Vivaldi: Opera Arias "Pyrotechnics" (2009)

This album is certainly aptly named; it would be hard to find a better word to describe this fiery music and these dazzling performances than pyrotechnic. American mezzo-soprano Viveca Genaux has a remarkable technique, and she pulls off Vivaldi's outrageous vocal requirements (which frequently sound as if he'd forgotten he was writing for a human who has a need to breathe occasionally, and was writing for violin) with bravura and apparent ease. It's not all about extravagant singing, though; Genaux brings emotional depth ... Read More

This album is certainly aptly named; it would be hard to find a better word to describe this fiery music and these dazzling performances than pyrotechnic. American mezzo-soprano Viveca Genaux has a remarkable technique, and she pulls off Vivaldi's outrageous vocal requirements (which frequently sound as if he'd forgotten he was writing for a human who has a need to breathe occasionally, and was writing for violin) with bravura and apparent ease. It's not all about extravagant singing, though; Genaux brings emotional depth to these arias, creating convincingly differentiated characters. The album opens with an aria from Catone in Utica that is taken at such a breakneck speed and that makes such merciless technical demands and that flies up and down such a hyper-extended range that the listener may be left exhausted. In a wise programming move, Genaux mixes this kind of showpiece up with some less agitated arias, which, while providing plenty of pyrotechnics themselves, in this context offer some... Read Less