It's no exaggeration to say that "practically every singer is familiar" with the collection of Arie Antiche compiled by Alessandro Parisotti, issued in the late 19th century and diffused in abridged form in the English-speaking world as 24 Italian Songs and Arias. Parisotti altered the pieces in keeping with the norms of the day, and this selection of the music from contralto Nathalie Stutzmann thus has a dual or perhaps even a triple purpose. Like many other historically oriented performances, hers is intended to strip away the layers that have accumulated on the surface of this music. Stutzmann also gives us a snapshot of the repertory as it appeared in Italy in the great heyday of opera. And beyond these historical considerations is the fact that many of these pieces are quite obscure, studied by students -- not necessarily students of historical performance -- but not so often performed with commitment in concert or on recordings (Cecilia Bartoli affectionately recorded a group of them some years back). So, what you get in this program, with Stutzmann also directing the fine historical-performance ensemble Orfeo 55, is a selection of the music Handel and Haydn might have heard during their training, and it's full of suggestive details along these lines. There are a few pieces by big names, and even here Stutzmann adds convincing moves. Sample Handel's "Ah! mio cor, schernito sei" (from Alcina), where she lends her voice a countertenor quality at the entrances. There is one piece by Parisotti himself, Se tu m'ami; he originally attributed it to Pergolesi, but, anticipating Fritz Kreisler by several decades, he filled out holes in his Baroque repertory by composing his own music. There are instrumental pieces as interludes, and these are uniformly interesting as well. The end result: a vocal institution, revivified.
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