Most of Cecilia Bartoli’s fans will own the recordings from which this collection has been culled; the only un-released material consists of two duets with Luciano Pavarotti. In the one from L’elisir d’amore Bartoli is charming, and Pavarotti, late in his career but not catastrophically so, is a bit dry but charismatic; the Brindisi from Traviata is gently but nicely put across. Elsewhere, the usual Bartoli traits are in evidence: the amazing staccatos, the crisp enunciation of the text (sometimes too much so), the exquisite legato in slow arias, the rapid-fire coloratura that sometimes can be perfect and other times weirdly aspirated and overstated in a decidedly non-bel canto manner. Her strongest suits remain her warm tone and her obvious love of both singing and communicating.
She makes quite a meal of Handel’s “Lascia ch’io pianga”, with far too much emphasis on each note and word, but redeems herself with David Daniels in a duet from Rinaldo. The Vivaldi excerpts range from a fast and furious Bajazet aria to Farnace’s gentle, sad lament. Both Gluck arias exhibit her superb legato and even tone. Cherubino’s arias are sung with plenty of face, great rhythmic accuracy, and far less affectation than she has since developed (they were recorded in ’94). Three duets with Bryn Terfel are a delight, and in the Rossini–from Cenerentola and Il turco–she is right at home. In other words, there are no big surprises: If you love Bartoli, you’ll love this; those who find her habits irritating better get out of the way.
