|
CD Review
The Salieri Album - Cecilia Bartoli
www.ceciliabartolionline.com
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
www.oae.co.uk
Decca Music Group Limited
Charlene Frank
11/25/2003 Popular history has not been kind to Antonio Salieri. He has been cast as such a villain that he may as well have a long curled mustache and wear a black cape, while forcing a poor widow and her children out of their home.
His name became well known to us from the movie Amadeus – he was the bad guy. The man who poisoned Mozart. But there are few (if any) music historians who say that this is anything other than a ridiculous piece of gossip that got picked up and spread like wildfire throughout the years. Actually, most historians agree that Mozart wasn’t murdered at all. The poor widow and her children are safe in their home; Salieri can safely be released from his role as the villain
Although most of us don’t know anything about Salieri’s music, in the late 1700’s he was the powerhouse behind the music scene in Vienna. Congratulations to Cecilia Bartoli for rediscovering his music and bringing it to us so beautifully. The CD is wonderful. Perhaps now this much maligned composer can gain his rightful place in musical history.
The Salieri Album shows her tremendous vocal range (as does most of Ms. Bartoli’s work). We all know her as an amazing mezzo-soprano, but the line separating her rich mezzo from her soprano range is blurred. No matter how she is defined, her voice (especially her mezzo) is an incredible instrument, and it is perfect for the baroque style of Salieri.
We are the fortunate benefactors of her search for forgotten masterpieces. The vocalization on this CD is not simple. She masters it.
The Salieri Album is an excellent CD, one well worth owning.
|
