{"id":24330,"date":"2014-12-19T09:22:43","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T14:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=24330"},"modified":"2014-12-19T09:22:43","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T14:22:43","slug":"cd-review-cecilia-bartoli-sheds-light-on-old-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2014\/12\/19\/cd-review-cecilia-bartoli-sheds-light-on-old-russia\/","title":{"rendered":"CD Review | Cecilia Bartoli Sheds Light On Old Russia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cecilia
Cecilia Bartoli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cecilia Bartoli \u2013 returns with a majestic new album world premiere recordings, hidden treasures of the Mariinsky.\u00a0Featuring\u00a0composers\u00a0Araia, Raupach, Manfredini, and Cimarosa. Performers: Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano), I Barocchisti, Diego Fasolis (conductor). <\/em>(Decca 478 6767<\/a>). Running Time: 77\u201957.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just a few weeks ago, I was standing in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg admiring its vast holdings of mostly European art, pondering the vision of the great Eighteenth Century tsaritsas, especially Catherine the Great (1729-96) who made it all possible. Now comes this imaginative CD researched and performed by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, celebrating the music from this period. I was primed and ready, you might say, to enjoy this new release and it didn\u2019t disappoint me.<\/p>\n

The tsaritsas Anna (1730-40), Elizabeth (1741-61) and Catherine (1762-96), preceded by the example of Peter the Great (1682-1725), all continued the process of westernization that transformed Russia \u2013 or at least St. Petersburg \u2013 from a provincial, isolated backwater into one of the major cultural centers of the world. France was the model for the Russian rulers, generally speaking, but not in musical matters.<\/p>\n

Early in Tsaritsa Anna\u2019s reign, an Italian opera company visited St. Petersburg, and the Russian court loved what they heard. Francesco Araia from Naples was hired as the first Russian court composer. In 1736, one of his operas was produced at the Winter Palace, which later became the main building of the Hermitage Museum. From that point on, there was no looking back; Italian composers and performers beat a path to St. Petersburg and were welcomed with open arms.<\/p>\n

\"Bartoli-CD_cover\"
(See below for video footage of Cecilia Bartoli recording St Petersburg.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In preparation for this recording, Cecilia Bartoli made a pilgrimage to St. Petersburg and spent many hours in the library of the Mariinsky Theatre, where she uncovered some real gems – music by Italian composers who had spent time in Russia during the Eighteenth Century, some of whose works, those of the aforementioned Francesco Araia (1709-1770) among them, are now all but unknown.<\/p>\n

This CD includes several of Araia\u2019s operatic arias, one of which, the aria \u201cPastor che a note ombrosa\u201d from his opera Seleuco<\/em> – a duet between mezzo-soprano and oboe, with the oboe imitating the ornamentation of the voice and vice-versa \u2013 is given an extraordinarily beautiful rendition by Bartoli and oboist Pier Luigi Fabretti. There are also delicious duets in Manfredini\u2019s \u201cNon turbar que\u2019 vaghi rai\u201d (voice and flute), and Cimarosa\u2019s \u201cAgitata in tante pene\u201d (voice and clarinet). The latter also has some surprising modulations that keep the music fresh. The period instrument ensemble I Barocchisti, directed by Diego Fasolis, performs all this music magnficently.<\/p>\n

The most exciting music on the CD is by the man who succeeded Araia as Russian court composer, Hermann Raupach (1728-1778). The aria \u201cRazverzi pyos gortani, laya\u201d from the opera Altsesta<\/em> is a tour de force for both Bartoli and the orchestra. Bartoli is all fire and fury and the trumpets cut through with fiery abandon.<\/p>\n

The three Raupach arias on this recording represent Bartoli\u2019s first recordings in Russian.<\/p>\n

Now 48, Bartoli\u2019s voice has darkened and become heavier over the years. Under pressure, her vibrato can become uncomfortably wide. With age, however, has also come heightened passion. In her youth, Bartoli was a pretty voice with an astonishing technique. Today, the voice is less pretty but far more expressive and often passionate in the extreme. I can\u2019t think of any singer today who could or would go all out the way Bartoli does in the Raubach aria discussed earlier in this review. This aria depicts nearly seven minutes of unremitting madness, and Bartoli does whatever she has to do to convey this woman\u2019s insanity. No wonder Bartoli has been acclaimed for her incomparable Norma<\/em> in a recent production and recording.<\/p>\n

A central feature of this recording is Cecilia Bartoli\u2019s ongoing and deep curiosity about music. In album after album, she has unearthed important but forgotten music, and given performances that make these pieces come alive again. She has done it again with \u201cCecilia Bartoli \u2013 St. Petersburg\u201d. Incidentally, Bartoli is also a very active and important artistic administrator. Late last month her contract was renewed until 2021 as head of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.<\/p>\n

Paul E. Robinson<\/a><\/p>\n