Search - Berberian, Harnoncourt, Cmw :: Sings Monteverdi

MagnifiCathy and Monteverdi

stardustraven | Europe | 02/01/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The late Cathy Berberian (1928-1983), who is one of my favourite singers delivered with her Monteverdi programme pure magic. Ms. Berberian, a mezzo-soprano, with a remarkable three octave voice was an amazing performer and singer. From 1950 on she was for a couple of years married to composer Luciano Berio and performed several of his pieces. She would become one of the leading figures of contemporary (progressive) music. Her repertoire ranged from Early music to her husband's folksongs. It has been said of Cathy Berberian that a hundred voices resided within her. This statement nails her vocal abilities perfectly. The pieces on this disc by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) were taken from his madrigal books, the operas 'Orfeo' and 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea'. The eminent Concentus Musicus Wien directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt lends her a stately but sparse support. In two arias Ms. Berberian is joined by tenor Nigel Rogers and counter tenor Paul Essewood, who are both well known on the Early music scene with solid contributions. Since I own an earlier release of this album, my copy only includes liner notes and no texts. Monteverdi with his passionate outbursts, elaborate thrills and echo effects offers several vocal challenges for any performer of his music. But Cathy Berberian rises superbly to the challenge and delivers an intensely dramatic performance which is riveting. Every shade and nuance of love, sadness, grief and revenge is brought out brilliantly as Ms. Berberian displays a wonderful richness of timbre and insight into the material [especially the 'Lamento D'Arianna' and the arias from 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea']. Her pronunciation and articulation of the texts is excellent, I could hear every word. A magnificent disc by the lady with a hundred voices!"

A magnificant CD

physics student | St. John's, Newfoundland Canada | 11/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am listening to this CD while typing this comment, and my unsophisticated "analysis" is that it is magnificant, beautiful, touching. I know of nothing to compare with Berberian's of "A Dio Roma"."