American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato has released several albums of lesser-known operatic repertory without a hint of the musty museum in sight. Her personality seems especially well-suited to this collection of arias from Naples in the early 19th century, a category that includes the young Rossini. DiDonato offers the superb Riedi al soglio from Zelmira (track 4), one of the underrated Rossini showpieces, and there is a pair of arias each from Donizetti and Bellini. The rest of the program is devoted to composers lesser ...
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American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato has released several albums of lesser-known operatic repertory without a hint of the musty museum in sight. Her personality seems especially well-suited to this collection of arias from Naples in the early 19th century, a category that includes the young Rossini. DiDonato offers the superb Riedi al soglio from Zelmira (track 4), one of the underrated Rossini showpieces, and there is a pair of arias each from Donizetti and Bellini. The rest of the program is devoted to composers lesser-known (Pacini, Mercadante) or totally obscure (Michele Carafa, Carlo Valentini). The last named of these is represented by an aria from an opera about a sleepwalker called Il sonnambulo, and DiDonato's method involves substituting a new take for a familiar one on a particular theme. This is effective, and she makes the case for much of this material. Most important of all, she sounds great, and she's having fun. DiDonato has been a rising star among the opera cognoscenti for some...
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