Casta Diva

by Cecilia Bartoli

Overview

It is difficult to capture the range of mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli's talents on a compilation album. That was even true of the last Bartoli compilation before this 2024 outing, 2013's Sospiri, which did justice to her Baroque opera singing but had a rather dour tone. On Casta Diva, things are peppier, but the "Queen of Baroque," as Bartoli has been styled, gets somewhat short shrift when it comes to that aspect of her remarkable career. As with Sospiri, there are a couple of new tracks to attract those who will buy anything Bartoli releases; these are a pair of Handel arias from Alcina, HWV 34, that she recorded in 2019. There is a bit of smoke in her mid-fifties voice, but generally, listeners will be impressed by how consistent the voice has been since 1992 when the earliest tracks on the album were recorded. As for the rest, of course, some things are left out (and there is a little overlap with Sospiri), but what is here is pure beauty. There is bel canto, Mozart, unusual items like Persiani and Pacini that Bartoli has done so much to research, Rossini songs with James Levine on the piano, and more. The version of Bellini's "Casta diva" is one that Bartoli devised, according to her theories of performance practice of the day, and it is quite persuasive. The remastering of all these various orchestras and sound sources is more than competent, and the bottom line is that new listeners in search of a single-album introduction to Cecilia Bartoli will find this more than enjoyable. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	05/17/2024
Label:	Decca Uk
UPC:	0028948534166

Tracks

1. Norma~Act I. Scene 4: Casta Diva
2. La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo~Act II. Scene 10: Nacqui all'affanno e al pianto... Non più mesta
3. Ines de Castro~Act II. No. 7 (Romanza): Cari giorni
4. L' elisir d'amore~Act I. Scene 3: Una parola, o Adina... Chiedi all'aura
5. Norma~Act II. Scene 3: Mira, o Norma
6. Norma~Act II. Scene 3: Sì, fino all'ore estreme
7. La sonnambula~Act I, Scene 1: Prendi: l'anel ti dono
8. Il turco in Italia~Act I. Scene 13: No, mia vita, mio tesoro
9. I puritani~Act II. No. 7: O rendetemi la speme... Qui la voce
10. Irene, ossia l'assedio di Messina~Act II. No. 7: Ira del ciel
11. Vaga luna che inargenti
12. La danza (tarantella napoletana)
13. Le nozze di Figaro~Act II. Scene 2: Voi che sapete
14. Così fan tutte~Act II. Scene 5: Il core vi dono, bell'idol mio
15. La clemenza di Tito~Act II. Scene 14: Se mai senti spirarti sul volto
16. Siface~Act II. Scene 4: Come nave in mezzo all'onde
17. Alcina~Act I: Di', cor mio
18. Alcina~Act III: Ma quando tornerai

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Cecilia Bartoli   Primary Artist,Soprano (Vocal),Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
La Scintilla   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Gianluca Capuano   Primary Artist,Conductor
Juan Diego Florez   Primary Artist,Tenor (Vocal)
Akademie fuer Alte Musik, Berlin   Primary Artist,Ensemble,Orchestra
Chor Des Opernhauses Zuerich   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
International Chamber Vocalists   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Les Musiciens du Prince   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Adam Fischer   Primary Artist,Conductor
Giovanni Antonini   Primary Artist,Conductor
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Alessandro De Marchi   Primary Artist,Conductor
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Celso Albelo   Primary Artist,Tenor (Vocal)
International Chamber Soloists   Primary Artist,Choir/Chorus
Alessandro Corbelli   Primary Artist,Baritone (Vocal)
La Scala Theater Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Luca Pisaroni   Primary Artist,Bass Baritone,Baritone (Vocal)
Riccardo Chailly   Primary Artist,Conductor
Myung-Whun Chung   Primary Artist,Conductor
Sumi Jo   Primary Artist,Soprano (Vocal)
James Levine   Primary Artist,Piano
Wiener Philharmoniker   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Bryn Terfel   Primary Artist,Bass Baritone
Luciano Pavarotti   Primary Artist,Tenor (Vocal)
Il Giardino Armonico   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Claudio Abbado   Primary Artist,Conductor
Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Bernhard Forck   Primary Artist,Conductor
Daniel Pezzotti   Cello
Maria Goldschmidt   Flute
Zurich Opera Chorus   Choir/Chorus
Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna   Choir/Chorus
Una Prelle   Harp

Technical Credits

Marie Milford   Text Translation
Ewald Markl   Producer,Associate Producer
Gwyn Morris   Text Translation
Deborah Rogers   Editing
Margaret Bent   Editing,Musician
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart   Composer
Gaetano Donizetti   Composer
Michael Woolcock   Producer
Vincenzo Bellini   Composer
Gioachino Rossini   Composer
Alberto Zedda   Editing,Musician
George Frederick Handel   Composer
Kenneth Chalmers   Text Translation
Jonathan Stokes   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Avril Bardoni   Text Translation
Arend Prohmann   Editing,Producer,Recording Producer
James Lock   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Nicola Porpora   Composer
David Ylla-Somers   Text Translation
Rainer Maillard   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Martina Seeber   Text Translation
Juergen Bulgrin   Engineer,Recording
Morten Winding   Producer,Balance Engineer
Neil Hutchinson   Producer,Balance Engineer
Andrew Huth   Text Translation
Christopher Pope   Producer
Reinhard Lagemann   Engineer,Recording
Philip Siney   Engineer,Recording,Balance Engineer
Nina Lesieur   Text Translation
Evans Mirageas   Producer
Claudia Jost   Text Translation
Maurizio Biondi   Editing,Musician
Luca Zoppelli   Editing,Musician
Charles Perrault   Text
Rainer Pollakowski   Recording
Gerd Ueckermann   Text Translation
Ludovico Ariosto   Text
Christopher Alder   Editing,Producer,Recording Producer
Giovanni Pacini   Composer
Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais   Text
J. Barnabe   Text Translation
Krzysztof Jarosz   Engineer
Philip Gossett   Editing,Musician
Claudia Bedini   Text Translation
Pal Christian Moe   Producer
Diana Reed   Text Translation
Christoph Willibald Gluck   Composer
Eugene Scribe   Text
Henning Weber   Text Translation
Ada Pesch   Leader
Michel Orcel   Text Translation
Riccardo Minasi   Editing,Musician
Giuseppe Persiani   Composer
Alessandro Roccatagliati   Editing,Musician
M. Bent   Editing
Christopher Raeburn   Producer,Recording Producer
Susannah Howe   Text Translation
Harriet Mason   Text Translation
Mark Buecker   Recording
Peggy Cochrane   Text Translation
Gudrun Meier   Text Translation
Wolf-Dieter Karwatky   Engineer,Recording
Brigitte Pinaud   Text Translation