Opera Daily 🎶 — Cecilia Bartoli, Vivaldi, Divas, The Beauty of Hidden Gifts
Opera Daily 🎶 — Cecilia Bartoli, Vivaldi, Divas, The Beauty of Hidden Gifts
"The voice is an instrument that must take time to develop. It's like a good red wine. Give it time."
Hello friends,
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the patron saint of music is named Cecilia.
As the daughter of two opera singers, you could say that Cecilia Bartoli was born to sing. But she wanted to be a flamenco dancer, not an opera singer.
When she was fifteen, her mother said: “Cecilia, let’s see if you have a voice.” After some lessons with her mother (who soon became her voice teacher), there was no denying that she had a gift.
When she was 19 years old, she appeared on an Italian talent show called Fantastico. “I’m so glad she’s a mezzo-soprano," said soprano Katia Ricciarelli who was in the audience when Bartoli performed “Una voce poco fa”, an aria from Rossini’s opera Il barbiere di Siviglia. Bartoli didn’t win the talent show that night, but there was no denying were she was headed. 🚀
Bartoli believes in God-given talent. She also believes that the work doesn’t stop there. Even though she had been given a gift, she refers to her voice resembling “a rough stone” when it was discovered. It needed to be shaped through a strong technique and discipline to become what it was meant to be.
Hearing Bartoli’s story got me thinking.
People are walking around with gifts inside them every day, but they have no idea they’ve been given these gifts. What about all gifts that you’ve been given? How will you discover them? How will we put them to work?
The thought of people walking around the world every day with all these hidden gifts makes me smile. It even caused me to look at some folks on a walk yesterday a little differently, thinking, I wonder what gifts they are hiding?
Bartoli reminds us of the true definition of a diva through her words and actions.
When asked about what a “diva” means to her, she struggles to answer, given the negative connotations of the phrase in today’s opera world.
Instead, she refers to one of her heroes Maria Malibran.
“Malibran was an amazing singer, composer, muse to so many. So many talents in one person. This woman was so full of love, courage, and passion. She is a goddess. She is a diva.”
While Malibran is mainly remembered for her fiery operatic performances, she was one of the best-known opera singers of the 19th century and a composer. She died at just 28 years old after falling off her horse, but her fame as singer, composer, and painter was undeniable by the time she passed.
Bartoli’s Barcelona concert in 2008 at Palau de la Música Catalana was dedicated to Malibran and the goldmine of music associated with this star of the Romantic era.
🎧 Listening Example (3 minute listen): Rossini’s La Cenerentola, "Non più mesta" Cecilia Bartoli with the Orchestra La Scintilla, Recorded at the Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona, Spain) in 2008
Instead of seeking to get even with her sisters who have hurt her, Angelina (Cinderella’s birth name), in this aria, forgives them. She sings that her life has been transformed by love and that she forgives all who wronged her before and wants only to embrace them.
Bartoli was the first singer to perform La Cenerentola at the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere in 1997.
Bartoli believes that it is the responsibility of musicians to bring music alive. That music is not meant to be left on shelves — it’s meant to be discovered.
You could say she is a builder of bridges between centuries. Vivaldi is known for his instrumental music not his vocal music. But Bartoli took it upon herself to bring that music to us, studied it intensely, and brought it to life.
Below is a full-length concert with Bartoli from the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris. It features a program of rare arias from Vivaldi's operas with Giovanni Antonini conducting Il Giardino Armonico (an Italian ensemble specializing in Baroque music played on period instruments).
You can watch the full concert here. [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
🎧 Listening Example (6 minute listen): Cecilia Bartoli sings “Agitata da due venti” from the opera Griselda by Antonio Vivaldi, Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris, Giovanni Antonini conducting Il Giardino Armonico
Cecilia has been artistic director of the Salzburg Festival since 2012 while still performing at the festival each season. Handel’s Giulio Cesare inaugurated Cecilia Bartoli’s first season as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Festival.
Below is a clip from Bartoli in Salzburg singing one of Cleopatra’s aria’s, “Da tempesto il legno infranto” from Act 3 of the Italian opera Giulio Cesare by George Frideric Handel
Bartoli was named the Artistic Director of Opéra de Monte-Carlo, which she will start in January 2023.
Jean-Louis Grinda, the current director of Opéra de Monte-Carlo, says he’s convinced that artists should run opera houses. That artists understand all that’s at stake in theaters, and artists know how to take these risks.
What does Bartoli think about the new role? She hopes to start this new position “with a lot of energy and love” because, as she says, “in the end that’s what it’s all about”.
I’ve always been a fan of Bartoli, the musician and Bartoli, the person. She teaches us how to rejoice in the beauty of life.
She loves to sing. She smiles with her eyes. She has a sense of humor in addition to a magnificent voice. Her singing goes straight to your heart.
Whether you feel joy every day or you haven't felt it in a while, after listening to Cecilia, I hope you had a chance to reconnect with that feeling today.
Thank you for reading (and listening),
Michele
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Here are some things I’ve learned from her over the years:
* Bring yourself to the music — There are a lot of people that have great vocal technique but you don’t feel the magic when they sing. Music is not only about technique but it is about emotion and you need to combine those things. But you can only be free to make music if you have the voice in order
* Study like a craftsman — Bartoli knows that craft is honed over a lifetime; even the master craftsman has skills to refine and new knowledge to acquire. She has an intense love of the craft of singing including obsessing over the wishes of composers
* Pressure is a privilege — Nerves are needed - and natural but after that we need to go. We need to try our best to not get in our own way - we need to approach our performances “con gioio” (“with joy”) as she says. Pressure makes us better. Life is short. We can't let opportunities to test ourselves pass us by.
* Slow and steady wins — She has a gift + intelligence + patience - Bartoli has always kept her appearances strictly rationed - which is what makes her performances special (not least because she dislikes air travel). Nobody ever leaves a Bartoli concert feeling that they've been short-changed.
As I gain more exposure to the broad terrain of mezzo soprano voices, I am fascinated by artists like Cecilia Bartoli, whose shimmering virtuosity transcends her advantageous family background, training, the exigencies of certain arias, and an audience's familiarity with the opera canon. The natural colors of her voice, distinguish her as different from, and arguably superior to, others in this category. Blessed with a phenomenal voice, I love that she imbues it with her own personality, flavor, an ethereal tone and a remarkable elasticity. It's difficult to know what combination of qualities makes for the star power of a diva (or any other great opera performer). I just never tire of listening to her perform.
I find myself thinking about the voice, like any other creative talent, is organic. A voice like Bartoli's would not have been manifested without people willing to look for it, identify it and cultivate it. This is why parents, teachers and mentors should demand an end to chronic underfunding and neglect of arts education. The arts are no less essential for human growth and development than scientific and technological proficiency. Without greater outreach to the broader public and living wages for arts workers, this sector will continue to be insular, its productions costly, its audiences elite and public access limited, largely due to the primacy of the profit motive and commercial success in the arts world.
My hope for democratization and greater access to the arts therefore lies in non-formal settings and the internet. Schools and parents are so beleaguered these days, adding this to their plates may be a bridge too far. (End of rant!)