| Selected Reviews
for "Bajazet"
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BAJAZET – (Virgin Classics – 45676-2)
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“With her beautifully timbred and fluid mezzo, Vivica Genaux reminded once again of the great Marilyn Horne.” Best of the Year: CD of the Month: Classical CD of the Week – vvvv (highest rating): DIAPASON D’OR: “Bajazet is partly a pasticcio, which is to say that it borrows and adapts arias from other operas, and in this case, while the arias for the ‘conquered’ characters such as Bajazet and Asteria are by Vivaldi, those for the conquerors – Tamerlano, Andronico and Irene – are other men’s work. A composer of Vivaldi’s penchant for spectacular vocal writing would, of course, have appreciated the crowd-pleasing virtuosity of an aria such as ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,’ originally written for Farinelli by his brother Riccardo Broschi; but here it aptly expresses Irene’s near-deranged indignation at being dumped by Tamerlano. Clever choices such as this make Bajazet a real opera, not just a hotch-potch. The same can be said for the performers here.” “Virgin has assembled an especially luxurious cast, with three mezzo-sopranos at their peak. Vivica Genaux, who again sings Farinelli’s ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,’ from her best-selling debut CD, shows that her voice has grown considerably in elegance and potential for coloration in the past two years.” “Vivica Genaux, as Irene, is marvelous. With great aplomb (after her enormously successful Farinelli Album) she presents here an aria from the brother of the Star Castrato, Riccardo Broschi.” “With the best will in the world, not every Baroque opera dusted down and given a blood transfusion on CD seems worth the effort involved. But with Vivaldi’s Bajazet of 1735, unleashed on Virgin Classics by Fabio Biondi’s Europa Galante and a delectable team of soloists, we have a definite winner. Strong characters, a flamboyant plot, recitatives of uncommon power, arias festooned with feeling and imagination — how could any listener refuse?” “Vivica Genaux, handed some of the toughest vocal challenges, sails through resplendent as Tamerlano’s fiancée, Irene.” ***** (5-Stars): “Stunningly vulnerable as the jilted princess (Irene), Vivica Genaux trades in her androgynous image with an approach that’s all finesse, brought out in two of Farinelli’s great arias: ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,” where the singer triumphs over herself, going beyond her own limits as much in terms of virtuosity as of imagination (with variations that are even more audacious), and ‘Sposa son disprezzata,’ the sublime lamento that she undertakes with great sensitivity, bearing comparison with Cecilia Bartoli.” “Irene is sung by Vivica Genaux, who has ‘Sposa, son disprezzata,’ once included in recital by Montserrat Caballé, exquisitely done. To Genaux falls the fiendishly ornate ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,’ a virtuoso aria par excellence from Broschi’s. It is greatly to her credit that she produces a dazzling display of adroit vocalism.” **** (4 stars): Notable classical and opera CDs of 2005: “The irresistible Vivica Genaux, as the villainous princess Irene, gets to sing the show-stopping ‘Qual guerriero,’ actually by Riccardo Broschi and by now a signature piece for her. Later on, she sings the heartrending ‘Sposa, son disprezzata,’ probably written by Vivaldi himself.” Grade: A: “This opera is a feast for lovers of heavier sounding women's voices. Despite having several mezzo-sopranos cast in this work, no two of them ever sound alike. Vivica Genaux does not have a big part in this opera but she is a fascinating artist who dazzles her listeners with incredible vocal pyrotechnics. Not only does she trill and sing accurate coloratura, she also gives a searing portrayal of Irene.” CHOC: “The rest of the cast is equally remarkable, notably Vivica Genaux, in a short but fiery role, which is equipped with two of Farinelli’s warhorses: ‘Sposa, son disprezzata’ and ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato.’” “Superbly virtuoso, astonishing, are the Irene of Vivica Genaux, peerless in the monumental ‘Qual guerriero,’ and the Idaspe of Patrizia Ciofi….” “The vocal prestige of David Daniels, Patrizia Ciofi, Marijana Mijanovic, Elina Garanca, Vivica Genaux and Ildebrando d’Arcangelo is dazzling.” “The cream of current singers — Patrizia Ciofi, David Daniels, Vivica Genaux… — are assembled under the violinist and the best of Vivaldian conductors, Fabio Biondi, who offers a deluge of colored and sunny notes so naturally that one forgets the transcendent virtuosity of the score.” “Vivica Genaux, Patrizia Ciofi, Elina Garanca, Marijana Mijanovic and Ildebrando d’Arcangelo, which is to say the fine flower of singing today, are at [Biondi’s] sides to defend this hybrid but highly appealing work…” “Biondi has assembled a breathtaking cast. Can anybody even imagine more captivating vocalizing than that which is offered up by this hour and a half of spectacular prowess, to which these inspired artists manage to give a soul?” “The crafty assurance of Vivica Genaux (Irene).” This vocal fireworks display unites the fine flower of Italian singing: Ciofi, Genaux, Garanca, Mijanovic…. A real gift!” “This premiere recording has been hailed by the entire critical community. The cast, of the first rank, has much to do with that. The palette of voices, from the countertenor David Daniels (Bajazet) to the soprano Patrizia Ciofi (Idaspe), from the baritone Ildebrando d’Arcangelo (Tamerlano) to the mezzos Vivica Genaux (Irene), Marijana Mijanovic (Asteria) and Elina Garanca (Andronico), fully realizes the character and psychology of each role.” “In the dizzying, Farinellian ‘Qual guerriero’ by Riccardo Broschi, of which she has already brought us a recital version, Vivica Genaux manages to surpass herself….” “Thus we find Vivica Genaux (Irene), stunning in ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,’ even more fiendishly ornamented than in her recording with René Jacobs (on Harmonia Mundi). Most people would be surprised to learn that the opera’s most famous aria, ‘Sposa, son disprezzata,’ a hit for singers in late career, was probably written by Broschi. The interpretation of this admirable lament, with its tragic accompaniment in the strings, is a worthy rival to the accounts left by Leyla Gencer and Montserrat Caballé.” “To flatter the voices of his singers, the maestro not only composed impressive arias for them, he even went so far as to permit the phenomenal soprano Margherita Giacomazzi to sing two of Farinelli’s most famous arias in Bajazet, something that surely seemed like sacrilege at the time: a woman dared to sing two of Farinelli’s love songs in public! Vivica Genaux is breathtaking and steals the show away from all the others with her rendition of the aria ‘Qual guerriero in campo armato,’ an aria, which, with its furiously driven tone and dramatic octave leaps, gives a vivid account of Farinelli’s singing artistry. For seven and a half minutes I felt as if I’d been dropped into the golden age of castratos. Brava!” “Somebody ought to play Vivica Genaux’s virtuoso solo arias to Bartoli’s swarming fans to show them how supple and even shimmering a drawn-out coloratura legato can sound.” “Perhaps the most astonishing singer to be heard here, however, is Vivica Genaux, who makes the impossible sound easy, and who handily encompasses the contradictions in the character of Irene.” “As a bonus, Virgin Classics has included a DVD in which each of the principals is shown singing a complete arias during the 2004 recording sessions…It is worth the price of admission to see Genaux’s lips moving so fast that they practically blur. Such are the demands that Vivaldi places upon his singers!” “Vivica Genaux steals the vocal honors as she tosses off Vivaldi’s dizzying vocal lines with keenness and virtuoso articulation.” “‘Sposa son disprezzata’ is….stylishly and movingly sung by Vivica Genaux.” “Genaux is just one member of an admirable A-list cast.” 10 - Artistic Quality / 10 - Sound Quality “The result is outstanding, largely because of the stellar constellation of singers that join the seasoned instrumentalists.” “An added bonus to the set is a 30-minute DVD of excerpts from the opera. Seeing is believing when mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux handily delivers incredibly fast vocal passages.” |
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