Michael Maniaci - Mozart Arias for male soprano
No, it's not a typo and the man on the cover is not the conductor. Because the term "male soprano" tends to cause a lot of discussion, disbelief, controversy etc every review or article usually devotes several paragraphs to explain the meaning of the term and how extraordinary it is to be a soprano when you are in fact male. However the story has been written over and over again and has been posted numerous places online, so I prefer to make it simple and let him explain it himself (also included in this clip is extracts from Exultate Jubilate, which is featured on the album):
The music selection on the album consists of the Exultate Jubilate motet, and arias from Idomeneo, Lucio Silla and La clemenza di Tito. When I first started listening to classical music Mozart was the first composer I developed an interest in so it's hard for me to be objective in that respect. Now for the voice: If you read Michael's biography before hearing him sing it's easy to get ideas into your head about what it would sound like. Shrill? Unnatural? Strange? Maybe it's just me because I heard him sing a long time before I knew who he was, but the first thing that struck me was how resonant and powerful his voice is. It doesn't sound the least shrill and even at the top of his register it doesn't sound forced or unnatural. The second thing is, even when keeping his biography in mind, his voice doesn't sound very feminine. (A lot of people not used to countertenors and sopranists would probably say the opposite, however in my opinion a high voice isn't feminine just because it's high) Other versions of Exultate Jubilate I'd listened to recently, by Caroline Sampson and Danielle De Niese respectively, sound distinctively different.
I think this is a gem of a debut album, but it's difficult for me to "erase" all my impressions of other high male voices and listen to it with the ears of someone who's only been listening to tenors and baritones. I suppose if I were in the latter group I would find it hard to get past the phenomenon or shock value of it, which is probably the only downside to the album.
L'Arpeggiata, Philippe Jaroussky, Nuria Rial & Barbara Furtuna - Via Crucis
I've long been a fan of L'Arpeggiata's work with Philippe Jaroussky (despite my rash comments about the Teatro d'amore album elsewhere in this blog... I admit I needed some time to get used to their style and arrangements) so I knew this album would be a favourite. Which it is but oddly not in the way I expected - which is partly due to having seen video of Philippe's concert with L'Arpeggiata from Ambronnay a few years ago. It sounds like a strange reason, but I'll explain: I have been listening to the energetic, vibrant performances from that concert for so long that a studio recording of the same songs, taken out of the playful live concert setting, seems somewhat dull in comparison. The best example of that is Ciaccona di Paradiso e dell'Inferno, which in concert was performed as a duel between Philippe (Paradiso) and two ensemble members (Inferno) and the song took the form of a complete little drama with a lot of humour (as shown about 11 minutes into the video further down). In the recording the parts of Inferno is performed by one voice only, namely Fulvio Bettini, the tempo is slower and virtually all humour has disappeared. But I would probably still be in love with the track had I not heard the live version beforehand, which is a pity. The same goes, in part, for the other tracks on the album that I've heard live versions of; Ninna nanna and Queste pungente spine. Some of the songs that were performed live by Philippe at the mentioned concert are recorded with Nuria Rial on the cd, which makes a nice change. I was also surprised to discover that I really loved Barbara Furtuna's contributions of Corsican folk music to the collection, and also that I became a growing fan of L'Arpeggiata's style in general.
The version I have is the CD only version, however there is also a limited edition version which includes a DVD and a book, in occasion of L'Arpeggiata's 10th anniversary. The DVD features clips from the recording session of the CD as well as other performances from various concerts and recording sessions. A selection of both can be found in this video:
