Volume 10 Issue 7 - April 2005

obot:) have an intricate knowledge
of each other's playing habits and
styles, thus making for a vibrant
and exciting resonance. Matthew
Jennejohn plays with such fluidity
that his instruments are easily m_istaken
for the violins. The continua
section is recorded in such a way
that its support and its skill are both
brought to light.
The disc contains a great deal of
interesting information about Alessandro
Scarlatti and about his compositions.
Matthew White. as the
featured artist. appears on the front
cover looking appropriately despairing.
The back cover· depicts
him in a very strange position (perhaps
crying, perhaps in pain) and
my immediate reaction was to
phone all the Montreal hospitals to
set: if he had been admitted. The,
disc is truly spectacular and well
worth the purchase. Don't worry
- Matthew White is fine. The photo
is for dramatic effect.
Gabrielle McLaughlin
Concert Note: Matthew White is teatured
in Tafelmusik's presentation of
Handel's Deborah, May 5-8.
Vivaldi - Orlando furioso
Ensemble Matheus;
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
a·ive/Opus 111 OP 30393
This is not the first great recording
of this masterpiece - the splendid
recording under Claudio Scimone
with Marilyn Home and Victoria de
Los Angeles is fortunately still available.
But it is the first benefiting from
recent scholarly revisions based on
the important collection of Vivaldi
manuscripts in the Turin library, as
well as the use of period instruments.
Spinosi favours weighty continuo
enriched by theorbo and guitar,
heavily accented down beats, fast
rhythms and surging phrases - and
never hesitates to take them to extremes.
Though he can be overly
theatrical, he creates extraordinary
tension and excitement - just compare
the two versions of Medoro's
catchy aria Qua[ candido.
In Spinosi 's hands the accompanied
recitatives are as enjoyable and
dramatically powerful as the arias,
as they should be. His singers are
outstanding. As Orlando, the young
Canadian mezzo Marie-Nicole Lemieux
spends a large part of the opera
demented. In the process, she
colours her gorgeous voice to create
a breathtaking range of moods.
As the sorceress Alcina, Jennifr
Larmore thrillingly virtuosic when
she whips off "Andera, chiamero".
Bass-baritone Lorenzo Ragazzo's
flexible lower range is well-complimented
by his warm top. The orchestra
and choir respond to the vocal
lines with great verve.
The informative booklet contains
full texts and translations, photos,
and some amusing inaccuracies in
the biographical notes (Lemieux
'comes from Quebec Province' and
sang Giulio Cesare 'with the Toronto
Opera'). But why does Opus 111 use
bizarrely-costumed models with
vacuous facial expressions for the covers
of this otherwise outstanding series?
Pam Margles
Concert Note: Marie-Nicole Lemieux
sings Franz Schrecker's Five
Songs for Low Voice and Orchestra
with the Canadian Opera Company
orchestra under Richard Bradshaw
on Tuesday April 19 at Glenn
Gould Studio. She is also featured.
in the COC production of Rossini's
Tancredi Aprill, 5, 7, 10, 13 and
16 at the Hummingbird and in Handel's
Rodelinda next October.
Lam en to
Magdalena Koena
Musica Antiqua Kiiln;
Reinhard Goebel
Archv 474 1942
Music for a While -
melodies baroques
Anne Sofie von Otter
Archiv 4775114
Haendel - Opera Seria
Sandrine Piau
Les Talens Lyriques;
Christophe Rousset
Naive E 8894
There used to be a time, not long
ago, when classical vocalists could
not - or dared not sing the Baroque
repertoire. Emma Kirkby in her reference
recordings with the Academy
of Ancient Music under Christopher
Hagwood was the sole beacon
of the purity and beauty of that
music. Now, the vocal music of the
Baroque is undergoing ... a renaissance.
This month, there is a bumper
crop of recordings that prove my
point - all of them worth including
in your vocal music collection.
The music of the Baroque requires
a very specific style of singing,
almost entirely different from
what the l 9th and 20th centuries accustomed
our ears to. Imagine a
single note of a baroque composition
as a bull's eye and the voice
producing it as a finely-honed dart
hitting the target. This precision of
targeting requires a pure voice and
extraordinary breach control. It
also means that the vocalists need
to be or should be specialists, with
only very few singers capable of
the versatility required to perform
both baroque and romantic music.
I have to disclose my bias here.
I belong to a growing legion of listeners
who believe that Magdalena
Kozemi is a musical genius. It
has been only 5 years since her
debut recording, and every new one
amazes more than the previous.
Her voice. a pure and perfect instrument,
possesses the highest degree
of control to deliver the most
incredible sound, full of un-baroque
restraint. The little known
compositions, from Johann Christoph
Bach and his better known
cousins Johann Sebastian and sons
C. P. E. and Johann Christoph Friedrich,
are gems in their own right
and we are fortunate to have an
artist of the calibre of Kozemi to
bring them to our attention.
The specialization required for the
baroque music usually comes at a
price - for most singers that price is
vocal range. Not for Kozena, not for
Ewa Podles (and several others). Our
next baroque specialist, Sandrine
Piau, has paid that price but it does
not take away from the mastery of
her singing the arias from Haendel
operas. Haendel was one of the
composers behind the rise of female
singers, who gradually replaced the
castrati. Every aria on this great
album was premiered·by a celebrated
soprano of the day. Francesca
Cuzzoni, Anna Maria Strada del P6,
Faustina Bordoni, Elisabetta Pilotti-Schiavonetti,
Elisabeth Duparc -
unfortunately we do not know what
they sounded like, but if they were
anything like Sandrine Piau - no
wonder they were celebrated. The
delivery is impeccable, the "vocal
targeting" precise and the accompaniment
by Les Talents Lyriques
led by Christophe Roussel make this
disc yet another treasure from
naive, a record label to watch.
In contrast, Anne Sofie von Otter
is not a baroque specialist. In fact,
she may be one of the most versatile
singers of the present day. She
APRIL 1 - MAY 7 2005