Antonio Vivaldi - Ercole sul Termodonte [V2]

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Fabio Biondi: Europa Galante - Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte
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Artist...............: Fabio Biondi: Europa Galante
Album................: Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte
Genre................: General Classical
Source...............: CD
Year.................: 2011
Ripper...............: EAC (Secure mode) / LAME 3.92 & Asus CD-S520
Codec................: MP3
Quality..............: V2
Channels.............: Stereo / 44100 HZ / 16 Bit
Tags.................: VorbisComment

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antonio-vivaldi-ercole-sul-termodonte-rolando-villaz-n/21006216

Covers...............: CD
Playing Time.........: 02:23:42

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All Music Guide - Stephen Eddins
There is no complete surviving score for Vivaldi's "Ercole su'l Termodonte," but
there is enough existing material that modern scholars have been able to
reconstruct it primarily by making new settings of the lost recitatives. The
first production of the opera since Vivaldi's time was at Spoleto in 2006 in a
version by Alessandro Ciccolini, which was released as a DVD. Conductor
Fabio Biondi made a version introduced in Venice in 2007, which is recorded
on this 2010 Virgin CD. Biondi's recording has the advantage of two
international superstars in the leading roles, tenor Rolando Villazón and
mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and soprano Diana Damrau is nearly in their
league. Villazón's earthy voice is usually associated with 19th century and
verismo Italian repertoire, but he has an acute sensitivity to Baroque vocal
style, and his robust, almost baritonal tenor is entirely appropriate for a
larger-than-life character like Hercules. DiDonato excels as Hippolyta, Queen
of the Amazons, singing with her characteristic brilliance and warm humanity.
The rest of the cast consists mostly of singers who are superstars or near-
superstars in the more circumscribed world of Baroque opera: soprano
Patrizia Ciofi, mezzo-sopranos Vivica Genaux and Romina Basso (who sounds
like a genuine contralto), counter tenor Philippe Jaroussky, and tenor Topi
Lehtipuu. The vocal standards are predictably high; the singers are in
absolute control of Vivaldi's extreme demands and they have the ease with
the repertoire to make it sound spontaneous and effortless. These are all
performers with exceptionally lovely voices -- pure, velvety, colorful, and
supple -- so the recording should be a pleasure for any fans of vocal music.
The singers are also superb actors, and the eight leads create distinctly
differentiated characters. Biondi leads Europa Galante in a performance of
exquisite precision and refinement (although the natural horns used in some
arias add an appropriately rough-hewn quality to the warriors' music), and
the continuo parts are especially beautifully realized. The sound is clean,
detailed, and spacious, with excellent balance.

Product Details
Release Date: 2/15/2011
EAN: 5099969454509
Label: Virgin Classics
Catalog Number: 94545
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