Indie Insider Ryan Michele

In 1738 the acclaimed violinist and composer Michele Mascitti (1664-1760) published in Paris his ninth collection of sonatas. The seventy-four-year-old Neapolitan musician was at the end of his long and celebrated career, but not of his creative powers. Dedicated to the Crozat family, which was to be Mascitti’s patron until the end of his life, the twelve sonatas for violin and bass op.9 are fine examples of the graceful blend of Italian and French styles that made this composer so popular in France. With the world premiere of eight sonatas from Mascitti’s op. 9, the Quartetto Vanvitelli carries on the rediscovery of this music that Hubert Le Blanc likened ‘to the warbling of the nightingale’.

The bulk of Henri Duparc's oeuvre consists of 17 songs, the 16 recorded here plus one duet for soprano and tenor. He was a master of the late Romantic mélodie, and many of these songs are masterpieces of the genre. The recital by Canadian mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier is to some degree a successful account of the songs, but her performance isn't entirely consistent. She sings with passion and nuanced intelligence and brings real understanding to her interpretations. Her voice is full and secure through her range, even down to the depths of La vague et la cloche.

The opera that few tenors dare sing and which Flórez has made his own throughout his career. Recorded at the 2012 Pesaro Festival, Flórez reprises the role that shot him to stardom in 1996 aged twenty-three. Conducting is the up-and-coming young Italian maestro Michele Mariotti who was praised for his pacing in this long opera. The performance also features the much-admired Olga Peretyatko - a fine stage artist and a consummate performer of Rossini’s fiorature - in the title role.