Blandine Staskiewicz - Tempesta (Handel, Vivaldi, Porpora, Pergolesi) (2015) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist
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01. Carlo il calvo, HelN 38: Spesso di nubi cinto
02. Andromeda liberata, RV Anh. 117: Sovente il sole
03. Agrippina, HWV 6: Sinfonia
04. Agrippina, HWV 6: Pensieri voi mi tormentate
05. Adriano in Siria, P. 140: Torbido in volto
06. Radamisto, HWV 12: Quando mai, spietata sorte
07. Alessandro, HWV 21: Brilla nell'alma
08. Serse, HWV 40: Ombra mai fù
09. La verità in cimento, RV 739: Io son frà l'onde
10. Griselda, RV 718: Agitata da due venti
11. L'olimpiade, RV 725, Sinfonia: I. Allegro
12. L'olimpiade, RV 725, Sinfonia: II. Andante
13. L'Olimpiade, RV 725: Siam navi all'onde algenti

With 'Tempesta', her first recital disc, mezzo-soprano Blandine Staskiewicz has chosen to venture into the emotional storms and calms beloved of Baroque composers – notably Vivaldi and Handel – which provided their operatic arias with that intense charge that captivates listeners still. As befits one raised on the tranquil, yet at times tempestuous, Belle-Île-en-Mer, lying off the Brittany coast, Staskiewicz is able to portray a fabulous array of moods to match her vocal beauty.

If the Neapolitans Nicola Porpora and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi are each represented on this disc by a single burst of concentrated dramatic feeling, it is to the fiery and tempestuous music of Vivaldi and the more psychological and interiorised offerings of Handel that Blandine Staskiewicz directs her attention in these arie di tempesta. Staskiewicz’s control of the depths and heights of the soul are matched by the instrumental accompaniment from Les Ambassadeurs and its director Alexis Kossenko.

Blandine Staskiewicz, who has appeared on previous Glossa albums in Lully, Campra and Handel in the company of Hervé Niquet and Fabio Bonizzoni, herself contributes an intriguing note about the genesis of this programme – complete with an alluring cover design – but it is her wonderfully controlled singing (and expertise in Baroque repertoire) which characterises 'Tempesta' so beguilingly.

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