Colbran the Muse, DiDonato the Fierce

Quick; answer this riddle: How are Rosina in Barber of Seville and Elisabeth I related? Give up? continue reading and you will find the answer.

I recently downloaded Joyce DiDonato’s new recording. The album is titled Colbran the Muse (click on the link to listen to samples). In it, Ms. DiDonato takes us through music composed for Isabella Colbran (the only exception being Una voce poco fa). Ms DiDonato goes from strength to strength in this album, proving that she is ready to take her place among the best Rossini mezzo sopranos of her generation. The voice is rich from top to bottom, the production is even, the high register responsive and strong and the low register rich in colors. This is a singer for whom Rossini (a famous voice wrecker in his time) poses no fears. The recording in one phrase is stunning, fierce, and well worth the prize to acquire it in any way you can.

The Album opens with Armida’s D’amor al dolce impero, a tour de force for any soprano brave enough to take on the piece, let alone for a Mezzo. Ms. DiDonato attacks the piece with gusto and bravura, giving us a rendition worthy of 2nd and 3rd hearings. It is sublime in every way, the coloratura flows from her throat at breakneck speed and with jaw dropping accuracy.

She follows this with renditions of Tanti affetti from La Donna del lago, an opera that does not seem to be able to get a hold on the repertoire, but an aria that has long been a favorite of Rossini interpreters, from Horne, to Caballe and Bartoli. Ms DiDinato shows that he has nothing to apologize for, her rendition is full of fire and beauty, including some perfectly executed trills. The recording also has her singing music from Otello (the Willow song, among others, beautifully sung), more Armida (including the death scene, in which Ms. DiDonato  unleashes some beautiful colors in her voice and reaches levels of pathos that make the listener ache that she would give the chance to sing this role somewhere) and Semiramide (the now very familiar Bel raggio, sung with enough bravura to challenge any soprano who aspires to sing the role)

Ms. DiDonato is assisted in this recording by some de facto legends in the business and some new comers. The Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia does have this music in their DNA, as Ms. DiDonato states in the YouTube promotional documentary. Their playing is perfect in every way. They cushion her with cascades of sound that make you feel like you are there, in the middle of it. Lawrence Brownlee, the American tenor, sings in the Armida selections and his participation is a welcomed addition to this recording and his fans (since his recording of Barbiere remains unreleased/impossible to find here in the USA). Only Roberta De Nicola’s Emilia (in the Otello selections) is a complete letdown. She sounds unsupported, thin, colorless. In the presence of such great singing, her amateurish sounds really make me wonder is there was nobody else who could be hired for them. Edoardo Muller’s baton is steady and his tempos suit Ms. DiDonato extremely well. Bravi tutti!

So, have you figured out how are Rosina in Barber of Seville and Elisabeth I related? well, they are sisters, born out of Giaccomo Rossini’s pen. In Ms. DiDonato’s new recording we get to hear both and realize how closely they are related. If you didn’t know, Rossini recycled Elisabetta’s Qant’è grato all’alma mia into Una voce poco fa. I have always wondered how the audience reacted in Rossini’s time when they heard music originally composed for the Queen of England now sung by a feisty young girl. These days, of course, the reaction is completely on the opposite direction. What I find interesting in both cases is how they are both defying convention and following their hearts and in that, the music serves as a kind of motif that weaves both characters into a single soul: Elisabetta defies convention by falling in love with a much younger man and Rosina by refusing to marry out of convenience and marrying for love. How fitting that Rossini used the same music for both; furthermore, how fitting that we get both pieces sung so ravishingly by the same artist.