Celebrating both Rossini150 and Cecilia Bartoli’s 30 years on Decca: the first boxed set from the most successful classical artist of the present day in collaboration with Fondazione Rossini.

15 CDs + 6 DVDs in a limited edition set collecting the complete recorded repertoire from Rossini’s oeuvre of the most lustrous Rossinian primissima donna.

Includes a previously unreleased recording of Salvatore Sciarrino’s orchestration of Giovanna d’Arco cantata with Riccardo Chailly, rediscovered in the Decca archives.

An exclusive Decca artist for 30 years, Cecilia Bartoli has become the most successful artist of a generation. Since her professional debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia aged only 19 in her hometown of Rome, Rossini has been at the forefront of her illustrious career ever since. Discovered by the legendary Decca recording producer Christopher Raeburn in 1986, Cecilia made her first recording for Decca two years later in Il barbiere di Siviglia, soon followed by her debut recital disc.

Under his gentle tutelage and guidance, Cecilia steered a new-wave revival for Rossini’s music with fresh scholarship and authenticity, taking on the metaphorical baton handed to her from the bel canto legends such as Marilyn Horne & Joan Sutherland, becoming the undisputed star of this repertoire that we know and admire today, through her scholarly, intuitive and, above all, fun performances of some of the most challenging works ever written for mezzo.

Since her earliest recordings and performances, Cecilia has brought to Rossini’s incredible music not only an exemplary coloratura technique but also spirit and sassiness to so many of Rossini’s leading roles. Cecilia tackles with acrobatic virtuosity the most challenging of Rossini’s scores created expressly to highlight the almost super-human gifts of those singers who, for more than one reason, we might define as the “supreme virtuosos”, performing them with a combination of skill and passion, transcending the boundaries of the text.

The range of works featured in this collection is irrefutable proof of Cecilia’s Rossinian genius. The sheer quantity of his music she has recorded demonstrates her enduring interest in and commitment to the composer.

Contents:

CD 1: Rossini Arias
Wiener Volksopernorchester/Patanè

CD 2: Rossini Recital
Charles Spencer (piano)

CD 3: Rossini Heroines
Orchestra e coro del Teatro La Fenice/Marin

Bonus DVD: ‘A Portrait’
Documentary including footage from the ‘Heroines’ sessions
Directed by David Thomas & Savoy Hotel recital with György Fischer

CDs 4 & 5*: Highlights and Rarities
Opera Arias & Duets, Songs & Cantatas
*Includes previously unreleased recordings

CD 6: Stabat mater
Orgonasova, Giménez, Scandiuzzi, Wiener Philharmoniker/Chung

CDs 7-9: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Mateuzzi, Nucci, Orchestra e coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna/ Patanè

CDs 10-11: La Cenerentola
Dara, Mateuzzi, Corbelli, Petusi, Teatro Comunale di Bologna/Chailly

CDs 12-13: Il turco in Italia
Corbelli, Vargas, Pertusi, Teatro alla Scala
di Milano/Chailly

CDs 14-15: La scala di seta
Serra, Matteuzzi, Coviello, de Carolis,
di Credico, Teatro Comunale di Bologna/ Ferro

DVD 1: La Cenerentola
Dara, Giménez, Corbelli, Houston Grand Opera/Campanella
(Houston Grand Opera, 1995)

DVD 2: Le comte Ory
Camarena, Olvera, Orchestra La Scintilla/Tang
(Zurich Opera House, 2012)

DVD 3: Otello
Osborn, Rocha, Orchestra La Scintilla/Tang
(Zurich Opera House, 2012)

DVD 4: Il barbiere di Siviglia
Kübler, Quilico, Feller, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart/Ferro
(Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, 1988)

DVD 5: Il turco in Italia
Raimondi, Rumetz, Widmer, Macias, Opernhaus Zürich/Welser-Möst
(Zurich Opera House, 2002)