French soprano Sandrine Piau has been featured regularly on Naïve's exemplary Vivaldi series, and this disc of 18 arias and ensembles from his operas and sacred works have been culled from those previous releases. The album is organized around repertoire that the composer wrote for some of his favorite singers, who had widely diverse temperaments and vocal specialties, so it's a testimony to Piau's versatility that she pulls off these varied selections with such naturalness and panache. Her light, silvery voice is not large ...
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French soprano Sandrine Piau has been featured regularly on Naïve's exemplary Vivaldi series, and this disc of 18 arias and ensembles from his operas and sacred works have been culled from those previous releases. The album is organized around repertoire that the composer wrote for some of his favorite singers, who had widely diverse temperaments and vocal specialties, so it's a testimony to Piau's versatility that she pulls off these varied selections with such naturalness and panache. Her light, silvery voice is not large, but it has a gleaming purity and her formidably solid technique and effortless-sounding flexibility make her ideal for Vivaldi's outrageously demanding vocal lines. The composer has been criticized for writing for the voice as if it were an instrument, giving his vocal lines about as much thought about breathing as he gave his music for violin. That evaluation may not be entirely fair, but it's easy to see how the difficulty of the vocal lines could create that impression. Piau has...
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