Customer Reviews

Cecilia Bartoli - The Salieri Album

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Cecilia Bartoli is a genius and this is a great album. Buy it. End of review.

However, let's put Ms. Bartoli in a little perspective. I'll let others wax eloquent on her voice (or find fault for reasons beyond my comprehension). However, I would like to propose that Ms. Bartoli may be the most important performer of her generation because of the potential impact she is having or may have on the repertoire itself.

For a little perspective, recall that after 1945 "bel canto" opera, with the exception of a handful of works, had disappeared from the stage outside of Italy. Along come Maria Calas, Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills and by the 1960's there are dozens of recordings of operas by Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and even Cherubini (MEDEA is a genuinely great work). Cecilia Bartoli, with a little luck, will precipitate a rediscovery of what I am convinced is pure gold in the field of early classical and baroque opera.

Between 1640-1770 opera grew steadily in popularity. Many hundreds were written to please the eager patrons, from a surprisingly broad range of social classes, of the steadily growing number of opera houses that began to clog the continent. (Some opera even made it to the English Colonies in North America well before the little disagreement with the Crown.) If you read a standard history (Fred Plotkin's simple work is a good example) it will tell the following story. Composers of the baroque era, eager to please the unwashed peons and mindless aristocrats buying opera tickets, chose libretti, usually loosely inspired by classical mythology, of zero literary merit. The words were simple devices to get from one aria, duet or chorus to another. Mind you, this practice was, in the eyes of later critics, a bad bad thing. Sitting around and listening to beautiful (or perhaps merely pretty) songs was, I guess, a trivial pastime. The arch-villain in the piece was Pietro Metastasio an Italian poet and author of dozens of libretti. Frivolity by Metastasio and others led to the exhaustion of the art form. Then, like the cavalry, comes Gluck and his "reform" operas that attempted to balance the story with the music creating something profound. With a few bumps along the road (like Mozart or the bel canto masters who all put the music clearly on top of the musical heap) a new art develops and triumphs with mature Verdi and, especially, Wagner. If we accept the pundits' story, the road to heaven continues through Bizet (cigarette factories instead of Troy: a giant leap for mankind no doubt), Puccini, Britten and, heavens, pretty soon we have the pleasure of listening to NIXON IN CHINA.

Cecilia Bartoli sells CDs in mega-numbers in "classical terms" and has developed a fanatic following which is unlike that of any other singer. And how has she done it? She started by showing an uncanny skill for several roles in Mozart and Rossini. Well established as a rising star, one would think she would have moved more solidly into heart of opera-land. But Bartoli didn't know the script. Instead, she marched steadily backward, into the vapid artistic swamp of baroque opera. She hits the charts with an album of Gluck works - many from his decadent Metastasio period. The music's great. My books assure me that whatever his orchestral skills, Vivaldi's operas weren't worth the time of day. Cecilia Bartoli makes a spectacular Vivaldi album. My books assure me that whatever his orchestral skills, Haydn's opera's weren't worth the time of day (Metastasio you know). Cecilia Bartoli makes a spectacular Haydn album. To really show what she thought of a hundred years of musical criticism, Ms. Bartoli recorded a gorgeous album (THE IMPATIENT LOVER) that consists of songs composed by Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn and Mozart employing lyrics by - get this - Pietro Metastasio. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that she now chooses to bring Salieri, the Metastasio of his era, to the top of the classical charts.

I think Cecilia Bartoli is trying to tell the world's opera lovers that there exists a gold mine of unexplored musical beauty sitting right in the back yard. All that has to be done is to record it. Ms. Bartoli has thrown her big hat into the ring. Her most recent work is a DVD of a performance of NINA by Giovanni Paisiello, another "pre-reform" composer who committed the crime of not being Mozart. I don't have my clutches on it yet, but the buzz is that it's great.

All music lovers must want the repertoire to expand. I would like to think that modern composers can rediscover beauty and hope it will happen. (It does sometimes.) Until then, let's hope that opera companies bring to life a century's worth of music derided and discarded by late 19th Century critics. No doubt there are duds out there. Perhaps there are works that could be "staged" rather than performed (dump the recitative if it really is inane). And perhaps there are some really nice works out there ready to go. If Maria Callas was able to rescue Rossini and his immediate successors from a century of deaf pundits, we may hope that Cecilia Bartoli will do the same for a legion of Italian composers that entranced Europe for over a century. If she does so, or helps the process along, lovers of music will be in her debt.

I have been waiting for this recording to come out for a long time, and to be honest, I am slightly disappointed. I love Bartoli in the more lyrical numbers (especially tracks 2, 6, 9, 11 and 13), because of the wonderful timbre of her voice, and the way she delivers them with simplicity. She sings the other tracks very well, also, but she tends to make mouthfuls of certain words, and in my opinion, she can be a bit silly. Also, the top of her voice sounds a bit thinner than it was, perhaps, because the soprano register has taxed her bit; and her coloratura sounds more laboured than it was before. But if you love Bartoli, or want to discover a new composer (the music reveals Salieri to be an extremly competent compser, not quite on the level of Mozart) then buy this CD, but other Bartoli CDs are probably a better introduction into her wonderful singing.

With the release of this album, I hope that the classical music and opera scene embraces the works of Antonio Salieri (1750-1825). Salieri's music, mostly instrumental and opera, as well as sacred music for the Catholic Church, was being composed and performed at the same time as Mozart. The 1984 film Amadeus, which won Best Picture that year, scarred the reputation of this great Italian composer. In the movie, Salieri comes off as a vengeful, raving jealous man who was personally involved in the death of Mozart. The movie is complete fabrication for the sake of an Oscar-winning drama and totally false. Salieri and Mozart were contemporary figures that generally got along very well and it's actually Mozart who should have been jealous of Salieri. In their time, Salieri was the more well-received composer. Salieri lived better than Mozart ever did and was the court composer of Vienna, while Mozart struggled with censors and patrons because he was far too independent and radical in his persona. This album, gorgeously sung by the one and only Cecilia Bartoli, showcases much of the great opera that Saleri wrote for the female voice. Cecilia Bartoli's mezzo-coloratura soprano dramatics, lyrical legato and control of breath, as well as the ability she has to sing graceful melody, makes her the perfect choice for Salieri opera.

The album opens with Son Qual Lacera Tartana from La Secchia Rapita. This fiendishly difficult aria is delivered with virtuoso skill by Cecilia Bartoli, whose bravura and fiery vocals at one point range from G to D in the lines "Vinca"
and "Casca". The voice paints in words the scene of a ship caught in a tempest. Such word painting is a trademark of Salieri's music. He does this again in the aria from La Cifra "Non Vo Gia Che Vi Suonino" in which a bride describes to her groom what kind of music she wants played at her wedding. Her voice mixes blissfully with each instrument being played. A lot of the arias from the operas on here "Palmira", "Armida" "La Finta Scena" etc are pastoral dramas of great noble beauty, in the style of Gluck or echoes of Baroque drama, in which romantic love and virtue are the signature theme. Cecilia's coloratura magic is ever present in the arias "Vi sono Sposa e Amante" from La Fiera Di Venezia and "Sulle Mie Tempie" from La Secchia. Observe how in these arias Bartoli has the agile speed and acrobatic high notes that are all over the map. Miss Bartoli has started a new movement in which Salieri can finally emerge out of the unfair shadow cast upon him in Amadeus and triumphantly take his place in the Classical Composers Hall of Fame.

Cecilia Bartoli is among the most recognizable and artistic opera singers of today's opera world. She hails from Italy, home of opera, where she launched her operatic career, singing the mezzo-soprano starring roles of Rossini operas- L'Italiana In Algieri, La Turca In Italia, La Cenerentola, The Barber Of Seville, etc, and has also popularized such trouser roles as Cherubino in Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro. Her role in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte is also exceptional. Her mezzo soprano voice is not as deep as let's say Marilyn Horne, who can almost sound like a contralto, but Cecilia's voice has beautiful soprano qualities and she interpolates dazzling coloratura technique whenever necessary. Straying from her usual repertoire, at least as far as composer, Cecilia Bartoli sings arias from Salieri operas in this compilation album. She is brilliant. Also, the music of Salieri and his operas stand out. We can now appreciate him more thoroughly as a mature, gifted composer who just happened to be eclipsed by Mozart.

Antonio Salieri, contrary to popular belief, rumors and his portrayal in the 1984 film "Amadeus", was not a jealous, scheming, villainous rival composer who was bent on crushing Mozart and who caused his death. Salieri was actually much more appreciated and loved in his time than the "modern" Mozart, whose newer style of music as well as liberal "star" personality was never well received in conservative Vienna. At this time, in Vienna, composers were under the patronage of monarchs and nobility. Mozart himself was in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg for many years. To defy authority by making one's self the celebrity was detrimental to a composer's career and could cause his ruin. Salieri, on the other hand, always catered to popular tastes in Vienna and would honor the Emperor without making himself a celebrity. He was financially more secure than Mozart and lived in luxury. He had no reason to even be jealous of the struggling Mozart. If he was, he kept it to himself and did not act on hi jealousy and he certainly did not scheme to bring about Mozart's death.

In this compilation album, Cecilia Bartoli brings out the beauty elaborate lyricism of Salieri's operas. He wrote gorgeous vocal music for the female soprano voice. Perhaps some of these ornate melodies were written for the reigning soprano of the time- Catarina Cavallieri, who was Salieri's mistress. Cecilia Bartoli is leaping out, sort to speak, of her usual lower registers and taking on dramataic, fierce attacks that are found in the "chest" voice of a soprano. And she does so without sacrificing her "head" voice, able to spin out roulades and coloratura passages of lightning speed. Among the finest works in this album are arias from Salieri's "Pamira, Regina De Persia" and "Armida". It is disappointing, at least for me, that there is no soprano aria from Salieri's opera "Axur, Re De Ormus". "Axur" was considered the greatest opera ever written, a term used by Emperor Joseph himself when he attended a performance. Cecilia Bartoli would have pleased Salieri himself and would have more than likely surpassed Catarina Cavalieri, with her charm, good looks, ease of vocals and gifted opera talent.

I have been waiting for a long time for this cd to come out, and I got it the first thing in the morning today. Wow, I was not disappointed. It has every thing - the ostentatiously ornamented rondos, the long, heart-broken lamentations, to the jocundly playful sobrette ballads. Of course, Bartoli's singing is impeccable and nearly perfect: her characterization of the roles are supreme - from the innocent peasant girl to the noble Rinaldo. But what surprise me the most is how original Salieri's music is. Very refreshing and very distinct from other 18th century composer, perhaps even more so than Mozart's music. Of course, I know the musicologists and Bartoli purposely picked the pieces that stand out above others. Overall, the cd is full of surprises and delight. . . and also, it's Bartoli!!!

Cecilia Bartoli is not only noteworthy for her unique voice, but for her contributions to musical study. She seems to be effectively and singlehandedly changing the face of how we approach music history with her recordings. This is why this recording is important.

She has been recording rare arias from operas which have dropped out of common repetoire for centuries. She has unearthed forgotten operas of great musical innovators such as Glueck and Vivaldi, and now Salieri. And due to what she achieves here, I will happily put "Salieri Album" in a rank next to my most prized Mozart records.

It seems as though Mozart dominates today's ouvre as the sole Classical Period composer of opera, but it was composers like Vincente Martin y Soler and Antonio Salieri who dominated the scene. Salieri was also just as innovative as Mozart. Works such as the overture to "Cesare in Farmacusa" harbor proto-Beethovenian storms, while his opera "Axur," in it's ahead-of-its-time construction, look foreward to the music-dramas of Wagner. These days, we look mainly at Mozart and his Donna Anna or Queen of the Night as THE voices of the Classical Period, but when you consider the bigger picture, Salieri's heroines, especially those the Cecilia Bartoli electrifyingly portrays on this record, equate or exceed what we might hear from Mozart in technical demand and overall beauty (Take for example the first track on this record).

With Cecilia Bartoli, opera is never boring. Some might thing she overacts, but is opera not essentially a fusion of music and drama? In this respect, Signora Bartoli is the perfect voice to define our generation, a generation which is looking to expand its musical horizons by exploring operas of more obscure composers. It is a relief that she knows how to bring her roles to LIFE. This is why her mission to revive these works has been so succesful. She has people interested.

As for the composer himself, Salieri was without a doubt, the most influential on the upcoming Romantic Period, even more so than Mozart. Notable names who had their musical education nurtured under Salieri's wing include Schubert, Weber, Beethoven, Mozart's son Franz Xaver, and even Liszt. It really is unfortunate that Pushkin and Peter Shaffer have pinned against Mozart, a composer who Salieri admired and had good relations with, according to letters.

The recording quality is excellent, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment compliments Bartoli's voice perfectly. Adam Fisher, furthermore, has a difficult task since much of this recording is world-premiere material. However, he presents the material as vividly as though they have never left the repetoire.

Buy this recording. I believe Signora Bartoli has set out on something great, and "Salieri Album" will have a ripple effect in the music world. I love this release.

I agree wholeheartedly with the reviewer from Chicago. Kudos to Bartoli for recuperating music -- Gluck's, Vivaldi's, and now Salieri's -- that otherwise would probably have languished in permanent oblivion. But, please, can someone take both her and Renee Fleming aside and tell them to SNAP OUT OF IT? Both have become addicted to such inflated, hyberbolic stylistic mannerisms that both are coming very close to being unlistenable. Bartoli's vocalism here is, weirdly, amazingly accomplished and downright ugly at least half the time. When I want to listen to Bartoli these days, I return to her lovely disc of French songs (of all things), released probably seven years ago -- completely unidiosyncratic repertoire for her, to be sure, with gorgeous, sinuous, and elegant singing. And her French is quite good, to boot. Maybe her forte should lie in French, not Italian, music, after all. Anything to stop the cycle of squawking.

I came rather late to this CD. Am I the only one who saw "Amadeus" and came out wanting to hear more of the music of Salieri?

Ms Bartoli brings a her wonderful skills to the recording of some feriously difficult arias and proves up to the task. I know that some people have commented on flaws in her singing or the recording but the the joy of the album is the journey of discovery....each track is an adventure and a revelation.

A revelation of two great musical talents in top form ..Bartoli and Salieri.

Salieri's music is technically sophisticated and he wrote some truly glorious music for the female voice.

I can only recommend this to any lover of music.

Bartoli writes that she records this album to honor Salieri to help him "emerge from the shadow of Mozart and finally accord him the status he deserves. In this, she succeeds mightily. My comments on this superb and stunningly beautifl album can be viewed at "OperaOnline.us" Bartoli has gusto, energy, pure passion, and obvious feeling for this endeavor and it shows in this wonderful, wonderful album.

I found this disk simply wonderful. Firstly, yes, Bartoli is becoming quite mannered in many things these days, and she is a rather overblown performer in some ways, but she does what she does so wonderfully well (and it seems no one else is interested in the music she seems to have fallen in love with, and what a pity for music world as it is obviously GREAT music; a little competition just may make her become a little more careful in some of this excesses). I discovered Salieri as a music student decades ago. I found some scores, very old printings of a couple of operas, and when I played through them, I was simply amazed at the quality of the music. I remember when I presented my find to my professor, I was instantly put down as having no taste for quality if I could enjoy this forgettable composer. Well, something in me told me I was not getting a very open view on things. Years later I found a recording of his opera "Falstaff" and was blown away with the magic of the music.

I know it is complete sacriledge, but I found him far more interseting than Mozart, and his music was far less boring to me (yes, I am one of those who happens to agree with the Emperor, the Marriage of Figaro has too many notes, not to mention too many arias for very forgettable characters we care less about; and though I love Don Giovanni to pieces, it is not the most perfect opera written). Now whether Salieri was the geniuse Mozart was, probably not, but I found it far less difficult to enjoy his works than Mozart's.

Like one reviewer stated, Salieri had no reason whatever to be jealous of Mozart; he was making a great living while Mozart was nearly dying in poverty, and he had the respect of the musical world in which he lived, he also had greater fame than Mozart did while they were both living. Mozart's fame came later. The story of Salieri's attempt to kill Mozart is a complete fiction, and it is not one that originated in that day and age, but a century later when Mozart was remembered and performed all the time, and Salieri was nothing more than a name in the record books.

In my search of past musical masterpieces, I have found what usually kept it lasting well into our century was not the quality of the music so much as the ease of performing it. Most of the operas that lasted into the 20th century (prior to the "bel canto rebirth") were ones that could be sung by those with heavy voices that could sing Verdi or Wagner and still manage (no matter how tastelessly) a Mozartian line. Excepting super high coloratura parts, most all florid music simply died out. People couldn't sing it.

I suspect this is the case with Salieri. He wrote incredibly difficult vocal lines for singers who could do them wonderfully well (Mozart's vocal lines are far simpler and less taxing technically in many ways), and when those singers no longer existed, there was no one around to sing his music. It faded away, and in time was forgotten. Then the stupid story of his hatred for Mozart was created, and well, he became a laughable person ever since. Finally we are hearing his music speak for him, and we are seeing he is not anything like my music professor taught me to think.

Bartoli does a super job with this music, and she has shown that she can sing "soprano" as well as Mezzo. I have found, especially since Bartoli's voice is small, that she is using it in a very interesting way. She has tried to return to the old way of singing where the chest notes were powerful, and the head tones were delicate. Because she can do that, I am sure that is why she can sing those high-lying soprano parts. The modern approach where the top is the most powerful would not let her do that. Her coloratura is stupendous. The music she sings is exciting, and very thrilling to listen to. This disk is a great buy, and one well worth the money. IF Bartoli had any real competition in this music (and it isn't that there is no one else who can sing it, it is just wondering why those who can won't) I can just imagine the heights she could attain, after all, she loves it more than anyone.