Amazon.com: The Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli is one of the most charming and talented singers to appear on the scene in recent years, and this collection of Italian songs by three great opera composers--Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini--is a most deserving bestseller. There are many small pleasures in the selections, which reflect the bel canto predilections of their authors, and Bartoli renders them artfully. Some will be familiar even to casual listeners (Rossini's La Danza, the famous tarantella); others will be new to most, but equally deserving of a hearing. The sensitive and skillful accompaniment is by conductor-pianist James Levine. --Sarah Bryan Miller
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Amazing interpretation
To be honest I am not an admirer of Bartoli's voice and art. However her interpretation of these 'Composizioni da Camera' is excellent, very sensitive, in style and with deep emotion and feeling. It's ... Read More
Rating: - Great interpretations!
Cecilia Bartoli is one of my favorite artists. On this recording you hear her interpretation on some well known Italian gems! I use it as a resource in my teaching studio.
Rating: - Lovely rendition of Italian songs
The booklet coming with the CD says of Cecilia Bartoli that she "is justly famous for her coloratura mezzo-soprano voice and her interpretations of Rossini and Mozart." This CD features her lush voice ... Read More
Rating: - Best 'Italian' Selection yet.
'An Italian Songbook' by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli and accompaniest extraordinare, James Levine is the best of the three collections of Italian material from Bartoli I have reviewed to date. Much of ... Read More
Rating: - Salon pieces to delight the listener
Italian art song never became the serious and high form of art that it did within Germany, and hasn't the same place in culture that the French mélodies had. Rather, Italian operatic composers wrote lighter ... Read More