Customer Reviews

Sacrificium: The Music of the Castrati

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Ten years after her superb Vivaldi album, Cecilia Bartoli provides another thrilling hour with Sacrificium, music of the Italian Baroque, designed for castrati singers. In fact,as an interview with her reveals, she dedicates the album to the thousands of boys each year, whose castration was a sacrifice made for the small handful who could make a fruitful contribution to the beauty of music. Thus the title of the album.
Set in Baroque splendor, she is filmed by Olivier Simonnel, performing a number of arias, with the brilliance and control of vocal apparatus, imagined to have been possessed by the remarkable few, who managed to overcome their brutal treatment and psychological disfigurement, to produce music of rare quality. Any lover of the Baroque style, and most devotees of vocal agility and beauty of sound, will be enchanted by this offering from one our premiere singers. It is very good.

Musically, `Sacrificium' presents the kind of technical virtuosity and communicative power one has come to expect from Cecilia Bartoli--and she delivers magnificently. Visually, it shows that one reason why Bartoli consistently dazzles is that she collaborates with other top-notch artists. This recital is so attractive in no small part thanks to Olivier Simonnet's direction, which is excellent in all arias but one. The camera angles, the lighting, the details, the editing--all show a nuanced understanding of the music and the whole Baroque aesthetic. They create an atmosphere of exuberant vitality and the most exquisite melancholy. It is the latter in particular that Bartoli conveys devastatingly well--I wish they had included more of the silky, haunting arias of sadness. Yes, Bartoli shines in the bravura parts, but it is in spinning those fragile notes of abject longing in which she is peerless. For the splendour and the intimacy of the Baroque, this is a performance to treasure.

Ok, Ms. Bartoli is a splendid vocalist with TRUE PASSION. The album "SACRAFICIUM" is a true artistic stunner, with premiere recordings, deep research and passion. The DVD looks like it was shot over a period of two days, before & after a performance, on the grounds of a Palace. Ms. Bartoli over-exaggerates every possible movement and facial expression and it is not nearly as enjoyable watching her as it is listening to her.

What else can I say? Cecilia is a wonder and the video (the settings, the music, everything) is fantastic.