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| | Colbran, the Muse | | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Virgin Classics | | Release Date : | | 2009-10-06 | | Store Price : | | $16.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $13.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Armida: D'amor Al Dolce Impero
2. La Donna Del Lago: Oh Mattutini Albori
3. La Donna Del Lago: Tanti Aaffetti In Tal Momento
4. La Donna Del Lago: Fra Il Padre, E Fra L'amante
5. Maometto II: Giusto Ciel, In Tal Periglio
6. Elisabetta, Regina D'Inghilterra: Qant'č Grato All'alma Mia
7. Semiramide: Serena I Vaghi Rai.... Bel Raggio Lusinghier
8. Semiramide: Bel Raggio Lusinghier Di Speme
9. Otello: Ah! Dagli Affanni Oppressa
10. Otello: Nessun Maggior Dolore
11. Otello: O Come Infino Al Core
12. Otello: Assisa Appič D'un Salice
13. Otello: Deh Calma, O Ciel, Nel Sonno
14. Armida: Se Al Mio Crudel Tormento
15. Armida: Dove Son Io!
16. Armida: Č Ver....Gode Quest'Anima
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Breathtaking
Submitted on: 2009-11-22 |
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| Didonato does not have the distinctive sound of Horne but she has the technique. Of course, Didonato is also incredibly beautiful and supposedly, un-diva like. So all I can do is recommend this album to lovers of bel canto, for the few who know the definition of this word! And let's hope she is no "flash in the pan!" |
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DiDonato at her best!
Submitted on: 2009-11-19 |
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| If you enjoyed listening to Joyce's previous album, Handel: Furore - Mad Scenes from Operas, you need to pick her latest release up immediately. Rossini - Colbran, The Muse is a sensational recording of Rossini arias. It is almost a dream come true for me. Joyce, in my opinion, is one of the world's best Rossini singers. This recording masterfully exhibits why she is considered one of the leading vocalists of this generation. Her range is impeccable, featuring secure low register, a confident mid-range and voluminous high notes. Additionally, Joyce makes technically tricky passages sound effortless. If you're a long time fan of Gioacchino Rossini and have yet to listen to any of Joyce DiDonato's Rossini recordings, this is the album you must to pick up. |
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21st century's first great operatic and vocal discovery
Submitted on: 2009-11-05 |
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May be I am 'slow'; but I only discovered Ms. DiDonato these couple of years, and to me, this is probably the greatest vocal discovery since 2000.
This is a true all-round singer - great timbre, rock-solid technique, wonderful musicality, high intelligence.
Almost everything she sings are immaculate, but in this album she concentrates on Rossini.
I must confess that I am not a great Rossinian fan. Other great Rossinian singers that I found impressive include Kasarova and Florez. But these two do not manage to rouse my interest in this composer to the extent Ms. DiDonato does here.
If I found some other great Rossinians lacking some times in character, Ms. DiDonato never makes me wonder what character(s) she has been portraying. In a single-composer album like this, it is of immense importance to be able to state the differences, and DiDonato does admirably.
I would only say that she not only makes me love Rossini's works, but makes me want to listen to the entire operas from which the tracks here are being extracted. This seldom happens in an album of excerpts like this one, and this is evidently the result of highly successful vocal acting and portrayal.
Without a single doubt, this artist will be the one to hold up the operatic banner in the decade to come and more. |
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Colbran the Muse - DiDonato the Goddess!
Submitted on: 2009-10-10 |
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Fierce is just about the only word I can come up with so bowled over have I been by listening to this new disc from Madama DiDonato.
It opens like gangbusters with the spectacular rondo "D'amore al dolce impero" from Armida - a very impressive way to open this recital, every minute of which is thrillingly AND gorgeously sung. DiDonato hurls her voice through coloratura that will practically make your head spin - showing off a more dazzling range than one usually encounters in a mezzo. Then again, she seems to be almost channeling Colbran.
The Dona del lago selections remind me of another mezzo I loved in this music, the young von Stade, with DiDonato possibly earning the laurel wreath here. Of course 35 years ago when Flicka was singing this music Rossini scholarship and performance standards were not quite what they are now, and she was singing it live (in Dallas) with an opera house orchestra in that old barn and recorded by pirates. In 2009 Ms. DiDonato has it considerably better - but none of that would matter if she couldn't sing this stuff and sing it she does - most impressively - and with high notes, grupetti, wild and fierce (there's that word again) variations that pose not a single problem. Her upward scale work in the finale is just nuts!
Putting away the fireworks for a minute, DiDonato summons up ravishing tone and pours her heart into Maometto II's "Giusto ciel in tal periglio" - I've heard many versions of this aria, and DiDonato virtually matches the tragic pathos that Sills brought to this in her La Scala debut, and with a similar quality that's both sunny and sad. The entrance of the chorus - then her decorated line is gorgeous (and I didn't even miss the impossible high note (D#?) Sills tacks in that makes me swoon). I DO miss that Maometto doesn't include the gorgeous cabaletta that follows (which Sills is ridiculously great in).
It's fun to hear the "e cento trappole prima di cedere" music from "Una voca poca fa" pop up in the middle of Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra's "Quanto č grato all'alma mia" (or was it vice versa?) and Joyce and Co. make it soar.
It's also great to hear a nice chunk of Otello (aided beautifully by Lawrence Brownlee) making me wish this opera were more popular than it ever got to become (thanks a lot, Verdi!). I'm thinking SOMEONE needs to mount a production of this for these two. Talk about a hit!
Eduardo Muller leads the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia forces in glorious, full blooded readings the orchestra playing as if to the manner born and the choristers, clearly inspired sing with the same infectious love for Rossini as their golden tressed collaborator.
I won't go into detail of every number here (you're welcome!) but the entire disc is so well conceived, so lovingly put together, the singer's phrasing, breath control and sense of drama is all so damned exciting it moves right to the top of this year's "favorites" pile! |
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Superb, exiting and beautiful singing - perfection!
Submitted on: 2009-10-08 |
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It's been a long, long time since the release of an opera recital made me this happy. Okay, I'm old and jaded and easily given to the "You should have heard Sutherland (or Horne or Callas or whomever)" kind of complaint. But I have no qualms at all in placing this recital among the best I've ever heard. I've enjoyed Miss DiDonato both live and on video, where her beauty and personality count for so much. Here, relying primarily on her voice and musicianship, she triumphs. Make no mistake, there's plenty of personality present on this disc, but her singing is the glory of it. The trills, runs, cadenzas and other coloratura feats are not merely managed, they are thrilling, delightful and amazing, all those things that real coloratura singing should be. She is alive to words in a way which many "bel canto" singers simply are not, and invested in the meaning of every aria. This is beautiful and exciting singing.
The sound is superb, the conducting, playing and choral singing are dandy. I'll go out on a limb and say this has become a desert island disc for me. DiDonato's version of the killing ARMIDA variations is simply the best I've ever heard, and she is splendid in the blazing finale of that opera too. (The Met should take note!) This singer is clearly the best Rossini mezzo since Horne (and I'm well aware of the competition). Prepare to be dazzled. |
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