Fred DE Palma IL Cielo Non CI Vuole

On a rising crest of a wave, British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso seems likely to add to the approving clamour that greeted last year’s debut collection of Italian songs, Passione, with this rousingly, rapturously sung sophomore survey of arias and duets by Puccini and Bizet.

Cet enregistrement, comme les mémorables Fées du Rhin d'Offenbach, chef-d'oeuvre de l'édition 2002 où Friedemann Layer était déjà au pupitre, fait partie de la série consacrée aux oeuvres "redécouvertes", si l'on peut dire, par René Koering à travers le Festival de Radio France-Montpellier dont on saluera au passage la programmation courageuse et originale.

The Four Seasons is a group of four violin concerti by Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. They were written around 1716–1717 and published in 1725 in Amsterdam, together with eight additional concerti, as Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione (The Contest Between Harmony and Invention).

As long as there are violinists around like Giuliano Carmignola, classical music will never be a museum for the dead because in his hands, Mozart's Concertos are brilliantly, vibrantly, irresistibly alive. Carmignola, who later signed with Sony and then Deutsche Gramophone after these recordings were made in 1997, is a violinist with a light bow, a warm tone, an impeccable intonation and a superlative technique, all of which are needed for Mozart's effervescent Concertos. But, best of all, Carmignola has an elegant way of turning a phrase and a graceful manner of expressing the inner life of the music. With the skilled if not especially characterful il Quartettone led by Carlo de Martini, Carmignola turns in performances of Mozart Concertos which while they might not challenge the greatest recordings ever made, certainly do reconfirm the life enhancing – life affirming – qualities of the music.

“Roma travestita” è il titolo dell’album di debutto discografico per il sopranista Bruno de Sá con l’etichetta Erato. Il repertorio esplorato dal giovane cantante brasiliano corrisponde al periodo storico in cui alle donne era proibito calcare i palcoscenici teatrali a Roma ed erano gli uomini ad interpretare ruoli operistici femminili. Otto delle tredici arie dell’album vengono presentate in prima registrazione assoluta. Il progetto vede la collaborazione dell’orchestra Il Pomo d’Oro diretta da Francesco Corti per l’esecuzione di arie del XVIII secolo di Vivaldi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vinci, Galuppi e Piccinni, e di autori meno frequentati come Capua, Arena, Cocchi, Conforto e Garcìa Fajer. In scena Bruno de Sá ha già cantato in ruoli come Sesto nel Giulio Cesare di Händel e ne La clemenza di Tito di Mozart, Barbarina ne Le nozze di Figaro di Mozart e La Sirenetta nell’adattamento operistico della favola di Hans Christian Andersen composto da Jherek Bischoff.

As might be expected, this is an excellent recording with the Consort of Musicke in superb form and a well-balanced, crystal-clear sound from the production team for the Virgin Classics Veritas label. What will come as more of a surprise is the music of the Mantuan maestro di cappella Giaches de Wert, a familiar enough figure in the history books as Monteverdi's predecessor and mentor at the Gonzaga court, but whose madrigals are still largely confined to tomes on dusty library shelves. No longer: in these performances of his Seventh Book of Madrigals of 1581 they leap off the page, teeming with the musical ideas triggered by the composer's imaginative and often inspired response to his texts.

Featuring an eclectic mix of contemporary pop hits, show tunes, and religious standards, Il Était une Fois… is the first release from the popular children's choir school Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois since they relocated from Paris to the Burgundy department of Yonne. Its 11 tracks include covers of Tina Arena's "Aller Plus Haut," Yannick Noah's "La Voix des Sages," and Les Misérables' number "La Faute à Voltaire," alongside more traditional fare such as the early 20th century Arabic song "Salma Ya Salama," the Israel national anthem "Hatikva," and "Ave Maria".

Like a shooting star, the French singer Sophie Gail filled her short life with music and passion. Publishing her first romances at the age of 15 in 1790, this divorcee who led a free life (with four children from four different fathers) achieved fame as a composer at the Opera-Comique in 1813, while having her romances hummed by all of the Empire's "Belle social. They are brought back to life with spirit and brio by the magnificent duo of Mailys de Villoutreys and Clara Izambert.