Cecilia Bartoli
In the late 1990s, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli was one of the world's most popular singers, for several years eclipsed in album sales only by Luciano Pavarotti, and she remains a beloved figure. Her repertory runs from the Baroque through Mozart, and the bel canto roles of the first third of the 19th century. Bartoli was born in Rome on June 4, 1966. Her parents were both professional singers, and she made her stage debut at nine as a shepherd boy in Puccini's Tosca. Bartoli attended the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, studying trombone and flirting with a career as a flamenco dancer; her only long-term voice teacher had been her mother. She made her Zurich Opera House debut in 1989 as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, under conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a frequent collaborator. Her star rose rapidly in the early 1990s; her debut in New York, where she remains extraordinarily popular, came at a 1990 Mostly Mozart Festival concert. In 1992, she would return to that festival for three sold-out shows. Charismatic, musically intelligent, and vocally agile (singing both mezzo-soprano and soprano roles), she made her debut on the coveted stage at Milan, Italy's La Scala in 1991. Bartoli has called herself a child of the 18th century and has been able to combine vocally spectacular Baroque roles, several times in Vivaldi's comparatively underexposed operas, with limpid Mozart melodies, and bel canto through much of her career. Bartoli's Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1996 as Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte, returning in 1997 in the lead role in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and once again in 1998 as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. In the mid-2000s, she devoted herself mostly to Baroque opera, appearing as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and then to bel canto toward the end of the decade issuing the album Maria, which investigated the career of famed soprano Maria Malibran. The pace of Bartoli's stage appearances and recordings slowed somewhat in the 2010s, but remained vigorous. Bartoli became the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in 2012; her appearances there as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare (2012), and in the title roles of Bellini's Norma (2013) and La Cenerentola (2014), as well as her programming decisions, resulted in record ticket sales for the formerly academically oriented festival. On recordings, Bartoli has been associated mostly with the London and Decca labels; crossover albums have been notably absent from her large catalog. Bartoli's 2011 album Sacrificium won a Grammy award for Best Classical Vocal Performance; it was her fifth Grammy. Some of her albums have included music by lesser-known composers such as Antonio Salieri and Agostino Steffani; her concept album Mission (2012) covered the music and career of the latter. On Decca, she released Antonio Vivaldi, a collection of arias, in 2018. She was inducted into the French Order of Arts and Letters in 1995. She has lived with her husband, baritone Oliver Widmer, in Switzerland on Lake Zurich, in Rome, and in Monaco.© James Manheim /TiVo Read more
In the late 1990s, mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli was one of the world's most popular singers, for several years eclipsed in album sales only by Luciano Pavarotti, and she remains a beloved figure. Her repertory runs from the Baroque through Mozart, and the bel canto roles of the first third of the 19th century.
Bartoli was born in Rome on June 4, 1966. Her parents were both professional singers, and she made her stage debut at nine as a shepherd boy in Puccini's Tosca. Bartoli attended the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, studying trombone and flirting with a career as a flamenco dancer; her only long-term voice teacher had been her mother. She made her Zurich Opera House debut in 1989 as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, under conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, a frequent collaborator. Her star rose rapidly in the early 1990s; her debut in New York, where she remains extraordinarily popular, came at a 1990 Mostly Mozart Festival concert. In 1992, she would return to that festival for three sold-out shows. Charismatic, musically intelligent, and vocally agile (singing both mezzo-soprano and soprano roles), she made her debut on the coveted stage at Milan, Italy's La Scala in 1991. Bartoli has called herself a child of the 18th century and has been able to combine vocally spectacular Baroque roles, several times in Vivaldi's comparatively underexposed operas, with limpid Mozart melodies, and bel canto through much of her career. Bartoli's Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1996 as Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte, returning in 1997 in the lead role in Rossini's La Cenerentola, and once again in 1998 as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. In the mid-2000s, she devoted herself mostly to Baroque opera, appearing as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and then to bel canto toward the end of the decade issuing the album Maria, which investigated the career of famed soprano Maria Malibran. The pace of Bartoli's stage appearances and recordings slowed somewhat in the 2010s, but remained vigorous. Bartoli became the artistic director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in 2012; her appearances there as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare (2012), and in the title roles of Bellini's Norma (2013) and La Cenerentola (2014), as well as her programming decisions, resulted in record ticket sales for the formerly academically oriented festival.
On recordings, Bartoli has been associated mostly with the London and Decca labels; crossover albums have been notably absent from her large catalog. Bartoli's 2011 album Sacrificium won a Grammy award for Best Classical Vocal Performance; it was her fifth Grammy. Some of her albums have included music by lesser-known composers such as Antonio Salieri and Agostino Steffani; her concept album Mission (2012) covered the music and career of the latter. On Decca, she released Antonio Vivaldi, a collection of arias, in 2018.
She was inducted into the French Order of Arts and Letters in 1995. She has lived with her husband, baritone Oliver Widmer, in Switzerland on Lake Zurich, in Rome, and in Monaco.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Unreleased
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 19, 2021
Seven dramatic arias. We would expect nothing less from Cecilia Bartoli, who loves to play the harpy, at least on stage and on record! In this album, ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vincenzo Bellini : Norma
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
Choc de ClassicaChoc Classica de l'annéeHi-Res AudioPerformed on early 19th century instruments and presented with brisk tempos, bright tone colors, and a lean ensemble sound, this 2013 Decca recording ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Queen of Baroque
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 27, 2020
One of the great voices of the last thirty years, Cecilia Bartoli’s discographic success is immeasurable. Since her first recitals at the end of the 8 ...
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Antonio Vivaldi
Cecilia Bartoli
Opera Extracts - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 23, 2018
5 étoiles de ClassicaDiapason d'or / Arte5 Sterne Fono Forum KlassikThis new Vivaldi album marks a double anniversary, the thirty-year anniversary of the close collaboration between Cecilia Bartoli and the famous Engli ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Agostino Steffani : Stabat Mater
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
Choc de ClassicaDiapason d'orHi-Res AudioAgostino Steffani, roughly contemporary with Arcangelo Corelli, worked mostly in Germany and was known across the continent for his operatic music. So ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini : La Cenerentola
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cecilia Bartoli - Arie Antiche: Se tu m'ami
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cecilia & Sol - Dolce Duello
Cecilia Bartoli
Chamber Music - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 6, 2017
Choc de Classica5 de DiapasonGramophone Editor's Choice5 Sterne Fono Forum KlassikThis is a gentle kind of duet, which sets up Cecilia Bartoli "opposite" cellist Sol Gabetta, if we can speak of "opposition". The two stars chose a fe ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cecilia Bartoli - The Vivaldi Album
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cecilia Bartoli - Mozart Arias
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1991
The Qobuz Ideal Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera Proibita
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2005
Cecilia Bartoli maintains a near-perfect mezzo-soprano instrument, which she patently refuses to expose to material that might damage it; never will w ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Il Turco in Italia
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: La Cenerentola
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
St. Petersburg
Cecilia Bartoli
Opera Extracts - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2013
5 de DiapasonGramophone Editor's ChoiceDiamant d'OpéraCecilia Bartoli takes us on a journey leading from Italy to Russia which traces the development of opera in St. Petersburg. Through the actions of thr ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Portraits
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini Heroines
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cecilia Bartoli - Mozart Portraits
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Arias
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1989
5 de Diapason16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Cantatas Vol.2
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bellini: La Sonnambula
Cecilia Bartoli
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2008
This recording of La Sonnambula is notable on a number of fronts. It's the first recording of the opera based on a 2004 critical edition of the score ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo