Le nozze di Figaro: E Susanna non vien!... Dove song
Idomeneo, re di Creta: O smania! oh furie!...D'Oreste, d'Alace
Don Giovanni: In quali eccessi, o Numi...Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata
Don Giovanni: Crudele!...Non mi dir
Bella mia fiamma, addio!: Concert aria K 528
This disc of arias from five Mozart operas showcases the soprano Barbara Frittoli. When Graham Vick's ill-fated Don Giovanni was featured in the 2000 Glyndebourne season, almost the only thing that wasn't booed was Frittol... more »i's Donna Anna: a model of decorum, elegance, and vocal poise amid the onstage carnage, which confirmed her status as one of the outstanding Mozart sopranos of the past decade. Elviras, Annas, Fiordiligis, and Contessas have become her stock-in-trade; and here they all are, represented on this disc (alongside an Electra from Idomeneo and the mini-drama of the concert aria "Bella mia fiamma, addio") in singing of extraordinary musicianship and stature. Stature is the word, because although Frittoli is young, the voice is grand with a deliberate, divalike imperiousness that seems to prize cultivation over spontaneity. And the tempi here are equally deliberate under the strong though sometimes oversolid baton of Sir Charles Mackerras. But no matter. These are classic readings of the standard arias and a useful document of the achievement of a rising star. --Michael White« less
This disc of arias from five Mozart operas showcases the soprano Barbara Frittoli. When Graham Vick's ill-fated Don Giovanni was featured in the 2000 Glyndebourne season, almost the only thing that wasn't booed was Frittoli's Donna Anna: a model of decorum, elegance, and vocal poise amid the onstage carnage, which confirmed her status as one of the outstanding Mozart sopranos of the past decade. Elviras, Annas, Fiordiligis, and Contessas have become her stock-in-trade; and here they all are, represented on this disc (alongside an Electra from Idomeneo and the mini-drama of the concert aria "Bella mia fiamma, addio") in singing of extraordinary musicianship and stature. Stature is the word, because although Frittoli is young, the voice is grand with a deliberate, divalike imperiousness that seems to prize cultivation over spontaneity. And the tempi here are equally deliberate under the strong though sometimes oversolid baton of Sir Charles Mackerras. But no matter. These are classic readings of the standard arias and a useful document of the achievement of a rising star. --Michael White
Daniel A. Swick | Saranac Lake, NY United States | 05/02/2001
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Barbara Frittoli is an exasperating performer. Her's is a beautiful midweight lyric soprano, excellently controlled and even throughout it's range -- in short, an ideal voice for Mozart. Unfortunately Frittoli seems disinterested throughout much of this recital. Instead of digging in and giving these vocal masterpieces the heart and fire they deserve, Frittoli seems content to simply sing them well but ambiguously. Occassionally her singing catches fire as in "Mi tradi" and "Come scoglio", but when an aria as emotional charged as "D'oreste d'ajace" fails to ignite even minutely, something is very wrong. Vocally she seems tired, the top often lacking the floated quailty it usually has -- might the recent string of Trovatore "Leonoras" have something to do with this. Frittoli is a talented singer, hopefully she records another opera recital that better displays what she has to offer than this correct but boring disc."
Truly Amazing!
James Cottone | NY, | 01/24/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In an era of small voiced lyric sopranos screaming their throats out to be heard, it is refreshing to hear a true lirico-spinto soprano. Barbara Frittoli has a huge,agile, and glorious voice. I've seen her sing Donna Anna and Desdemona at the Met and she is a vision. She has a prodigious technique and is an artist of the highest caliber. Anyone who loves Mozart will love this CD. It is full of passion, power, love, hate, vengenance, and soulful pity. Ms. Frittoli is a truly sublime soprano. Buy, you'll love it."
Drama and beauty
James Cottone | 10/10/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Barbara Frittoli is a relative newcomer to the international scene but has now started to sing at the Met in NYC so should become better known to American audiences.This recital shows her abilities in Mozart quite well with natural, flowing tempos set by Charles Mackerras. Ms. Frittoli has performed most of these roles on stage (Elvira in Paris, Anna at Glyndebourne, the Countess at La Scala, etc.) and this stage experience comes through in the characterizations and coloring of words. Her fiery Elettra stopped an August concert "Idomeneo" in its tracks after "D'Oreste, d'Aiace" at the Edinburgh Festival and I look forward to that complete recording (Mackerras: Bostridge, Milne, Frittoli, Hunt Lieberson) immensely. She is nothing if not dramatic with a true Italian intensity and rolling "r"s. This is an intelligent, wellsung and wellconducted recital. Keep an eye out for this lady to take her place among the best Verdi and Mozart singers of her generation and hear her now in her early prime."
Barbara Frittoli: A Sign of the Times
NMdesapio | 03/22/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Decades ago it was quite rare to hear Italians singing Mozart, but in recent years we have been blessed with many fine Italian Mozarteans, including Cecilia Bartoli, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Alessandro Corbelli, Ferrucio Furlanetto - and Barbara Frittoli. Soprano Frittoli's Mozart CD offers several of the composer's best-known arias for soprano -- Fiordiligi's from COSI FAN TUTTE and the Countess' from LE NOZZE DI FIGARO; Donna Elvira's "Mi tradi" and Donna Anna's "Non mi dir" from DON GIOVANNI - plus Elettra's furious "D'Oreste, d'Aiace" from IDOMENEO and a concert aria, "Bella mia fiamma, addio." Frittoli's voice is amber in hue and gloriously even from top to bottom, with a rich, Italianate vibrato. If her arias from COSI lack in character compared to Bartoli's renditions of the same arias (on her now-classic "Mozart Portraits" CD), this is because Frittoli is an essentially MUSICAL artist who does not so much CREATE a character as sing as though she IS the character. Frittoli's is a good CD to buy if you want the most famous of Mozart's soprano arias on one disc; but I would also highly recommend Bartoli's "Mozart Portraits" (to my mind, the greatest Mozart collection ever recorded) and Renee Fleming's beautiful "Mozart Arias."