RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Ladies Sing Baroque
see end of review for track listing & performer details
rec. no dates and venues given. Published 1992 - 2011
Liner-notes but no sung texts
NAÏVE V5294 [57:48 + 58:24]
Compilations of this kind tend to be aimed at a very wide general public.
They reflect a view that the only way of catching the attention of that general
public is to include as many well known songs and arias and as many famous
singers as possible.
The baroque repertoire is different. There are a few standard arias (Ombra
mai fu, Lascia ch’io pianga for instance) that everyone knows, and
even they are not included here. The singers are all the crème de la
crème among baroque specialists, but not many of them are household
names to the general public. Magdalena Kozena should be, since she sings other
repertoire as well, and Sandrine Piau and Sara Mingardo and the fabulous Natalie
Stutzmann ... Be that as it may, what is important is that among these 23
songs and arias none is weak or indifferent and the singing is throughout
on the highest possible level. Unless you, dear reader, belong to that, I
hope, diminishing group of listeners for whom music history begins with Mozart,
you should be able to find gems here that will last for many years to come.
You will want to return to these discs time and again, play them for friends
and visitors and spread the message in the neighbourhood: Come and listen!
What a treasure trove there is here! When you feel you want to dig deeper
in this repertoire Naïve have cleverly provided a catalogue at the end
of the booklet with enticing cover photos of a bunch of discs worth seeking
out.
It’s not just the songs and arias and the quality of the singing. The
quality of the recordings, made during the last two decades, is superb and
there are a number of formidable orchestras and ensembles - many with fanciful
names - that play with such energy, such beauty, such rhythmic acuity that
you will be delighted from the very first minute. There are liner-notes, well
written, charming. They surely can give some further inspiration. True, there
are no texts enclosed, and that’s a pity. But it is not necessary to
know exactly what they sing about; the music in itself reveals a lot of the
feelings expressed.
So far I haven’t written a word on the individual arias and I don’t
intend to highlight each and everyone of them. Let me just pick some of my
favourites - others will, I am sure, find their own favourites. Vivaldi (9)
and Handel (6) quite unsurprisingly dominate the discs, always inventive,
always original within the baroque conventions. The virtuoso Mottetto in
furore iustissimae irae (CD 1 tr. 2) with Sandrine Piau in superb shape
is irresistible, and so is Magdalena Kozena’s reading of the long aria
from Juditha triumphans (CD 1 tr. 6) where the playing of the un-credited
clarinettist is truly beautiful. Natalie Stutzmann’s dramatic aria from
La verità in cimento (CD 1 tr. 11) is another treat. Brilliant
and dramatic is also Nel profondo from Orlando furioso (CD 2
tr. 2) and Marie-Nicole Lemieux never lets things down. And while in Vivaldian
mood I must mention the spectacular jealousy aria from Ottone in villa
(CD 2 tr. 11) sung in breakneck tempo and with amazing coloratura from the
fearless Julia Lezhneva.
Handel is always Handel and Sandrine Piau is truly wonderful in Se pieta
from Giulio Cesare (CD 2 tr. 1). It was also a good idea to include
a number of duets for greater variety and we also get some music from the
early baroque, Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi and Purcell, all of them worth
a listen. The least known composer here is probably Porpora (CD 2 tr. 4) but
he is no less accomplished than his better known colleagues and the aria from
Polifemo is beautifully sung by Veronica Cangemi, a soprano I can’t
recall having heard before.
The two best known arias here are probably those by Bach. The Agnus Dei
from his Mass in B minor (CD 2 tr. 12) could hardly be bettered. Natalie
Stutzmann has a marvellous voice! Erbarme Dich from St Matthews
Passion (CD 1 tr. 9) is interesting insofar as it is here performed in
an arrangement by Felix Mendelssohn and this is probably what the listeners
heard in Berlin in 1829 when he revived the work after several decades of
oblivion. Angela Kazimierczuk, another new acquaintance, sings it with warm
timbre and the violin solo is lovely.
Do I seem too enthusiastic and too uncritical? Perhaps, but I don’t
think so. In most compilations there are at least some weak points but here
are none. Specialist collectors will probably already own several of the discs
from where these excerpts have been culled, but for the rest of my readers
this treasure trove is available, ready to provide spine-chilling and heart-rending
listening experiences that may change your lives. Don’t miss the opportunity!
Göran Forsling
Spine-chilling and heart-rending listening experiences that may change your
lives.
Track listing
CD 1
Giovanni Battista PERGOLESI (1710 - 1736)
1. Stabat mater dolorosa a due - Grave [5:10]
Sara Mingardo (contralto), Gemma Bertagnolli (soprano), Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo
Alessandrini
Antonio VIVALDI (1678 - 1741)
2. Motetto in furore iustissimae irae - Allegro [4:31]
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Accademia Bizantina/Ottavio Dantone
Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567 - 1643)
3. Lamento della Ninfa, “Amor” dicea [3:17]
Rosana Bertini (soprano), Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini
George Frideric HANDEL (1685 - 1759)
4. A Song for St Cecilia’s day, The Soft Complaining flute [6:30]
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Florian Cousin (flute), Les musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble/Marc
Minkowski
Antonio VIVALDI
5. Zeffiretti che sussurrate [5:04]
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Modo Antiquo/Federico
Maria Sardelli
6. Juditha triumphans, “Veni, sequere fida” [7:18]
Magdalena Kozena (soprano), Academia Montis regalis/Alessandro de Marchi
George Frideric HANDEL
Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno:
7. “Fido Specchio...” [3:46]
Deborah York (soprano)
8. Se la bellezza perde vahezza ...” [3:36]
Sara Mingardo (contralto)
Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685 - 1750)
9. Saint Matthew Passion, “Erbarme Dich” [6:31]
Angela Kazimiercszuk (soprano), Chorus Musicus, Das neue Orchester/Christoph
Spering
George Frideric HANDEL
10. Radamisto, “Vive in te” [7:51]
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Sara Mingardo (contralto), Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo
Alessandrini
Antonio VIVALDI
11. La verità in cimento, “Se l’acquisto di quell Soglio”
[3:33]
Natalie Stutzmann (alto), Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe Spinosi
CD 2
George Frideric HANDEL
1. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, “Se pieta” [8:50]
Sandrine Piau (soprano), Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
Antonio VIVALDI
2. Orlando furioso, “Nel profondo” [4:01]
3. Stabat mater dolorosa, largo [3:04]
Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Ensemble Matheus/Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Nicola PORPORA (1686 - 1768)
4. Polifemo, “Alto giove” [8:29]
Veronica Cangemi (soprano), Una Stella Ensemble
Antonio VIVALDI
5. L’Olimpiade, “Gemo in un punto e fremo” [3:18]
Sara Mingardo (contralto), Concerto Italiano/Rinaldo Alessandrini
6. Orlando finto pazzo, “Anderò, volerò, griderò”
[1:57]
Sonia Prina (contralto), Academia Montis regalis/Alessandro de Marchi
Barbara STROZZI (c.1619 - 1677)
7. Lamento: Lagrime mie, a che vi trattenete [7:29]
Anna Caterina Antonacci (soprano), Modo Antiquo/Federico Maria Sardelli
8. Arietta a voce sola, “Miei pensieri” [4:13]
Roberta Invernizzi (soprano), Bizzarrie Armoniche
Henry PURCELL (1659 - 1695)
9. “Bid the virtues” [3:35]
Patricia Petibon (soprano), Ensemble Amarillis
George Frideric HANDEL
10. Theodora, “To thee, thou glorious son of worth”[4:46]
Karina Gauvin (soprano), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (contralto), Il Complesso Barocco/Alan
Curtis
Antonio VIVALDI
11. Ottone in villa, “Gelosia” [3:16]
Julia Lezhneva (soprano), Il Giardino Armonico/Giovanni Antonini
Johann Sebastian BACH
12. Mass in B minor, “Ag