Danielle De Niese - Beauty Of The Baroque (2011)

01. Come Again; Sweet Love Doth Now Invite 02:42	play
02. What if I Never Speed 02:31
03. Ombra Mai Fu 02:54		play
04. Let The Bright Seraphim 05:35
05. Thy Hand,belinda...When I Am Laid in Earth 05:07
06. Heart, The Seat of Soft Delight 04:11
07. Pur Ti Miro 04:35
08. Quel Sguardo Sdegnosetto 03:02
09. Io T'abbraccio 06:53
10. Guardian Angels, Oh, Protect Me 06:00
11. Stabat Mater 03:56
12. Sich ber Im Lieben 04:39
13. Schafe Knnen Sicher Weiden 04:45

Danielle De Niese – soprano
Andreas Scholl – countertenor
The English Concert
Harry Bicket - conductor

With her third solo album, soprano Danielle de Niese embodies Beauty of the Baroque with an album of favorite arias from the English, German, and Italian traditions, accompanied by the leading European Baroque orchestra The English Concert under Harry Bicket. Favorite arias including Handel's "Ombra mai fu" and highlights from Bach Cantatas are contrasted with solo songs by Purcell and Dowland, much loved Italian arias and sacred works. Since her earlier successes in the operas of Mozart, Danielle de Niese has become most closely associated with the music of the Baroque. The New York Times commented: "A voice seductive enough to woo gods as well as mortals." Decca's star countertenor Andreas Scholl joins Danielle de Niese for duets including Monteverdi's ravishing duet "Pur ti miro." ---Editorial Reviews

THE soprano Danielle de Niese’s new album, “Beauty of the Baroque,” may be satisfying to listeners who imagine the Baroque’s beauties to resemble the blandly charming photographs in the booklet notes: flowing fabrics and precious jewels amid classical statuary and 17th-century furnishings.

For any among us whose expectations for this repertory include more interesting things, like daring harmonies or devastating emotions, the record is a disappointment. In songs and arias by Dowland, Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi, Pergolesi and Bach, Ms. de Niese’s voice is sweet but brittle, her interpretations game but low impact.

The recitative to “When I am laid in earth,” Dido’s lament from Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas,” is oddly blasé; when she says that “darkness shades me,” she might be referring to a seaside palm rather than death. In the aria proper there is a small interpretive idea — a diminuendo on “Remember me” — just as there is a small widening of tone on the words “crystal flood” in “Heart, the seat of soft delight” from Handel’s “Acis and Galatea.” But these moments don’t add up to real feeling.

On her 2007 Handel disc Ms. de Niese’s collaborators, William Christie and Les Arts Florissants, were at least unafraid to turn up the heat, pushing her toward incisive delivery. Here, by contrast, Harry Bicket and the English Concert are unfailingly proper but staid, a surprise from this generally inspired conductor and ensemble.

Just as bloodless are duets by Handel, Monteverdi and Pergolesi, in which Ms. de Niese is joined by the countertenor Andreas Scholl. There is little interpretive sympathy between the two singers, and Mr. Scholl’s faded-velvet voice has little to do with Ms. de Niese’s more pointed tone.

In Monteverdi’s “Quel sguardo sdegnosetto,” one of his “Scherzi musicali,” Ms. de Niese’s attack is a bit harsh, but she’s spirited. Here at last is some of the energy she brings to her stage work. ---Zachary Woolfe, nytimes.com

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