trumpet parts. The Akademie fuer Alte Musik, Berlin gives a splendid and alert support to Cecilia Bartoli. Although this is a magnificent disc, I especially loved the three arias which were taken from 'La Clemenza di Tito'. Gluck found in Cecilia Bartoli a staunch and excellent champion and I will always cherish this disc.

Can you improve on perfection? Cecilia BARTOLI certainly can . . , and elevates a grateful GLUCK to new heights.
Now how can I top my raves for her VIVALDI Album? Here she
uses her vital energy to float an even more arid project.
And regales us with amazing vocal artistry. A tour-de-force
shining new light on a quasi-forgotten composer, who found
in Cecilia his most valiant knight. The orchestra under
B. Forck a class act. And the graphic presentation/booklet
an achievement in itself, it's a labour of love you'll
feel tempted to leave on your coffee table for conversation.
Make this your CD of the month, and be amazed.

Cecilia Bartoli shows in this fantastic CD what a composer Gluck actually was from his early years. The music is fantastic, orchestrated well, and Bartoli delivers wonderful performances of these neglected pieces. Each one is so fantastic and full of life, and Bartoli is surely the one of the greatest artists of her or any time. Let's just hope she continues producing such fantastic work!

Anyone familiar with the work of Sally Sanford in her book, "Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Vocal Style and Technique", will certainly agree that Cecilia Bartoli embodies the vocal approach that this classical era repertoire demands - breath-initiated tone and articulation, facile approach to fioratura, and seamless legato. While Ms. Bartoli's vocal facility is still amazing after more than a decade before the public, it is always her slow, lyrical singing that proves she is a musical artist of the first rank. On top of this superlative vocalism (despite a slight wiriness to the uppermost pitches), the listener gets an insight to the music that influenced the operatic compositional style of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Perhaps it bodes well for a Gluck revival with the recordings now available from mezzos Susan Graham, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Magdalena Kozena, as well as Ms. Bartoli. A Gluck "La clemenza di Tito" would be a thrilling addition to the record archives if Ms. Bartoli's recording of the arias are any indication. Now, when can we expect the Handel arias album?

I think this is the best singing by Bartoli that I've heard since she recorded Idomeneo with Placido Domingo in the early 90's. It is historically informed and well played by the orchestra. The arias are rare gems that sparkle and are moving.

It is definitely a must have for all fans of Bartoli along, and not just the early-music crowd but all lovers of classical music.

Bravo!