Desandre Lea, Bartoli Cecilia: Amazone - CD

A fair portion of great baroque music and a real dramaturgical treat. The Italian-French mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre would quite definitely have been labelled a soprano in the 17th and 18th centuries, when a separate mezzo-soprano branch practically did not exist yet. I believe that she feels comfortable in the mezzo-soprano position, but in fact it is more of a hybrid type of voice between these two categories. In any case, it allows her to safely master the soprano heights and, of course, to second the experienced mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli in their duet from De Bottis' opera Mitilene. As is evident from the title, the unifying element of the whole album is the theme of the mythical Amazons in (mostly) Italian and French opera of the 17th-18th century. century. A separate chapter of the recording is the exceptionally empathetic yet "juicy" playing of the accompanying baroque ensemble Jupiter with conductor and lutenist Thomas Dunford.

Lea Desandre (mezzo-soprano), Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo-soprano) (5), Veronique Gens (soprano) (9), William Christie (harpsichord) (10) / The Jupiter / Thomas Dunford (conductor/lute)

Year of publication: 2022

Playlist

CD
Francesco Provenzale (1624-1704): Lo schiavo di sua moglie: “ Non posso far” (Lucillo) / Francesco Cavalli (1602 - 1676): Ercole amante, Act 1: Sinfonia / Francesco Provenzale: Lo schiavo di sua moglie: “ Lasciatemi morir, stelle crudeli” (Menalippa) / Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani (1638 - 1693): Mitilene, regina delle amazzoni: “ Muove il pie, furia d' Averno” (Mitilene) / Giuseppe De Bottis (1678 - 1753): Mitilene, regina delle amazzoni: “ Io piango” - „ Io peno” (Mitilene, Armidoro) / Georg Caspar Schürmann (1672 - 1751): Die getreue Alceste: Sinfonia pour la tempete (1719 Hamburg Version) / Carlo Pallavicino (1630 - 1688): L ' Antiope: “ Vieni, corri, volami in braccio” (Antiope) / Pallavicino: L ' Antiope: “ Sdegni, furori barbari” (Celinda) / André Danican Philidor (1652 - 1730): Les Amazones: “ Venez, troupe guerriere” - „ Puisque tout est tranquille” - „ Combattons, courrons a la gloire” (Thalestris, Hippolyte) / Louis Couperin (1626 - 1661): L: Passacaille in C Major / André Cardinal Destouches (1672 - 1749): Marthésie, premiere reine des amazones: “ Faible fierté, gloire impuissante” (Thalestris) / Marin Marais (1656 - 1728): Pieces de viole, Livre IV, Suitte d' un gout étranger: No. 68, L' Amériquaine / André é Cardinal Destouches: Marthésie, premiere reine des amazones: “ Ô mort! Ô triste mort” (Thalestris) / Jean Rondeau (b. 1991): Postlude improvise / François Couperin (1668 - 1733): Second Livre de pieces de clavecin, Dixieme Ordre: VI. L ' Amazône / André Cardinal Destouches: Marthésie, premiere reine des amazones: “ Quel coup me réservait la colere céleste? ” (Marthésie) / Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Ercole sul Termodonte, RV 710, Sinfonia: I. Allegro / Giuseppe De Bottis: Mitilene, regina delle amazzoni: “ Che farai misero core” (Mitilene) / Georg Caspar Schürmann: Die getreue Alceste: “ Non ha fortuna il pianto mio” (Hyppolite) / Antonio Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte, RV 710, Sinfonia: II. [Andante] / Giuseppe De Bottis: Mitilene, regina delle amazzoni: “ Lieti fiori, erbe odorose” (Mitilene) / De Bottis: Mitilene, regina delle amazzoni: “ Sdegno all' armi, alle vendette” (Mitilene) / Antonio Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte, RV 710, Sinfonia: III. Allegro / Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte, RV 710: “ Onde chiare che sussurrate” (Ippolita) / Vivaldi: Ercole sul Termodonte, RV 710: “ Scendero, volero, gridero” (Antiope) / Thomas Dunford (b. 1988): Amazons