Customer Reviews

Pyrotechnics: Vivaldi Opera Arias

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Known for his frugality as an opera impresario, Vivaldi was regarded by scouting and promoting new talent. This assured him a steady stream of singers eager for their big break in opera, and a safe way to keep production costs down. La Cuzzoni was perhaps the only famous singer Vivaldi ever employed. His music was never interpreted by contemporaries of the stature of Farinelli or any of the other super star castrati of his time.

In counterpointe to this record, now the best singers of our generation sing his scores: Bartoli, Piau, Prina, Invernizzi, and now Genaux.

The relevance of this album lies not just on the selection of opera arias, they have been tried countless times before, but on the creatively unique approach to the da capos. Their ornamentation is novel, exciting, truly refreshing, and a testament to the extraordinary musicianship of Genaux and Biondi.

Genaux cannot escape her legendary and unrivaled performance of Qual Guerriero In Campo Armato, and once more lives up to meet that expectation. In fact, the arias di furore are stylistically brisk, and fluid in interpretation as Qual Guerriero.

As advertised, this album delivers amazing vocal fireworks capable to be moving and dazzling.

Vivica Genaux might be the most exciting singer I've heard in a while. My jaw literally dropped track after track when gave this records its first spin. If anyone knows anything about the Vivaldi arias, you know that they are DAMN difficult. Vivica rips through these runs and embellishments with such incredibly ease. It's insane. Bananas. Her vocals have such incredibly power, range and flexibility. There are plenty to pyrotechnics in this release and I can't get enough of them. Show-stopping!!

This is my second solo album of mezzo-soprano (or contralto) Vivica Genaux.

Some years back, she recorded a solo album on "arias for Farinelli", and though quite good, wasn't at all dazzling as the original sound track recording for the film under the same name, with Christophe Roussett at the baton.

Here she records a brand new all-Vivaldi programme, and frankly hers is one of the best Vivaldi stuff I've heard for quite a long while.

Some reviewer say that not all the stuff are NEW. I don't understand what this means. Vivaldi's stuff certainly belongs not to this century. Cecilia Bartoli has recorded a few tracks on this one early in her 1991 Vivaldi Album. So you would see that Genaux is facing some tough comparisons in this.

Well, I would report that Genaux has fully passed all the vocal tests posed in these repertoire, and manages even to outshine some of her illustrious 'predecessors' in such recordings, viz. Bartoli and Jaroussky.

The reason - she's got the right timbre.

While Genaux does not own a high register to the same stretch orextent as Bartoli (or even Jaroussky), she's got one of the fullest middle and low registers heard in female vocalists. Katherine Ferrier comes to mind when listening to her singing, but we have not had much luxury to hear Ferrier in stereo recordings, and certainly far less in Vivaldi's works.

Genaux's lower registers give her ample room to maneouvre these works' coloratura runs and different nuances. You gain the impression that 'this is what the castrato voice would sound like' as you listen to Genaux's singing.

Then, of course, Fabio Biondi does a wonderful job with the orchestra to give this album the final touches of utter finesse.

Highly recommended recording.

... Vivica Genoux and violinist Fabio Biondi, I mean. And together they bring out the best in Vivaldi - the pyrotechnics, obviously, but also the suave, memorable melodies. Vivaldi's 40-plus operas were his most important work; those who denigrate him as baroque-lite, on the basis chiefly of historically uninformed performances of The Four Seasons, should listen to the recording of his opera Bajazet, performed by Europa Galante with Vivica Genoux in the cast.

I prefer this performance by Genoux very much over the earlier showcase CD - "Arias for Farinelli" - with Rene Jacobs conducting. On that CD, I thought she hampered her amazingly agile voice with too much darkening of timbre. On this disk, she lets her naturally 'white' clarino frolic as nimbly as Biondi's fiddle bow, yet she also projects the fiery emotions - rage, jealousy, scorn, despair - of Vivaldi's operatic heroines and villainesses with every quaver.

The samples won't give you much idea of the virtuosity Genoux brings to these arias. Most of that virtuosity is saved for the ornamented and semi-improvised da capos, which are truly pyrotechnic. Short of investing in the huge selection of Vivaldi's complete operas now suddenly becoming available, this is the CD to hear, to discover what a genius of musical drama the Red Priest really was.

PYROTECHNICS suggests fireworks for the sake of entertaining the masses, explosions that echo memories of celebrations such as (in the USA) July 4 or internationally as for New Year Festivals. What it is certain that the folks who titled this extraordinary CD were referring to is the equal veritable explosions of flights of embellished vocal lines that pepper these arias by Vivaldi. And that is what Vivica Genaux delivers. Matched in exquisite quality of performance by Fabio Biondi and his Europa Galante, this collection of Vivaldi opera arias is an experience from which no one could ever tire.

Mezzo Soprano coloraturas are a rare breed (yes, of course Cecilia Bartoli comes immediately to mind as does Joyce DiDonato and a few others), but Genaux has a thrill to her vocal production that is her signature - and that comes from her informed da capo portions of the arias she has elected to place in this collection. She never repeats a phrase without adding more (and very appropriate) vocal embroidery. Yes, this was the style of the times in which these arias were written, and yes, other singers also create memorable da capo embellishments. But the amazing aspect of what Genaux owns is the fully comfortable presence in every portion of the range in which she extends her voice: the highs are crystalline, the mid register is warm and subtle, and the low register is full bodied and lush.

So yes, this is an hour of pyrotechnics but it is so much more. This is a brilliant collaboration between Vivica Genaux and Fabio Biondi. For those who are close by, this group of arias and some purely instrumental Vivaldi as presented by this singer and ensemble will appear in Los Angeles this month. THIS is worth a trip and a ticket. Breathtaking CD! Grady Harp, January 12

The title of this CD is very apt: Genaux's vocal exhibition is about as close to pyrotechnics as you can get with a mezzo's voice. It's gorgeous. I have a large collection of CD's, and try very hard not to buy new ones. But my friend Chris Schull's review of this disc in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram conned me into ordering it. Am I glad it did!

In my 2005 five-star review of Vivaldi's "Bajazet" Vivaldi - Bajazet / D'Arcangelo, Daniels, Ciofi, Genaux, Mijanovic, Garanca, Europa Galante, Biondi [Includes Bonus DVD], also starring Alaskan mezzo Vivica Genaux, I spoke of the composer's "vocal pyrotechnics." Now Ms. Genaux has released a recital of Vivaldi arias titled, of all things, "Pyrotechnics." For lovers of baroque vocal music, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Another favorite of mine is Ms. Genaux's Virgin Classics disc of arias by Hasse and Handel, including the wonderful cantata "Splende l'alba in oriente" (HWV 166) Vivica Genaux - Handel & Hasse Opera Arias. Likewise, this disc not only offers splendid singing but introduces the listener to many brilliant, unfamiliar works, including five arias that have not been previously recorded. For those looking for a good sampling from Vivaldi's operas, it provides a wonderful complement to the ongoing Vivaldi Edition on Naïve. You can see a nice video trailer on YouTube.

Here's all you have to know .It's Vivaldi.But it.Vivca's performance of all numbers is just great I really love the collection.It would take alot to screw up Vivaldi.This is home run.

wonderfuil,technically safe singer of these

hellish difficult Vivaldi arias ! Exciting

to compare with same type of arias sung

by Cecilia Bartoli !!

Comparing this against over 100 other albums (or anthologies) of Vivaldian vocals, these could be better. Yes, the artists are world renowned, but the sound engineering isn't quite balanced (her voice is too prominent, while the instruments aren't as powerful as they can be). Also, the song selection is not the best, because at least one of the arias has been recorded several times (by several singers), and another point is that an opera recitative shouldn't qualify as "pyrotechnics" (tracks 5, 8, & 11 open with tedious recitativos). By the way, Vivica sometimes sounds like she's using an electric toothbrush while gurgling mouthwash (i.e., mechanical); I'm mostly impressed by her unique tone and operatics, anyhow. So bravo for the world premier recordings, and another Vivaldi album (three stars over all, because they know how to sound better).