Je veux vivre dans ce rêve qui m'enivre

theauditory:

Lyric coloratura soprano Patricia Petibon has released a new album on Deutsche Grammophon in the past few months entitled Rosso: Italian Baroque Arias.  The French soprano sings selections from various composers of the Baroque period in Italian including selections from Scarlatti, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as lesser-known composers such as Porpora and Sartorio.

The first aria on the album is “Quando voglio” from Sartorio’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto.  Maestro Andrea Marcon leads the Venice Baroque orchestra in a lively, rambunctious interpretation — beginning our auditory experience with the sounds of castanets, guitar, and harpsichord tirades.  Petibon then sings with excellent élan, using her vocalism in a perfect fit to Maestro Marcon’s instrumental interpretation.  Imbuing the singing (and even speaking, yes!) with raw emotion seems to be Madame Petibon’s goal in this aria, leaving a more reserved, tradionalist technical and interpretational approach to come in arias such as the famous “Lascia ch’io pianga” from Handel’s Rinaldo.  Later we also hear other favorites such as Alcina’s showpiece “Tornami a vagheggiar” with an exciting new approach to the da capo ornamentation.

Overall Petibon takes a daring new look at several old favorites and introduces rarer arias to a wider audience on this album.  A combination of the wise choices of traditional performance and edgier interpretations keeps the listener pleased with her success of walking the fine line of the avant garde.