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Franco Fagioli, Armonia Atenea, George Petrou - Rossini (2016)

Posted By: Designol

Date: 6 Aug 2022 19:04:36

Franco Fagioli, Armonia Atenea, George Petrou - Rossini (2016)

Countertenor performances of 19th century opera are a historical and, ultimately, true novelty. This said, for those who love the sound of the countertenor voice and want to give it a try, there are several factors that recommend this release by countertenor Franco Fagioli, with the small orchestra Armonia Atenea under George Petrou. First is that castrati were still around in Rossini's time, although on the decline, and the composer was reportedly intrigued by their voices. Second, Fagioli, unlike the vast majority of other countertenors, studied bel canto singing rather than Baroque repertory exclusively, and a certain distance present in the work of other countertenors is absent here. And third, and most important, is Fagioli's voice itself. Of the countertenors active today, he's the one with the range, the power, the attitude to make you suspend disbelief and think for a moment that you're actually listening to a castrato. He enters into the various Rossini roles represented on this recording, several of which were mezzo-soprano "pants" roles; this adds to the layers of identity-switching happening, and the parts hit Fagioli's vocal sweet spot. A bonus is that several of these are from Rossini opere serie that are little played or recorded. Semiramide is one that has continued to hold the stage, however; sample one of Fagioli's arias of Arsace, the Assyrian commander, and marvel at the power and dramatic sense. This could be a breakthrough for Fagioli in the crowded countertenor field.

Review by James Manheim, Allmusic.com

There’s a perverse irony that the only operatic role Gioachino Rossini wrote for a castrato – Arsace in Aureliano in Palmira – isn’t included on Franco Fagioli’s new disc devoted to the composer. Rossini composed it for Giambattista Velluti (1780-1861), regarded as the last great castrato, but also famed for being a bit of a diva. Bernhard Neuhoff’s booklet-note tells us that apparently Rossini himself narrowly missed the snip as a child, so perhaps he had a special affinity with the unbroken voice. Castration was going out of fashion – Napoleon even banned the practice – so ‘trouser roles’ were part of Rossini’s compositional armoury. Fagioli essays half a dozen of them here.

The Argentinian countertenor certainly has a distinctive, plum-coloured voice, very mezzo ish in timbre, ranging somewhere between Cecilia Bartoli and Ewa Podles´. However, while Fagioli has quite remarkable florid agility, he lacks Bartoli’s evenness of tone across the registers, with the odd alarming descent into baritone territory. He certainly throws himself into high notes with abandon – a white-knuckle ride on occasions, with the sense that he’s just about clinging on by his coat-tails.

Two excerpts showcase Ottone from Adelaide di Borgogna, the Act 2 cabaletta coming off splendidly. Edoardo’s ‘Ah, perché, perché la morte’ from Matilde di Shabran is even more virtuoso, scuppered by some rather fruity horn intonation in the terrifying obbligato passages. The most familiar aria is Arsace’s ‘Ah, quel giorno ognor rammento’ from Semiramide, athletically dispatched. This is the only crossover in repertoire with Max Emanuel Cencic’s all-Rossini disc (Erato, A/07), with Fagioli’s darker tone preferable. Greater duplication occurs on Angelo Manzotti’s 2002 Bongiovanni album, which is worth hearing (once) for some distressing intonation.

Review by Mark Pullinger, Gramophone

Gioachino Rossini at Allmusic
Gioachino Rossini at Wiki

Franco Fagioli at Allmusic
Franco Fagioli Website
Franco Fagioli at Wiki

Franco Fagioli countertenor
Armonia Atenea Choir
Armonia Atenea (on period instruments)
George Petrou

rec. November 2015, Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall, Megaron, Athens, Greece

Tracklist:

Demetrio e Polibio
01. Pien di contento in seno (04:10)

Matilde di Shabran
02. Sazia tu fossi alfine (02:08)
03. Ah, perché, perché la morte (09:30)

Adelaide di Borgogna
04. Serti intrecciar le vergini (02:23)
05. Questi che a me presenta (00:53)
06. Vieni, tuo sposo e amante (03:00)
07. Al trono tuo primiero (03:43)

Tancredi
08. O sospirato lido (05:25)
09. Dolci d'amor parole (06:20)

Adelaide di Borgogna
10. Salve, Italia (01:44)
11. O sacra alla virtù (01:53)
12. Soffri la tua sventura… Amica speme (05:36)

Semiramide
13. Eccomi alfine in Babilonia (05:58)
14. Ah, quel giorno ognor rammento… Oh, come da quel di (06:27)

Eduardo e Cristina
15. Nel misero tuo stato (04:04)
16. Ah! Chi sa dirmi se la sposa (02:03)
17. La pietà che in sen serbate… Come rinascere vi sento in core (09:56)

EAC log

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 26. February 2017, 18:06

Franco Fagioli, Armonia Atenea, George Petrou / Franco Fagioli - Rossini

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Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%

TOC of the extracted CD

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Range status and errors

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Filename C:\temp\Franco Fagioli - Rossini\Franco Fagioli - Rossini.wav

Peak level 97.6 %
Extraction speed 4.2 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 2DB5FF07
Copy CRC 2DB5FF07
Copy OK

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End of status report

==== Log checksum CE57ECCCBB67CCD367BA5E0306CFDA95783A053221EEF487BBD415A70D26F764 ====

DR log

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2017-03-05 23:26:15

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Franco Fagioli, Armonia Atenea, George Petrou / Franco Fagioli - Rossini
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR13 -1.05 dB -19.36 dB 4:10 01-Demetrio e Polibio - Pien di contento in seno
DR13 -1.66 dB -20.04 dB 2:09 02-Matilde di Shabran - Sazia tu fossi alfine
DR13 -1.89 dB -20.14 dB 9:30 03-Matilde di Shabran - Ah, perché, perché la morte
DR12 -1.37 dB -17.56 dB 2:23 04-Adelaide di Borgogna - Serti intrecciar le vergini
DR12 -7.84 dB -23.64 dB 0:53 05-Adelaide di Borgogna - Questi che a me presenta
DR12 -2.98 dB -20.63 dB 3:01 06-Adelaide di Borgogna - Vieni, tuo sposo e amante
DR12 -0.26 dB -16.94 dB 3:44 07-Adelaide di Borgogna - Al trono tuo primiero
DR15 -3.44 dB -24.35 dB 5:26 08-Tancredi - O sospirato lido
DR13 -1.97 dB -21.16 dB 6:20 09-Tancredi - Dolci d'amor parole
DR12 -0.27 dB -16.00 dB 1:44 10-Adelaide di Borgogna - Salve, Italia
DR13 -2.74 dB -21.14 dB 1:53 11-Adelaide di Borgogna - O sacra alla virtù
DR14 -0.40 dB -19.74 dB 5:36 12-Adelaide di Borgogna - Soffri la tua sventura… Amica speme
DR14 -3.18 dB -24.18 dB 5:59 13-Semiramide - Eccomi alfine in Babilonia
DR14 -0.71 dB -20.21 dB 6:28 14-Semiramide - Ah, quel giorno ognor rammento… Oh, come da quel di
DR12 -0.24 dB -18.37 dB 4:04 15-Eduardo e Cristina - Nel misero tuo stato
DR13 -0.26 dB -20.72 dB 2:04 16-Eduardo e Cristina - Ah! Chi sa dirmi se la sposa
DR12 -0.21 dB -17.63 dB 9:57 17-Eduardo e Cristina - La pietà che in sen serbate… Come rinascere vi sento i…
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 17
Official DR value: DR13

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 578 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

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