Cecilia Bartoli - Maria (Deluxe Hardcover Edition) [SPECIAL EDITION]

Maria Malibran (Composer), Vincenzo Bellini (Composer), Manuel Garcia (Composer), Jacques Fromental Halevy (Composer), Giovanni Pacini (Composer), Lauro Rossi (Composer), Giuseppe Persiani (Composer), Adam Fischer (Conductor), Orchestra 'La Scintilla' (Orchestra), Cecilia Bartoli (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Cecilia Bartoli
• Orchestra: Orchestra 'La Scintilla'
• Conductor: Adam Fischer
• Composer: Maria Malibran, Vincenzo Bellini, Manuel Garcia, Jacques Fromental Halevy, Giovanni Pacini, et al.
• Audio CD (October 16, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Special Edition
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000RPSVDQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,922 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post
"A celebrity of incomparable stature, Bartoli reigns supreme."

Product Description
Maria is available in a limited CD-sized hardcover package and in this VERY SPECIAL, larger, limited-edition hardcover book (24cm x 24cm), which features the complete album on CD, a DVD documentary and 200+ full color pages displaying the story behind the album and Cecilia Bartoli's personal collection of Maria Malibran artifacts.

Cecilia Bartoli revisits the early Romantic era of Rossini, Bellini and their contemporaries and views the Bel canto glory days through the eyes of Maria Malibran: Romantic icon, Bel Canto muse, and the most extraordinary opera star of her time. Maria features 8 world premiere recordings including the prayer `Se il mio desir...Cedi al duol' from the long lost opera Irene by Pacini, and the aria `E non lo vedo...Son regina' by Maria's father, the famous Rossini tenor Manuel Garcia. Bartoli also presents the London version of Mendelssohn's `Infelice' for voice, violin solo and orchestra, where she duets with Maxim Vengerov. The album also includes popular favorites, such as Bellini's `Casta Diva' from Norma. Maria features an incredible variety of music. Mellifluous Bel canto delights are contrasted with regional flavors from around the world: from Spanish flamenco to Tyrolienne yodeling. The album exhibits Cecilia Bartoli singing in four languages: Italian, Spanish, French and English. She is joined by the period practice Orchestra La Scintilla, led by Hungarian conductor Adam Fischer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get it while you can!!, October 27, 2007

By	C. Pacheco "Music Lover" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The album itself is incredible, beautiful music, beautiful singing, the soul of bel canto. Now the special edition book...it's a treasure, you need to get it, for 20 something bucks is HUGE bargain, and the book is gigantic, full of pictures, stories about the music and composers and La Malibran herself. Cecilia shows us her personal collection of Malibran memorabilia and is of great musical interest.
If you are a music lover, a Cecilia Bartoli fan, a bel canto student or fan or you simply appreciate beautiful things, you NEED this special edition.
Also the DVD is very good showing the recording process and personal stories of how the project happened.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Something to Treasure, November 18, 2007

By	Christopher Bryan (Sewanee, TN USA) - See all my reviews

Despite the hype that has accompanied the appearance of this album, there is enough beauty in it to break your heart. Cecilia Bartoli's voice has never been more utterly gorgeous than in these attempts to re-create the work of early nineteenth century diva Maria Malibran. Bartoli's range, control, and power are stunning - and need to be. Which is my favorite track? Probably the one to which I am listening! But there are certainly particular revelations. The album would be worthwhile if only for Mendelssohn's "Infelice." "It is unbelievable," says Bartoli on the accompanying DVD, "that this piece was not performed for a hundred and eighty years." Unbelievable, indeed! The piece is beautiful. Some tracks are fun, notably Malibran's own "Rataplan" - which does not alter the fact that it is also both charming, and very difficult to sing well. Pacini's "Dopo tante e tante pene," composed for Rossini's "Tancredi," shows off Malibran's (and Bartoli's) wide vocal range, as does Halévy's "Come dolce a me favelli," which at one point soars from low B flat to high A" (on Bartoli's part, as it seems, effortlessly). Manuel Garcia's popular "Yo que soy contrabandista" serves to remind us (and especially on the DVD) that Bartoli thought seriously about being a Flamenco dancer before she chose to be a singer. It seems clear that Malibran (and Giuditta Pasta) were what we should now regard as mezzo-sopranos, in the light of which, Bartoli is willing to challenge the modern assumption that associates a number of Bellini's roles more or less exclusively with sopranos. So the CD culminates in a rendering of Bellini's "Casta diva" that is a formidable and moving statement of Bartoli's assertion that many of the piece's difficulties can be more easily solved by a mezzo-soprano - and especially, of course, when it is performed, as here, at something close to the concert pitch that will have been envisaged by the composer.
There are, I confess, elements in the DVD that I could have done without, notably the slightly hokey shots of Bartoli singing (or pretending to sing) while wandering about in an empty theatre. But the DVD does also give us some, as it appears, genuine glimpses of the creative process. Elements in Bartoli's own character - her sense of fun, her enthusiasm, her delight in and generosity towards her fellow musicians - bubble through these glimpses, as do also the creativity and commitment of others, among them Christopher Raeburn, Adam Fischer, and the Orchestra La Scintilla. Of course La Bartoli has an ego - nobody could achieve what she achieves without it - but it is remarkable, in watching her work, to observe the extent to which, as far as she is concerned, the enterprise is so obviously about the music and Maria Malibran, and NOT about Bartoli. Overall, I have no hesitation in awarding five stars for everything and everyone involved in this splendid album.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vocal voyage to the past, December 6, 2007

By	klavaza "klavaza" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

I had never heard about Maria Malibran as the Romantic era is not of my taste. However, knowing of Cecilia Bartoli's magnificent voice as well as her keen academic researches, I bought this set as soon as I could. It delivered far more for me than I expected. Not only the performances were astounding, eight world premieres included, but the DVD was informative and the book excellent- Now, I know about Malibran, who she was and something about a fantastic era in the history of music. No music lover should be left without one. You can buy the CD alone, but you will miss the DVD, which shows Bartoli's deep interest in Malibran, her times and voice capabilities, as well as her interest in the history of music and the role of women in it. As they used to say in the old stereo magazines: it is highly recommended.