The Mozart Album

Danielle De Niese (Artist), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Sir Charles Mackerras (Conductor), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
• Conductor: Sir Charles Mackerras
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (September 8, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B0027T5L4C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,326 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

New York Times

"a voice seductive enough to woo gods as well as mortals... there is nothing restrained about Ms. de Niese's warmly voluptuous and passionate singing"

Product Description

Danielle DeNiese made her Met debut as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro. At just 19, it was already clear that she was destined to be a major Mozart singer, with her extraordinary sensitivity to language and ability to communicate emotion through the expressive use of vocal color, not to mention her personal charisma, her star quality and the irresistible force of her personality. This recording of Mozart arias is thus a natural follow-up to the remarkable Handel album. Her partnership here with Sir Charles Mackerras lends her the wise and authoritative support of one of the great modern heroes of Mozart performance style and practice. It's an added bonus that in the only duet on this album--"Là ci darem la mano" from Don Giovanni--Danielle is reunited after ten years with the great Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, who had also been in the Figaro in which she made her Met debut. From the famously elaborate coloratura piece, "Exsultate, jubilate" to the ever famous concert piece "Bella mia fiamma, addio!," Danielle displays her remarkable versatility and ability do demonstrate musical and emotional contrast. On Mozart Arias, she also explores other opera gems from world famous operas such as: Cosi fan tutte, Idomeneo, Don Giovanni, and more!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars De Niese needs to be seen, October 25, 2009

By 

J. Luis Juarez Echenique "pepechenique" (Mexico City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mozart Album (Audio CD)

In the theatre Danielle de Niese captivates with her enchanting personality and acting skills, the problem is that these qualities are absent in the singing alone. Her voice is pleasant, but it is not an extraordinary voice, or at least the kind of voice that will justify a Mozart recital like this. I'm afraid de Niese will be more popular in the theatre than in the studio, there have been many singers with such a fate, Raina Kabaivanska comes to mind, singers who can be electrifying live, but whose voices don't record well.
It is a pity that DECCA is overlooking the truly extraordinary Mozart sopranos of our time like Luba Orgonasova, she recorded a glorious Donna Anna for Gardiner and probably the finest Konstanze of all also for Gardiner in Archiv. It is she who has the kind of voice that records well, and she is an artist of a calibre whose work should be preserved for posterity. The people of A & R should wake up.

24 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Let me tell you a story, September 7, 2009

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C. Dowden (Vero Beach, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mozart Album (MP3 Download)

Some years ago a man I know who supervises a large kitchen was offered some blueberries by a local vendor. After sampling a few of the berries, he pushed them away. "Two weeks" he said. The berries were still hard and the flavor was undeveloped. The restaurant owner bought them anyway, so customers were served fresh local blueberries that weren't any damn good.

This is not a developed voice, it's a marketed product. I hope that things work out and she begins to understand and interpret the music she sings and is given the room to do so by the folks who run the music business. That I'd like to hear.

For more penetrating critique see the less than five star reviews of her Handel recording. This recording is more of the same.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New Voice, Old News, September 10, 2009

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David Cady (NYC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mozart Album (Audio CD)

First of all, let me say that I have great respect for those who sing opera well. The time, energy and commitment it takes to build an international career are daunting, to say the least. Those who choose a career in opera, and actually pull it off, are to be commended and encouraged.

Danielle de Niese sings opera well, at times better than that, and Mozart is a good fit for her voice. That being the case, however, doesn't quite justify this pretentiously titled collection. I can think of half a dozen singers (including Bartoli, Battle, Fleming & Dessay) who have put a more personal stamp on this repertoire, and whose albums I'm more likely to return to when I need a Mozart fix. Perhaps if de Niese and her producers had selected more obscure works, this album would feel less like an obligation towards fulfilling a recording contract. (deNiese might do well to take her lead from Kate Royal, who scored beautifully of late by putting together an exquisite album of mostly obscure, rarely heard arias.)

In short, unless you're a diehard de Niese fan -- has she been around long enough to even have diehard fans? -- none of The Mozart Album is essential listening. It does nothing to grab, excite or defy one's expectations.