Jean Christophe Cholet Anima

This disc is a sampler of Vivaldi discs released by France's Naïve label, and it's highly recommended to listeners who haven't yet given these recordings a try. The group of performers is pan-European, with French singers and Italian instrumentalists especially strongly represented, but a compilation like this brings home how well this label has done at forging a unified artistic vision. Its Vivaldi indeed tends toward "furious," as the title proclaims; it is also garish, energetic, dynamically extreme, and in every way devoted to making Vivaldi out as a rebel in his time.

Créé en 1995 par Jean-Christophe Frisch, premièrement sous le nom de XVIII-21 Musique des Lumières, XVIII-21 Le Baroque Nomade est un ensemble français ayant participé à un renouvellement de l’interprétation de la musique baroque, en s’appuyant sur les découvertes musicologiques les plus récentes. L’ensemble a notamment développé le concept de baroque nomade, travaillant sur les rencontres historiquement avérées entre musiques baroques européennes et musiques extra-européennes.

Josquin was one of the greatest composers of his time, the author of sacred and secular music and works for court and city. The ensemble Theleme and Jean-Christophe Groffe offer a bold and original interpretation of some of Josquin's songs. Combining the language of the Renaissance with very different sounds - ondes Martenot, Fender Rhodes piano, Buchla synthesizer - they create a lively and astonishingly fertile dialogue, in keeping with the spirit of the composer. Five hundred years after his death, this album pays tribute to a groundbreaking composer, whose innovations inspire us to this day.

“The role of Isabella is sung to perfection by Cecilia Bartoli – a clever, independent woman with an adventurous streak” (New York Times). Bartoli’s superb performance in Gioachino Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) at Salzburg Festival, directed by the BAFTA-winning stage director duo Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, is a highlight among the Rossini celebrations on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death. The DVD captures Bartoli’s excellent performance in a rare audiovisual recording of the Italian superstar, who is one of the most successful opera singers of our time. In this vibrant comedy, every look, every hand gesture brings Isabella to life: Bartoli presents the spirited Italian woman with fire, finesse and extraordinary acting abilities – “a Rossini masterclass” (Bachtrack).

Cecilia Bartoli presents a brand-new album of arias by Antonio Vivaldi, two decades after her ground-breaking 'Vivaldi Album'. The original Vivaldi Album was a seminal event, launching a substantial revival of Vivaldi s long dismissed operas and setting a standard for classical concept albums that stands to this day. In the 20 years since, Cecilia Bartoli has recorded less than 5 minutes of additional Vivaldi music, making her return to this composer with a new album a true event. Bartoli is joined on this recording by French baroque experts Ensemble Matheus under the baton of Jean-Christophe Spinosi.

“The role of Isabella is sung to perfection by Cecilia Bartoli – a clever, independent woman with an adventurous streak” (New York Times). Bartoli’s superb performance in Gioachino Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) at Salzburg Festival, directed by the BAFTA-winning stage director duo Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, is a highlight among the Rossini celebrations on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the composer’s death. The DVD captures Bartoli’s excellent performance in a rare audiovisual recording of the Italian superstar, who is one of the most successful opera singers of our time. In this vibrant comedy, every look, every hand gesture brings Isabella to life: Bartoli presents the spirited Italian woman with fire, finesse and extraordinary acting abilities – “a Rossini masterclass” (Bachtrack).

Diving into Vivaldi's Orlando furioso with Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Matheus Ensemble, and a shockingly good cast is enough to make even the most jaded listener smile. It is fresh, unrelentingly impressive, and entertaining to a fault. The opera is over-plotted: the first paragraph of the synopsis is enough to confuse anyone not taking notes. And listening to the entire thing would amount to more flowery, athletic vocalism than most can stand in one sitting. But those with the remotest interest in Vivaldi opera, or opera at all, will be hard pressed not to marvel at the quality of what's recorded here. Spinosi is a brilliant Vivaldian who pulls sweet-toned lyricism and down-and-dirty sawing from his Matheus Ensemble, making the most of the composer's rich orchestration. And the cast pulls one rabbit after another out of its collective hat, tackling Vivaldi's consummately difficult arias with élan.