Claudio Scimone, I Solisti Veneti - Antonio Vivaldi: Orlando Furioso (2002)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 773 Mb | Total time: 53:20+57:24+52:01 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 2292-45147-2 | Recorded: 1977
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 773 Mb | Total time: 53:20+57:24+52:01 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 2292-45147-2 | Recorded: 1977
There are three absolutely amazing performances on this set, and not because the voices are more or less beautiful than usual: those of Victoria de los Angeles, Marilyn Horne, and Sesto Bruscantini. The first-named sings here with dramatic expression, cleanly executed coloratura runs, and trills, none of which she was known for through most of her career. By dramatic expression I do not mean the generalized drama of her Butterfly, but word-painting and attention to text, of getting inside the character. Her coloratura runs here are far more cleanly executed than on her famous recording of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. As for trills, yes, she attempted a couple of imperfect ones on her recordings, but none in her Jewel Song from Faust, neither the mono recording from 1952 nor the stereo remake of 1957, neither in Nedda’s 1953 “Ballatella” nor in Antonia’s music in the 1965 Contes d’Hoffman.