i know nothing about technique. i don't care how it sounded when mozart listened to it, but what i do know is that this is beauty at the highest level. I first listened to Bartoli many years ago and was fascinated . this, for me is the absolute best version of this aria. i have been listening to it for years and i will listen to it till the end of my days.
What ever you think about her Timbre or her facial Impression or her coleratour technique … she Sings her Soul out and is wonderful accompanied by the conductor… brava
@@LohengrinO everybody who have the slightest idea of opera and singing adore her for her voice agility and temperament a really artist wich are very rare in opera nowadays
Always very interesting hearing italians singing mozart, it really sounds very different and immediate. Bartoli and Harnoncourt really get to the emotional truth of this piece in way that is very special and it's clear her innate understanding of the words is very personal, if admittedly idiosyncratic. Cosi and this aria in particular is full of depth and is not the silly little comedy people treated it as up until semi-recently.
Agree. With all the due respecto to many wonderful foreign voices, italian singers (apart the right pronounce) know how to put accents on every word and even consonant (hear to Bartoli's "R" in "Perdona all'error" or in ""rimembranza che vergogna e orror mi fa"). Singers who sing only vowels or skip double consonants (too many Susana instead of Susanna in Figaro...) make no justice to the opera.
Never even thought to search for her singing this. The extended sotto voce took me by [extremely pleasant] surprise! I figured I could kind of have it on and check email or something but I had to stop and be fully engaged after just a few bars. Hundo p goose bump worthy. I'm impressed with her reverence for the introspective quality of the actual music while easily conveying the character's indulgent self pity like when she really draws out the subito pp at 8:10. Such a great find. Thanks for sharing!
An incredibly difficult aria. The legato is exposed as fuck, and the singer has to negotiate between a lyric soprano and extremely concentrated passages in a definitely mezzo tessitura. Mozart was writing for a somewhat hybrid sound in Fiordiligi, as at no point does she sing in a strictly soprano or mezzo tessitura. Extremely well sang by Bartoli, with beautiful piannisimo inflexions and a gorgeously still, but expressive vocal line. A vocal line that almost rivals Bellini's in virtuosity.
I really dont understand how people let their hatred for a singer's bad habits deprive them from seeing how gorgeous that singer can be without the bad habits.. these are pianissimi of Caballe's level of Mastery
I can only take singing on its merits... I'm not a huge fan of Bartoli generally but her singing here is simply incredible. The breath control throughout this vocal line is exactly what Mozart demanded.
Very beautiful. And well acted. Like her Nina, years ago, with Jonas Kaufmann. Whom one would like to see and hear in Lohengrin, please. The answer to your question.
Fiordiligi is almost as difficult as Vittelia, a singer needs such a wider vocal range for these roles!!!!!! Cecilia is perfect for this role (not for Vitellia must admit) Despite their clearly opposite personalities and require totally different colours of voices, both characters are for very few singers. The low register is not for many sopranos and even many sopranos sound harsh in the high notes after singing some of the lowest notes that Fiordiligi needs to command. Mozart, as many singers recognize, is harder than many think.
Bartoli is astonishing in that she manages to transform a fundamentally not that attractive instrument into something quite magical and affecting. In some ways she's quite outside the classical operatic tradition with what she's doing here, but she connects to the contemporary audience because she is connected with contemporary vocalism and the zeitgeist. She's not an actress and does weird things with her face, and yet still she's believable on an emotional if not dramatic plain.
Lohengrin O, I sometimes thought Bartoli was actually a soprano but branded herself as a Mezzo coloratura as it is a less saturated market so to speak. Wondering what your thoughts were on the subject.
The Soubrette of The Opera obviously I'm not the one you are wanting to hear from but I have ALWAYS thought that as well. I have never believed her to be a mezzo, but rather a soprano that has excellent facility in her chest register. Because, IMO, her upper register sounds like a light lyric coloratura soprano. I just don't think a well defined chest voice makes her a mezzo.
Voice classification is not primarily done by pure range considerations. Colour is important, but it's where the passagios sit that is most key. So interestingly Mezzo change to chest register a bit lower than sopranos even though most have a much stronger chest register. And the the upper passagio is the other one (around eb/E/f top of the treble stave) Cecilia has a very unique timbre which is part of why she is a superstar, but yet another indicator she's s mezzo is how she approached the hugh register - you can hear the sound doesn't naturally expand up there, it has to become very focussed. Hard to describe exactly but I hope you get the gist.
Regardless I think she's stunning and has an incredibly unique voice. I think there is actually a similarity in her sound to Renee Fleming. Does anyone else think that?
It's very resonant. I've been to her live performances three times and I must admit her voice struck me as much louder than I'd thought, she doesn't sing big, but very "narrow". I'm Russian and almost all Russia mezzos sing extremely "wide". Cecilia produces a very narrow column of voice so it turned out to be incredibly sonorous and piercing even in a large concert hall I heard her first time. That was my biggest surprise. And Zurich is a relatively small house. She has no trouble filling that space with her voice.
@@freshname same at the Barbican. I’m poor so I can only afford the cheap seats at the back, but she filled the hall with no problems even with a bit of a cold!
Falcon's by nature have a more natural weight in their upper register and usually more free than your standard mezzo. The colour of Bartoli's voice to me is that of a lyric mezzo with agility and a comfortable, but not innately stratospheric upper register. I mean to me in this aria, her natural vocal colours are accentuated more in the middle to lower portions of her voice, which is where the mezzo is at her most comfortable.
exactly, Bartoli could never Blast a D6 with huge dramatic weight like the prototype of Falcon roles (Meyerbeer's Valentine) requires... Falcon soprani are dramatic soprani with very good chest voice. Bartoli is a lyrical big ranged and very agile singer who has all the top notes of a soprano but which can be accessed with specific technique, not as freely and naturally a soprano does and certainly without the weight of a dramatic soprano... but again why should this artist be DIFFERENT than what she was, she followed a personal path.. yes she developed the bad habit of the "breathing" effect on her sound but her early performances like this one did not have that
I think Bartoli has become such a controversial singer because she's... quirky. Lol. Her instrument is absolutely amazing, for sure, but at times the way she chooses to play it is questionable, and I'm trying to be generous here. There are many sublime moments throughout her career, like in this video, ok, but sometimes I feel she "forces" something too much. We can't simply overlook the faces and jerky body (pretty forced tbh) because ALL THIS, along the singing and acting, shows how much CONTROL the artist has over herself/himself. She "likes to show" this lack of control (?), as if "she's in a trance". Sorry, no. Lol. All great singers knew and know how to immerse themselves into their roles, changing their faces and bodies, without looking bad or simply cartoonish and hilarious. Lol. Yep! She looks like a cartoon. Lol. She seems to have been "that student" that always wanted to do exactly the opposite of what the teachers recommended because she "knows deep inside she's in the right path". Lol. Another thing that bothers me is the excessive amount of air "escaping" from her during the phrases. She sounds like a balloon with a hole. But don't get me wrong, she seems to be a lovely lady and I believe she's pretty talented. Just quirky. Lol.
Sorry dear Lohengrin; yes ok some admirable legato singing But at times she becomes inaudible by trying too hard for soft pianissimo. The bad habits are there: exaggerated facial expressions, yodel trills and rolled rrrrr sounds. I have seen her a few times in concert and on stage and, despite her obvious vocal qualities, simply consider her to be Vulgar Vulgar Vulgar...her Norma recording, even taking into consideration some inspired moments, gives us a scorned Italian fishwife not a divine priestess. That compilation castrato album with the atrocious bearded photos? Gratuitous show-off cheap vulgarity.
ahahahahaha the rolled rrrrrrrrrrrrr sound falls exactly into what kind of bad h abit? I mean why do t hey do it? can she help the facial expressions? or she does them to assist her sound production... what I really canot stand later on is the huhahuha, I mean LEGATO MY DEAR... LEGATO
i know nothing about technique. i don't care how it sounded when mozart listened to it, but what i do know is that this is beauty at the highest level. I first listened to Bartoli many years ago and was fascinated . this, for me is the absolute best version of this aria. i have been listening to it for years and i will listen to it till the end of my days.
I canot express in words the beauty of this aria by Cecilia Bartoli. I feel it in the deepest of my soul. Thank you Cecilia for your golden voice.
What ever you think about her Timbre or her facial Impression or her coleratour technique … she Sings her Soul out and is wonderful accompanied by the conductor… brava
I actually love Bartoli especially in her early years
@@LohengrinO everybody who have the slightest idea of opera and singing adore her for her voice agility and temperament a really artist wich are very rare in opera nowadays
Bravissima. The proof that singing is not screaming.
A real goddess!. Such virtuosity is just a miracle now a days!
Always very interesting hearing italians singing mozart, it really sounds very different and immediate. Bartoli and Harnoncourt really get to the emotional truth of this piece in way that is very special and it's clear her innate understanding of the words is very personal, if admittedly idiosyncratic. Cosi and this aria in particular is full of depth and is not the silly little comedy people treated it as up until semi-recently.
Agree. With all the due respecto to many wonderful foreign voices, italian singers (apart the right pronounce) know how to put accents on every word and even consonant (hear to Bartoli's "R" in "Perdona all'error" or in ""rimembranza che vergogna e orror mi fa"). Singers who sing only vowels or skip double consonants (too many Susana instead of Susanna in Figaro...) make no justice to the opera.
Superb control, yet so expressive ...
This is singing mastery; great for new generations of singer to listen!
Never even thought to search for her singing this. The extended sotto voce took me by [extremely pleasant] surprise! I figured I could kind of have it on and check email or something but I had to stop and be fully engaged after just a few bars. Hundo p goose bump worthy. I'm impressed with her reverence for the introspective quality of the actual music while easily conveying the character's indulgent self pity like when she really draws out the subito pp at 8:10. Such a great find. Thanks for sharing!
An incredibly difficult aria. The legato is exposed as fuck, and the singer has to negotiate between a lyric soprano and extremely concentrated passages in a definitely mezzo tessitura. Mozart was writing for a somewhat hybrid sound in Fiordiligi, as at no point does she sing in a strictly soprano or mezzo tessitura.
Extremely well sang by Bartoli, with beautiful piannisimo inflexions and a gorgeously still, but expressive vocal line. A vocal line that almost rivals Bellini's in virtuosity.
I really dont understand how people let their hatred for a singer's bad habits deprive them from seeing how gorgeous that singer can be without the bad habits.. these are pianissimi of Caballe's level of Mastery
I can only take singing on its merits... I'm not a huge fan of Bartoli generally but her singing here is simply incredible. The breath control throughout this vocal line is exactly what Mozart demanded.
Богиня!
Very beautiful. And well acted. Like her Nina, years ago, with Jonas Kaufmann. Whom one would like to see and hear in Lohengrin, please. The answer to your question.
i adore her!
Fiordiligi is almost as difficult as Vittelia, a singer needs such a wider vocal range for these roles!!!!!! Cecilia is perfect for this role (not for Vitellia must admit) Despite their clearly opposite personalities and require totally different colours of voices, both characters are for very few singers. The low register is not for many sopranos and even many sopranos sound harsh in the high notes after singing some of the lowest notes that Fiordiligi needs to command. Mozart, as many singers recognize, is harder than many think.
Bravisima come siempre!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌹
Bartoli is astonishing in that she manages to transform a fundamentally not that attractive instrument into something quite magical and affecting. In some ways she's quite outside the classical operatic tradition with what she's doing here, but she connects to the contemporary audience because she is connected with contemporary vocalism and the zeitgeist. She's not an actress and does weird things with her face, and yet still she's believable on an emotional if not dramatic plain.
Yes. See her Nina, with the young JK.
Lohengrin O, I sometimes thought Bartoli was actually a soprano but branded herself as a Mezzo coloratura as it is a less saturated market so to speak. Wondering what your thoughts were on the subject.
The Soubrette of The Opera obviously I'm not the one you are wanting to hear from but I have ALWAYS thought that as well. I have never believed her to be a mezzo, but rather a soprano that has excellent facility in her chest register. Because, IMO, her upper register sounds like a light lyric coloratura soprano. I just don't think a well defined chest voice makes her a mezzo.
It is very difficult to classify ultra talented 3 octave voices but her upper register isnt as free and natural as her lower...
Voice classification is not primarily done by pure range considerations. Colour is important, but it's where the passagios sit that is most key. So interestingly Mezzo change to chest register a bit lower than sopranos even though most have a much stronger chest register. And the the upper passagio is the other one (around eb/E/f top of the treble stave)
Cecilia has a very unique timbre which is part of why she is a superstar, but yet another indicator she's s mezzo is how she approached the hugh register - you can hear the sound doesn't naturally expand up there, it has to become very focussed. Hard to describe exactly but I hope you get the gist.
Regardless I think she's stunning and has an incredibly unique voice. I think there is actually a similarity in her sound to Renee Fleming. Does anyone else think that?
I agree with you, Josh. Both have similarity
Can the audience hear her voice? It's so soft!
It's very resonant. I've been to her live performances three times and I must admit her voice struck me as much louder than I'd thought, she doesn't sing big, but very "narrow". I'm Russian and almost all Russia mezzos sing extremely "wide". Cecilia produces a very narrow column of voice so it turned out to be incredibly sonorous and piercing even in a large concert hall I heard her first time. That was my biggest surprise. And Zurich is a relatively small house. She has no trouble filling that space with her voice.
@@freshname same at the Barbican. I’m poor so I can only afford the cheap seats at the back, but she filled the hall with no problems even with a bit of a cold!
Does anyone know a date and location for this performance?
Zurich 2000, Harnoncourt conducting
Why isn't she just considered to be a Falcon (although Marie-Cornélie Falcon only had 2 1/2 octaves, she straddled the range of mezzo and soprano)?
Falcon's by nature have a more natural weight in their upper register and usually more free than your standard mezzo.
The colour of Bartoli's voice to me is that of a lyric mezzo with agility and a comfortable, but not innately stratospheric upper register. I mean to me in this aria, her natural vocal colours are accentuated more in the middle to lower portions of her voice, which is where the mezzo is at her most comfortable.
exactly, Bartoli could never Blast a D6 with huge dramatic weight like the prototype of Falcon roles (Meyerbeer's Valentine) requires... Falcon soprani are dramatic soprani with very good chest voice. Bartoli is a lyrical big ranged and very agile singer who has all the top notes of a soprano but which can be accessed with specific technique, not as freely and naturally a soprano does and certainly without the weight of a dramatic soprano... but again why should this artist be DIFFERENT than what she was, she followed a personal path.. yes she developed the bad habit of the "breathing" effect on her sound but her early performances like this one did not have that
@@LohengrinO 👏🎯
I think Bartoli has become such a controversial singer because she's... quirky. Lol.
Her instrument is absolutely amazing, for sure, but at times the way she chooses to play it is questionable, and I'm trying to be generous here.
There are many sublime moments throughout her career, like in this video, ok, but sometimes I feel she "forces" something too much.
We can't simply overlook the faces and jerky body (pretty forced tbh) because ALL THIS, along the singing and acting, shows how much CONTROL the artist has over herself/himself.
She "likes to show" this lack of control (?), as if "she's in a trance". Sorry, no. Lol. All great singers knew and know how to immerse themselves into their roles, changing their faces and bodies, without looking bad or simply cartoonish and hilarious. Lol. Yep! She looks like a cartoon. Lol.
She seems to have been "that student" that always wanted to do exactly the opposite of what the teachers recommended because she "knows deep inside she's in the right path". Lol.
Another thing that bothers me is the excessive amount of air "escaping" from her during the phrases. She sounds like a balloon with a hole.
But don't get me wrong, she seems to be a lovely lady and I believe she's pretty talented. Just quirky. Lol.
agree but we have seen samples of Virtuosity by her, SO rare... one of the true very rare virtuosos
Sorry dear Lohengrin; yes ok some admirable legato singing But at times she becomes inaudible by trying too hard for soft pianissimo. The bad habits are there: exaggerated facial expressions, yodel trills and rolled rrrrr sounds. I have seen her a few times in concert and on stage and, despite her obvious vocal qualities, simply consider her to be Vulgar Vulgar Vulgar...her Norma recording, even taking into consideration some inspired moments, gives us a scorned Italian fishwife not a divine priestess. That compilation castrato album with the atrocious bearded photos? Gratuitous show-off cheap vulgarity.
ahahahahaha the rolled rrrrrrrrrrrrr sound falls exactly into what kind of bad h abit? I mean why do t hey do it? can she help the facial expressions? or she does them to assist her sound production... what I really canot stand later on is the huhahuha, I mean LEGATO MY DEAR... LEGATO
I loved this comment. Lololol