Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Christopher Hogwood (Conductor), The Academy of Ancient Music (Orchestra), Cecilia Bartoli (Performer), Della Jones (Performer), Uwe Heilmann (Performer), Gilles Cachemaille (Performer), Diana Montague (Performer), Barbara Bonney (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Cecilia Bartoli, Della Jones, Uwe Heilmann, Gilles Cachemaille, Diana Montague, et al.
• Orchestra: The Academy of Ancient Music
• Conductor: Christopher Hogwood
• Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Audio CD (March 14, 1995)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: L'Oiseau-Lyres (Decca)
• ASIN: B000004CYG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,269 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #15 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Bonney, Barbara
  • #23 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Bartoli, Cecilia
  • #28 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > A to B > Bartoli, Cecilia > All Works Featuring Bartoli

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A formidable advocacy of this neglected opera, September 8, 2006

By 

Steven Guy (Croydon, South Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood (Audio CD)

I bought this recording nearly a decade ago and it still excites me.

Back in 1992 I worked in a music shop in Melbourne. I remember a young man I worked with, John, telling me that he thought La Clemenza di Tito was a retrograde step for Mozart. John thought is was too much of a step back into the world of the Baroque, what with its Opera Seria stylings, castrati and Metastasio libretto.

Well, I am a lover of Baroque opera, so I wasn't put off at all.

Right from the first moments of the overture of this recording, it is apparent that this is very much an "alive" and vibrant recording. The Academy of Ancient Music is in excellent form on this recording and the soloist are also well chosen and engaged with the whole enterprise of bringing about a fresh and HIP approach to this often neglected work.

Tenor, Uwe Heilman, makes a rather gentle Tito. His voice has a rather fragile and vulnerable quality to it. Perhaps a little too much vibrato here and there, but his actual sound is rather nice.
Cecilia Bartoli is excellent for and her Sesto is powerful and lively. Barbara Bonney impressed me, too, but then, she usually does. The rest of the cast is very good. The chorus sings with great effect.

Christopher Hogwood is one of those conductors who does like to let the music and the musicians live together in harmony and he seems to like to impose as little on what the composer wrote as possible. Of course, there is a very sound and rational interpretation of the work going on in this recording, but Hogwood does not try to make this a "HOGWOOD-first, Mozart (second)" recording. Alas, some conductors, like René Jacobs for instance, seem to see themselves as being more important than the composer, the music and the even the musicians.

I bought this recording in 1995 or '96, I can't quite remember, and I listened to it endlessly in my car, at home and at my parents' place over a cool glass of wine or three with my mother and father. Good times!

I have never felt tempted to buy another recording (I have multiple recordings of ALL the other major Mozart operas).

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cecilia - the singer who saved this recording, August 26, 2008

By 

Davit Gabunia (Tbilisi, Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood (Audio CD)

If not for Cecilia Bartoli, I doubt I would be able to listen to it till the end. Orchestra is more than boring - somehow dull. Other performers are more or less audible in some parts, only Cecilia manages to capture the character perfectly well, her recitatives are outstandingly brilliant - unlike those of other performes. The difference between all others and Cecilia's skillfulness is so huge that it is somehow disturbing to listen. Really, it's a pity for such a preformace to have inequal patnership, both vocal and instrumental.
Still I rate the CD with 4 starts - Cecilia's work mustn't be underestimated.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Tito, December 31, 2002

By 

figaro "jacoba" (Eugene, OR United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mozart - La clemenza di Tito / Bartoli · Heilmann · D. Jones · Montague · Cachemaille · Bonney · AAM · Hogwood (Audio CD)

I love this cd set. Sesto is a great role for Bartoli. Della Jones as Vitellia has the most interesting voice - the middle is a teeny bit mushy, yet the top is a strong bell-tone, and the bottom is a gritty chest tone. I just love her. Her coloratura is wonderful. Diana Montague sings Annio and she has one of the sweetest mezzos around. Barbara Bonney as Servilia is as good as one would expect which is impeccable. I am not a huge fan of the light, bell-toned voice, but a great singer like Bonney can make you a believer either way. Do not think you will hear a similar performance to what she delivered in the video with Schade. Either she is losing her voice by the time of the video, or she was simply having a bad night, but on this cd, she is perfect. Cachemaille has a nice, smooth bass-baritone sound and Heilmann as Tito is a delight. His extremely lyric voice has sharp focus and beautiful tone and his coloratura is dead on. Maybe there are more dramatic Titos out there, but I have tried many and this is still my favorite.