“My heart skipped a beat when [The Italian Job] from La Serenissima and Adrian Chandler landed on my desk, such was my enjoyment of their Gramophone Awards-shortlisted Vivaldi Four Seasons recording. So to discover that with this all-Italian assortment of sinfonias and concertos they’ve actually topped their 2016 triumph- and apparently effortlessly- gives me no small amount of pleasure.” So said the reviewer of the Gramophone Award-winning release, and the Vivaldi specialists are set to triumph once again with Vivaldi x2, an astonishing medley of double concertos for hunting horns, oboes, bassoon, violin and cello. Emanating from Vivaldi’s pen the double concerto- a genre of which he all but cornered the market- resulted in some of the composer’s most colorful and exuberant works. In the hands of two-time Gramophone Award-winning La Serenissima, these concertos come to virtuosic and effervescent life. “Were I asked to condense this review down to two simple words, they would be: buy it.” (Gramophone) “the freshness incinerates the cobwebs of familiarity in the heat of La Serenissima’s proselytizing zeal.” (BBC Music Magazine Concerto Choice)

REVIEWS:

The Vivaldi recordings by Adrian Chandler and his British period instrument ensemble La Serenissima, named after the nickname of the Venetian Republic and specializing in its music, are breaking new ground. Give this one a try if you haven’t heard the group before: it’s wonderful.

– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

These musicians represent one heck of a crack team when it comes to the music of Vivaldi. Bravissima, La Serenissima.

– Gramophone

A New York Times 25 Best Tracks Selection for 2018 - Fanfare

Following acclaimed albums devoted to Britten, baroque lute songs and German lieder, Grammy Award-nominated tenor Nicholas Phan continues to spread his wings with Illuminations, an album featuring compositions by Benjamin Britten, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Faure who were each inspired by the poetry of two nineteenth century French literary titans, Paul Verlaine and his protégé and eventual lover Arthur Rimbaud. The intertwined lives of the French poets and composers manifested themselves in Faure’s impassioned Verlaine-inspired ‘La bonne chanson’ and Debussy’s ‘Ariettes oubliees’ drawn from Verlaine’s ‘Romances sans paroles.’ Just decades later Britten was inspired by Rimbaud’s influential prose-poetry ‘Les Illuminations.’ Critical acclaim for Nicholas Phan has been widespread.



REVIEW:

Britten captures the blend of bizarre, beautiful, decadent, and courtly elements in Rimbaud's symbolist poems. These mingled emotions enliven Mr. Phan’s singing on this recording, starting with the opening “Fanfare,” in which, in trembling voice, he declares that he alone holds the key to this savage parade (of life).

– New York Times

2019 Grammy Award Winner - Best Classical Solo Vocal Album

Lebanese-American tenor Karim Sulayman’s neat encapsulation of the Orpheus myth infuses his solo recording debut, ‘Songs of Orpheus.’ Orpheus, the greatest singer of all time, famously followed his deceased beloved Eurydice to the gates of Hades in an attempt to bring her back to life. He was thwarted by the gods who forbade him to gaze at her during their journey back to earth. he could not resist, and the tale has been told in numerous musical interpretations including those of Monteverdi and his 17th-century compatriots who are represented on this imaginative album, performed with leading baroque interpreters Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire. Acclaim for Karim Sulayman and Apollo’s Fire has been widespread: “the soloists and instrumentalists are first class” (BBC Music Magazine) “an absorbing collection of early music, beautifully performed by the Cleveland-based instrumental-choral ensemble and vocal soloists” (Chicago Tribune)

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REVIEW:

Sulayman’s approach tends more towards the lyrical than the rhetorical – his lucid, velvety tenor and pop-star charisma best suited to melodious arias rather than the text-driven stile recitativo. Under the spirited direction of Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire provides slick and stylish continuo realisations.

– BBC Music Magazine

Billboard chart-topping violinist Rachel Barton Pine releases her 36th album and fourth for AVIE with her first recordings of two repertory staples, violin concertos by Edward Elgar and Max Bruch. The two works – Elgar’s only concerto for violin and Bruch’s first – straddle the turn of the 20th century but have in common a Romantic hue which Rachel probes with her rich, soulful tone.

The album is dedicated to “the memory of a musical hero and generous friend, Sir Neville Marriner,” who was to have reunited with Rachel on this album. She was fortunate to work with him on the scores, with Sir Neville vividly relating accounts of his teacher Billy Reed, former leader of the London Symphony Orchestra, who collaborated with Elgar on the creation of his violin concerto. Grammy Award-winning conductor Andrew Litton brings his own Romantic pedigree to the recording, as does the BBC Symphony Orchestra and celebrated producer Andrew Keener who himself has overseen award winning versions of the Elgar and Bruch concertos.

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REVIEW:

Pine’s interpretation of the Elgar is as emotionally satisfying as it is dazzling. The slow movement is mysteriously veiled and luminous, providing a palpable sense of the music’s darker undercurrents. She is most impressive, perhaps, in the finale, where her easy virtuosity sends sparks flying, though never at the expense of the long line.

Her performance of the Bruch is wholly persuasive in its mittel-European heartiness. The outer movements abound with snap and spice, and the Adagio has a warm solemnity that, one might argue, offers a foretaste of Elgarian nobilmente. The recorded sound is glorious, with a near-ideal balance between soloist and orchestra.

– Gramophone

"A simply outstanding CD." - The Whole Note

Superstar violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is one of today’s most in-demand classical performers. Beloved by audiences around the world, with a reputation for groundbreaking recital programs and important commissions, Fantasia marks her 35th studio album and is one of her most important projects to date. Meyers has been Billboard’s Top Selling Classical Instrumentalist of the year and has had numerous albums reach the Number 1 spot on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. Her latest album captures the rare combination of incredible virtuosity and poetic color with iconic works by Ravel, Einojuhani Rautavaara’s last major work, written for Meyers, and Karol Szymanowski’s sensuous Violin Concerto No. 1. The title track, Fantasia is legendary Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara’s premiere posthumous recording and last major work for violin and orchestra. Ms. Meyers traveled to Finland and worked with the composer on it shortly before he died. Karol Szymanowski’s sensuous Violin Concerto No. 1, dedicated to Polish virtuoso violinist, Paul Kochanski, is a dazzling display of exotic melodies, and Ravel’s iconic Tzigane is a virtuoso showpiece that conjures Hungarian gypsy music, and premiered almost a century ago.



REVIEW:

Meyers also seduces the senses in Ravel’s Tzigane, emphasising the magical essence of its blazing inspiration without the slightest whiff of empty, showpiece bravado. Yet the star item here is Rautavaara’s Fantasia (2015), one of his last works and composed especially for Meyers, who soars aloft with its tender cantabile, shaping its shimmering melodic lines with a profound sensitivity that exerts irresistible pressure on the tear ducts.

– The Strad

The title of this double album, Bel Canto Paganini, is the key to Rachel Barton Pine’s unaccompanied violin artistry. Of course one cannot play unaccompanied Paganini without all-encompassing virtuoso equipment, and Pine’s technique is beyond cavil; just sample her deft and supple alternating pizzicato and arco articulation in the “Nel cor più non mi sento” Variations, or her extraordinary textural juggling in Duo merveille (“Duet for One”). However, throughout the Op. 1 Caprices, Pine clearly mines these showpieces for musical values, first and foremost.

For example, she observes all of the repeats. That might prove deadly in the lengthy No. 4 C minor Maestoso caprice or the No. 6 G minor trill study, yet Pine’s wide expressive and coloristic palette keeps the music alive and meaningful. What is more, she does this without resorting to exaggerated phrasings or dynamic swells.

Her slow and serious No. 13 bypasses the surface humor of the descending “laughing” chromatic thirds while emphasizing the composer’s dolce marking in figurative red ink. The fanfare-like gestures that open the E-flat Caprices Nos. 19 and 23 become provocatively wistful themes, while No. 18’s arpeggiated C major proclamations become softer, more questioning than usual, followed by descending scales that sound more like music than exercises. However, don’t expect scintillation and surface bravura, which James Ehnes serves up in tandem with sound musical values.

Interestingly, Pine lets loose and catches fire in her own Paganini-inspired Variations on “God Defend New Zealand”, proving that she could very well match Perlman, Rabin, Ricci, and Midori at their ebullient peaks. Whether or not Pine’s Paganini will suit all tastes, she unquestionably commands the ways and means to make the best possible case for her conceptions.

– ClassicsToday (Jed Distler)

Pine is principally interested in the musical qualities of these extraordinary, endlessly inventive miniatures, and there’s hardly a moment here where you get any sense of technique taking precedence over expression.

She finds a wonderfully rich range of colors. Double-stopped octaves can almost vanish into the melody (as in No 7), give a fanfare figure a heroic echo (Nos 19 and 23) or throw an eerie shadow like some operatic mad scene (No 15)—as the music demands. Her characterisation is beguiling: Pine lets minor-key melodies droop to a finish, plays teasingly with the rhythmic sideslips of No 13 and makes the famous left-hand pizzicato in No 24 burst like popping candy.

– Gramophone

Percy Grainger was an extraordinary human being and musician- a precocious pianist, colorful composer and world traveller, a peculiarly passionate and emotive eccentric whose fertile mind produced an expansive oeuvre of original and inventive works. Above all Grainger is best known for his most enduring musical endeavor- his exploration and dissemination of folk music. With this release, soprano Claire Booth and pianist Christopher Glynn, who have spent decades delving into Grainger’s folk music output, document their fascination with the multifaceted firebrand, and bring his alluring music to a wider audience. Grainger’s success resulted in multiple versions of his folk song settings, for orchestra, wind band, chamber ensemble and choir. But it’s perhaps his versions for voice and piano that are the most characteristic, bringing out Grainger’s own highly individual style at the keyboard. Claire’s and Christopher’s survey, one of the most comprehensive available on the market today, offers a variety of transcriptions of songs found in collections from the British Isles as well as discoveries Grainger heard as he roamed throughout the field. The album concludes with Grainger’s most celebrated piece, English Country Gardens, in which Claire makes a cameo appearance on piano, joining Christopher in a rousing duet.



REVIEWS:

They beautifully manage the contrasts between simplicity and immense sophistication that all these songs regularly provide; it makes a really engaging sequence.

– Guardian (UK)

This disc affords tremendous pleasure; it’s well recorded and intelligently annotated, too. Warmly recommended.

– Fanfare

Gramophone Award-winning Adrian Chandler and his period-instrument ensemble La Serenissima present The Italian Job, a feast of instrumental color featuring oboes, bassoons, trumpets, trombone, timpani, strings and continuo, by some of the finest composers of the Italian baroque. The music on this release comes from four cities, each with a rich musical heritage: Venice, Bologna, Padua, and Rome. Adrian Chandler and his ensemble have received critical acclaim for their previous releases: “a Four Seasons for all seasons… To become another Four Seasons recommendation takes something special, and this absolutely is.” (Gramophone on Vivaldi Four Seasons AV 2344) “These are musicians who quite simply love their Vivaldi” (BBC Music Magazine, Recording of the Month, AV 2287)

REVIEW:

The Italian Job' has all of La Serenissima's hallmarks: a fresh, zinging tone alive with vitality and enjoyment, an effortless easy panache from both ensemble and soloists, and the whole underpinned by a scholarly attittude to programming and performance style which is yet worn with a light grace.

– Gramophone

This magnificent recording of J.S. Bach's groundbreaking masterpiece, the St. John Passion, is the resulto f Jeannette Sorrell's visionary concept of a dramatic production which was presented in seven acclaimed performances in Cleveland and New York City in March, 2016. Leading her Cleveland-based baroque orchestra, Apollo's Fire, the Apollo's Singers and a stellar cast of soloists including tenor Nicholas phan as the Evangelist, baritone Jesse Blumberg as Jesus and baritone Jeffrey Strauss as Pilate, Sorrell's vision brings immediacy and clarity to Bach's dramatic setting of the Passion story according to the gospel of St. John. "A resplendent performance...The production belonged entirely to Ms. Sorrell, who devised the concept, which she called 'a dramatic presentation'...Jesse Blumberg sang the role of Jesus handsomely and acted vividly. Nicholas Phan sang the Evangelist beautifully, with unusual animation and dramatic vehemence. Jeffrey Strauss turned Pilate into a living, breathing figure for a change. The chorus allowed Ms. Sorrell some exquisite moments...breathtaking." - The New York Times

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REVIEW:

Apollo Fire's St. John Passion has dramatic tautness tempered by musical finesse nurtured by conductor Jeanette Sorrell. The Apollonian music-making is characterized by instrumental playing of elegant refinement, polished choral singing, and communicative delivery of the text. Sorrell's attention to detail ensures that in many respects this recording hits the sweet spot time and again.

– Gramophone

Pianist Charles Owen presents a very personal interpretation of the Six Keyboard Partitas by J. S. Bach - works amongst the greatest in the literature for the keyboard. With this release he adds to his acclaimed discography which already includes Faure’s Nocturnes and Barcarolles.

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REVIEW:

Technical polish, intelligent musicianship, well-reasoned tempi, and scrupulously executed ornaments characterise Charles Owen’s Bach Partitas, along with a rounded and focused sonority largely informed by finger power and hand balance, with a little help from the sustain pedal.

– Gramophone

The legacy of the Cypress String Quartet, which celebrated its 20th anniversary and valedictory season in 2016, is sealed by the ensemble’s final recording – the two String Sextets by Johannes Brahms in which they are joined by long-time collaborators, violist Barry Shiffman and cellist Zuill Bailey. True to form, the Cypress String Quartet applied innovation to its last recording: live in front of a studio audience at Skywalker Sound Studio. "A tender, deeply expressive interpretation" - The New York Times

Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Todd Levy, who holds the principal chairs with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Santa Fe Opera, presents Rhapsodie, an astonishing array of classic 20th century works for his instrument. The rich palette of colors and immense versatility of the clarinet is on full display in impressionistic Debussy and Ravel, Cubanisto-style Bernstein, pastoral Finzi, the folk idioms of Bartok, klezmer inspiration by Bela Kovacs, blues-infected Libby Larsen and genre-bending Paquito D’Rivera. Todd’s technical wizardry is flawless throughout and is matched by his collaborators, pianists Jeannie Wu and Elena Abend, and guitarist Rene Izquierd. Todd Levy has received critical acclaim throughout his career. “It takes but a single solo at a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert to fall under the spell of principal clarinetist Todd Levy’s fluid tone and expressive phrasing. In his new CD, Brahms/Schumannn… the Avie label has given the classical music world compelling evidence of an artistic treasure that belongs to Milwaukee.” (Milwaukee Magazine)

AllMusic praised The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio’s “intensity, commitment, and unfettered navigation of Schumann’s scores.” This release is the third in the ensemble’s series dedicated to the works of Robert Schumann (1810-1856). This volume features Schumann’s most influential chamber work, the Piano Quintet in E flat Op. 44. The piece, which was premiered in 1843, is remembered for it’s “extroverted, exuberant” character. It is considered one of Schumann’s finest works. The ensemble performs here on period instruments, which enhances the recording by creating the intimate atmosphere for which this chamber music was written. Fanfare Magazine writes that the atmosphere creates “an enlightened view of the music.” The Benvenue Fortepiano Trio is pianist Eric Zivian, performing here on a Franz Rousch 1841 fortepiano, violinist Monica Hugget, performing on a 1770 Dutch, and cellist Tanya Tomkins, playing on an 1811 Joseph Panormo.

This collection of music from the Eton Choirbook, the vast collection of English sacred music from the Early Renaissance, is the fourth in an acclaimed seris. Stephen Darlington and The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford lead the series, receiving countless awards and acclaim. The music on this release was firmly rooted in the daily life of the college, appreciated by all who attending and worshiped there.

With this installment of music from the Eton Choirbook, the Choir of Christ Church Cathedral sets out to rival The Sixteen’s five-volume anthology. Already it seems to me that they surpass it technically – which is remarkable considering the inevitable changes of personnel that time imposes on a choir with boy trebles – and interpretatively.

–Gramophone

Stunningly effective singing, with insightful and precise direction by Stephen Darlington. A ground-breaking achievement.

– Early Music Review

Tilting at windmills. The long-suffering Sancho Panza. Sighs of love for Dulcinea. The familiar and fanciful themes of the Don Quixote legend are brought to life by Apollo’s Fire in Telemann’s imaginative portrayal. The Don Quixote Suite sits alongside other suites and concertos by the composer that reveal his cosmopolitan air and whimsical nature.



REVIEW:

Avie deserves credit for spotting this 2002 Koch International label disc and putting it back into circulation once again, as it remains a sterling release. The Cleveland-based Baroque orchestra Apollo's Fire and conductor Jeannette Sorrell pick a program that shows exactly why Telemann was so popular in his own day. They apply just the right level of broad gesture to the two representational suites, which reflect their subjects but are in no way overdone. A wonderful release that holds up to repeated hearings.

– All Music Guide

The Cypress String Quartet completes their cycle of the genre’s greatest oeuvre with a two-album set of Beethoven’s six ground-breaking quartets, Op. 18, alongside a reissue of their previously self-released recording of the late quartets. For the past several seasons, the Cypresses have immersed themselves in performing Beethoven on tours throughout the United States and Europe as well as recording all 16 works plus the “Grande Fugue” (Große Fuge). The completion of their Beethoven cycle is a fitting celebration of the Bay Area-based ensemble’s 20th anniversary as well as their valedictory season.

The Cypress String Quartet completes their cycle of the genre’s greatest oeuvre with a two-album set of Beethoven’s six ground-breaking quartets, Op. 18, alongside a reissue of their previously self-released recording of the late quartets. For the past several seasons, the Cypresses have immersed themselves in performing Beethoven on tours throughout the U.S. and Europe as well as recording all 16 works plus the “Grande Fugue” (Große Fuge). The completion of their Beethoven cycle is a fitting celebration of the Bay Area-based ensemble’s 20th anniversary, as well as their valedictory season.

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REVIEW:

The Cypress Quartet’s Beethoven readings have numerous virtues. The interpretations are well thought through, and the group’s beauty of tone and unanimity of ensemble are unfailing.

– MusicWeb International

1715: The famed Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari constructs what will become one of his most legendary violins. Among its first owners is Giuseppe Tartini, he of the "Devil's Trill" sonata.

c. 1817: The violin is bequeathed to Polish virtuoso violinist Karol Lipinski who inspired many works for the instrument.

2008: After passing through many countries and collections, the "Lipinski" Strad arrives in the hands of Frank Almond, through an anonymous donor.

2013: Frank Almond releases "A Violin's Life", an album that traces the provenance of the "Lipinski" Strad, with music by Schumann, Tartini, Julius Rontgen, and Lipinski himself.

January 2014: Following a concert, walking towards his car, Frank Almond is tasered by an assailant and the "Lipinski" Strad is stolen. An FBI pursuit results in the recovery of the "Lipinski" Strad a few weeks later. International media coverage goes viral, including international TV coverage, a feature in Vanity Fair, NPR, BBC, and much more.

May 2016: Frank Almond releases "A Violin's Life, Vol. 2", featuring more music associated with the "Lipinski" Strad, including works by Beethoven, Amanda Maier-Rontgen, and Eduard Tubin, poised to create another classic release.

The "Lipinski" Strad lives on.

It's an initially disorientating experience to hear Sea Pictures in a version with choir. The Rodolfus Choir are an elite SATB group and have a wonderfully smooth and often lulling sound; there's a lot of that mood in Sea Pictures. The choir's diction is a marvel although the sung words are in any event at the back of the booklet. The singers are attentive to dynamic contrast and register some superbly poetic effects. Open-minded Elgarians who can get over the heresy of unfamiliar forces will find much to enjoy here. Where Corals Lie is a delight and works exceptionally well with choir.

A lazy unobservant glance at the details of this disc had me assuming that the Piano Quintet had been re-engineered into a Piano Concerto to join the Elgar/Walker. No such thing. What we have here is something of symphonic proportions and character. While there are some dark and dramatic moments and even some hints of the Second Symphony this now comes across as reflective and in the same territory as Falstaff. The first movement has an air of halting even fearful uncertainty. It's all very smooth though, suave even. A Viennese lilt at 10.00 is one of several instances where things become quite Brahmsian. The second movement is almost Finzian as details entwine much as they do in the woodland Interludes in Falstaff. The finale has its exciting moments but is overall quite nostalgic, philosophical, and regretful.

These two works in new colors should give many more opportunities to hear this music although ironically each requires a greater number of performers than the originals. Of the two Sea Pictures strikes me as the more attractive.

– MusicWeb International (Rob Barnett)

Rachel Barton Pine’s ‘Testament’ is one of the best of this set of peerless works to have been released since Isabelle Faust’s definitive volumes of 2010 and 2012.

There is in her interpretation a surprisingly striking contrast between its crystalline voicing, clear articulation, and warm tone that makes the listener feel that it is concerned with the plain and simple beauty of the music as much as with the genius of its counterpoint and relationships between movements. All this is further supported by the sensible combination of Baroque bow and metal strings on a period instrument in modern set-up – the tuning is unfailingly accurate and the strength of the bowing means there is never any interference with the musical line by a squeak or break.

These are thoughtful and generous performances amplified by great maturity and depth.

– Gramophone (Editor's Choice; June 2016)

Andrew Parrott and his Taverner Choir & Players turn to music of their namesake alongside works by his contemporaneous King Henry VIII, an exceptionally musical monarch, and two composers of the previous generation, William Cornysh and Hugh Ashton. With Taverner’s Western Wind mass as its corner-stone, this recording takes its lead from the unashamedly secular character of that work and ventures beyond the chapel door to explore the parallel world of courtly vernacular song and instrumental music.

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REVIEW:

Andrew Parrott’s past recordings of Taverner count among his finest achievements, and time has not dulled his affinity for the music of his ensemble’s namesake. For this recital, he turns his attention to the secular music of Taverner’s contemporaries, interspersed among the movements of the Renaissance composer's Western Wynde Mass.

From a discographic standpoint, the instrumental numbers are very valuable, and dispatched with real flair. Finally, the sound recording successively juggles a wide range of distributions, from harpsichord to choir, with no apparent discontinuity.

– Gramophone

Cast out of Jerusalem, cast out of Spain. The Spanish Jews in their travels absorbed the colorful musical accents of Italy, Turkey and North Africa, including exotic percussion. Apollo’s Fire’s musical journey interweaves Sephardic folk song with the Monteverdi-like Hebrew choral work of Salamone Rossi – the Songs of Solomon. The daily rhythms of life – love, rejection, feasting and celebration – culminate in the mystical prayers of Shabbat.

Grammy Award-nominated cellist Antonio Meneses’ dazzling virtuosity in on display in the Suite for Solo Cello by Gaspar Cassadó, and two works by Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello with violinist Claudio Cruz, and the Sonata for Solo Cello that was written in 1915. It is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

Following the success of Capriccioso, a solo spectacular of works written by cellists for cellists, Antonio Meneses' brilliance is demonstrated again, with the rarely recorded Suite for Solo Cello by the Spanish cellist-composer Gaspar Cassadó. Alongside two early works by his Hungarian contemporary Zoltán Kodály - the Duo for Violin and Cello, with violinist Claudio Cruz, who was the conductor on Antonio's Grammy-nominated recording of the Concertos by Elgar and Gál; and the Sonata for Solo Cello, which was written in 1915 and is released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the work.

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REVIEWS:

In Cassado's dark, sensuous Suite, inspired by Kodaly but infused with Spanish undertones, he exudes a mesmerising, Zen-like calm: tenderly shaped curlicues, ornate arabesques, and complex harmonic accompanying figurations never disturb his long, arching lines or the sense of easy, improvisational charm. You can almost forget you're listening to a virtuoso display; in his refreshingly self-effacing, idiomatic approach musical substance is always to the fore.

– BBC Music Magazine

Meneses gives a performance that has been crafted down to the tiniest detail, the swirling finale in particular confident and polished, with every technical trick in the cellist's book pulled off with panache.

– Gramophone

One’s first impression of this CD, in an aria from Orlando comparing Love to the Wind, with its bouncy coloratura and light attitude, might mistakenly be that soprano Amanda Forsythe is “one of those coloratura songbirds,” albeit a very good one. This would be selling her short: yes, she’s most certainly a superb singer, with staggering agility and high notes perfect and free, but she uses every note in her well placed, many-hued voice. Sudden plunges into a not-quite chest voice on words like “dolor” (sadness) color and vary the experience of the aria.

And the next aria, “Geloso tormento” from Almira, with its obbligato oboe and aggressively unhappy strings, gives Forsythe even more emotional room: like any good “early music” soprano, she can sing without vibrato, but what she does with the first two words of the aria are special. The second syllable of “geloso” is attacked white and she sings a crescendo on it, adding vibrato; “tormento” finds a rolled “r” and a shudder on “men”. She embellishes freely and dramatically in the da capo section (here and in each other such aria).

It is a joy to hear a singer rethinking much of this familiar music without ever distorting it, such that the CD’s 55 minutes of singing (broken up with four expertly played orchestral excerpts from Terpsichore) truly impresses like a first hearing. And you never tire of Forsythe, as you might with other light-and-high-voiced singers. A bauble such as Atalanta’s flirtatious “Un cenno leggiadretto” from Serse has such character that it enchants anew. She has no fear of leaning on her voice but she never forces or makes an ugly sound; drama comes from inflection and diction.

Armida’s enraged recit “Dunque I lacci” and the anguished “Ah! crudel” that follows from Rinaldo are tragic in scope and sound, heavy with rage and sadness. The brief, insane B section that pops out of Armida’s deranged mind, “O infidel”, filled with tommy-gun coloratura, is a spectacular display, and Forsythe sadly lopes into the da capo with a voice filled with desolation. Morgana’s “Tornami a vagheggiar” from Alcina is sung for fireworks, and they light up the sky.

Jeanette Sorrell leads the period instruments of Apollo’s Fire devoid of any affectations, and the band plays smoothly and expertly. This is clearly Forsythe’s show and the orchestra and conductor offer great support. I could go on but find no need to; I hope you get my point. This is a knockout recital by a major American soprano.

-- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

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