We are officially a Cecilia Bartoli supporting household here at Gert Cottage, although at least half of the residents may - or may not - be just as interested in her cleavage as in her voice. Allegedly.
I have a few DVDs featuring Ms Bartoli - Barbiere, which overall I'm not overly keen on, but she's good; Don Giovanni, which is good but not brilliant, but a certain resident of Gert Cottage thinks that her bossy portrayal of Donna Elvira is reminiscent of another resident of Gert Cottage. Allegedly. And Cenerentola, where she is ace.
So this CD is a must for the Gert Cottage collection. Some people don't like her. Possibly because she is marketed and popular . Others have referred to her machine-gun colatura. I can see what they mean - I happen to like it.
This CD has some of the most gorgeous packaging of any in my collection. The actual case is a triptych, with five of the six sides featuring portraits of Cecilia looking sultry, alluring and beautiful, and the sixth is a track listing. On the middle of the inside is glued a transparent plastic disc holder, and tucked into the inside left is a 64-page booklet, containing a four-language narrative and the words to the arias in four languages. It is amongst the favourite packaging of my entire CD collection. The cover of the booklet features more gorgeous photos of Cecilia
Did I mention that I like Cecilia? Her repertory is interesting, going from Baroque through to Bel Canto. Her last CD was of Salieri arias. I understand that opening night (7 December, of course) of the refurbished La Scala will feature her in a Salieri opera, which seems an extraordinary choice. No Salieri on this, but it does feature in, I think, chronological order, Handel, Vivaldi, Gluck, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi. There is a not a track I dislike on the entire CD.
What do I like about Cecilia. She has a rich voice - a good sweet top, and her lower register is gorgeously burnished. Her enunciation is clear and precise. Her colatura is - okay, machine-gun is the only expression that really fits. I like it. A lot of people don't like the soprano voice. There are some I really like, and the rest I detest, even when objectively I know that they are *good*. If you have been put off by sopranos by the yelling and screaming at the top of the register, I would recommend mezzos. Through the history of recording, and in the present day, there are any number of mezzos to choose from. But you could do a lot worse than to get this CD. In addition to solo tracks she does one with David Daniels - top counter-tenor; Luciano Pavarotti - once upon a time the world's second best tenor; and Bryn Terfel - every housewife's favourite bass-baritone. Indeed, Cecilia and Bryn is almost definitely my second favourite La ci darem le mano in my entire collection. And La ci darem le mano is quite possibly my joint favourite duet of all time.
In fact I am about to go off a digression here - I have just decided that La ci darem le mano is the best thing ever that Mozart ever wrote. Of course, I can change my mind any time I want. But for now...!
Actually, I would go as far as to say that Pavarotti singing 'Una parola, o Adina...Chiedi all'aura' from Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore sounds positively lovely. Fortunately, on Traviata's Libiamo, he's back to that usual voice that I keep thinking is very good but don't really like.
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