Mozart Portraits

Read About This Recording

Cecilia Bartoli is simply one of the finest Mozart singers alive today. The mellow, yet dramatic timbre of her voice seems to have been developed expressly for Mozart's phenomenal writing. In the arias drawn from the three great Mozart/Da Ponte operas (Così fan tutte, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni), we hear performances and interpretations that rank with the greatest ever.

Whether she is singing the dramatic "Come scoglio" or the humorous "In uomini" from Così fan tutte, Bartoli infuses this music with her trademark beautiful sound and phenomenal diction.

While the operatic excerpts are exquisite, this disc, conducted by György Fischer and played by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, features two excerpts from Mozart's liturgical writings. The aria from his Davidde penitente is an absolute bit of vocal brilliance, while the virtuosic "Exsultate, jubilate" takes on a whole new excitement and bravura in Bartoli's masterful interpretation.

—Jacob Anthony

Contents

Così fan tutte: Temerari!...Come scoglio; Ei parte...Per pieta, ben mio; In uomini, in soldati; The Marriage of Figaro: E Susanna non vien!...Dove sono i bei momenti; Giunsi alfin il momento...Al desio; Don Giovanni: Batti, batti, o bel Masetto; In quali eccessi...Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata; Davidde penitente, K469: Lungi le cure ingrate; Exsultate, jubilate, K165.

Cecilia Bartoli, Mezzo-soprano; Vienna Chamber Orchestra; György Fischer, Conductor.