Rossini Recital (1992)

Out from the moans and gnashings over the current famine of star-quality classical singers, there emerges the heartwarming miracle known as Cecilia Bartoli. Listen to that voice, an idealized clarinet curling itself with irresistible insinuation around 71 minutes of infectious melody in Rossini Recital. Listen to the intelligence behind that voice, forming the adorable conceits of Rossini's texts — a lonely shepherdess, a cupid, a lovelorn Venetian maiden cheering on her amorous gondolier — into tiny dramas that proclaim the sheer joy of music making. Derive amazement from the news that this handsome, gracious, divinely gifted apparition on our musical horizon is a mere slip of a 25-year-old. Rome-born (to opera-singer parents), Bartoli has shaped her budding career with rare restraint, limiting her activity so far to the serene repertory of Mozart and Rossini, holding the juicier romantic roles (e.g., Carmen) at arm's length. That, too, comes through on this totally astonishing recital: It's the work of a singer fully at ease, not merely singing the gorgeous melodic lines but living inside each of them, sharing the music's heartbeat with her own. That's what is meant by artistry. A+