Maria (Ltd Dlx Ed) (W/Dvd) [Special Edition]

The album itself is incredible, beautiful music, beautiful singing, the soul of bel canto. Now the special edition book...it's a treasure, you need to get it, for 20 something bucks is HUGE bargain, and the book is gigantic, full of pictures, stories about the music and composers and La Malibran herself. Cecilia shows us her personal collection of Malibran memorabilia and is of great musical interest.
If you are a music lover, a Cecilia Bartoli fan, a bel canto student or fan or you simply appreciate beautiful things, you NEED this special edition.
Also the DVD is very good showing the recording process and personal stories of how the project happened.

Despite the hype that has accompanied the appearance of this album, there is enough beauty in it to break your heart. Cecilia Bartoli's voice has never been more utterly gorgeous than in these attempts to re-create the work of early nineteenth century diva Maria Malibran. Bartoli's range, control, and power are stunning - and need to be. Which is my favorite track? Probably the one to which I am listening! But there are certainly particular revelations. The album would be worthwhile if only for Mendelssohn's "Infelice." "It is unbelievable," says Bartoli on the accompanying DVD, "that this piece was not performed for a hundred and eighty years." Unbelievable, indeed! The piece is beautiful. Some tracks are fun, notably Malibran's own "Rataplan" - which does not alter the fact that it is also both charming, and very difficult to sing well. Pacini's "Dopo tante e tante pene," composed for Rossini's "Tancredi," shows off Malibran's (and Bartoli's) wide vocal range, as does Halévy's "Come dolce a me favelli," which at one point soars from low B flat to high A" (on Bartoli's part, as it seems, effortlessly). Manuel Garcia's popular "Yo que soy contrabandista" serves to remind us (and especially on the DVD) that Bartoli thought seriously about being a Flamenco dancer before she chose to be a singer. It seems clear that Malibran (and Giuditta Pasta) were what we should now regard as mezzo-sopranos, in the light of which, Bartoli is willing to challenge the modern assumption that associates a number of Bellini's roles more or less exclusively with sopranos. So the CD culminates in a rendering of Bellini's "Casta diva" that is a formidable and moving statement of Bartoli's assertion that many of the piece's difficulties can be more easily solved by a mezzo-soprano - and especially, of course, when it is performed, as here, at something close to the concert pitch that will have been envisaged by the composer.
There are, I confess, elements in the DVD that I could have done without, notably the slightly hokey shots of Bartoli singing (or pretending to sing) while wandering about in an empty theatre. But the DVD does also give us some, as it appears, genuine glimpses of the creative process. Elements in Bartoli's own character - her sense of fun, her enthusiasm, her delight in and generosity towards her fellow musicians - bubble through these glimpses, as do also the creativity and commitment of others, among them Christopher Raeburn, Adam Fischer, and the Orchestra La Scintilla. Of course La Bartoli has an ego - nobody could achieve what she achieves without it - but it is remarkable, in watching her work, to observe the extent to which, as far as she is concerned, the enterprise is so obviously about the music and Maria Malibran, and NOT about Bartoli. Overall, I have no hesitation in awarding five stars for everything and everyone involved in this splendid album.

I had never heard about Maria Malibran as the Romantic era is not of my taste. However, knowing of Cecilia Bartoli's magnificent voice as well as her keen academic researches, I bought this set as soon as I could. It delivered far more for me than I expected. Not only the performances were astounding, eight world premieres included, but the DVD was informative and the book excellent- Now, I know about Malibran, who she was and something about a fantastic era in the history of music. No music lover should be left without one. You can buy the CD alone, but you will miss the DVD, which shows Bartoli's deep interest in Malibran, her times and voice capabilities, as well as her interest in the history of music and the role of women in it. As they used to say in the old stereo magazines: it is highly recommended.

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