classical music: Mattia Battistini: Il re dei baritoni | Vincenzo Bellini, Luigi Denza, ... ...

classical music: Mattia Battistini: Il re dei baritoni | Vincenzo Bellini, Luigi Denza, ... ...

classical music:


	• Mattia Battistini: Il re dei baritoni Vincenzo Bellini, Luigi Denza, ... Preiser Records, 1997 average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Preiser's Three CD Battistini Set

Important and Useful Note For All Amazon Reviews: When Amazon sorts reviews into each reviewer's file Amazon sometimes does not update the item under review. Sometimes a review may say the item is unavailable at the reviewers file, but if you go back to the item on the current listing you may find it IS available. Thus if you are reading through anyone's reviews on Amazon at their review site and come across an item that sounds great, but is listed as no longer available, try clicking the item and going to it's current Amazon listing. Often it will be available again, usually used. In the case of the Preiser Battistini set I review below, it is listed as "currently unavailable" if you read about it while perusing my reviews at my review site, but it IS available, used, at the regular Amazon site. An oddity of the system, but kind of important to know.

At the turn of the last century, before Caruso was a household name, there was only one King, and his name was Mattia Battistini, King of the Baritones. In an age when the opera stage boasted more talent than it has ever seen before or since, Battistini's art was held in universal awe.
Listening through this fulsome Preiser collection shows why. With a dignity only equaled by a few of the most aristocrat of the French singers, Battistini lavishes on everthing he attempts a superb voice, steady and unflappable, supple yet firm - like a grand Burgundy, the iron fist in the velvet glove. Lingering around his tonal edge curls a snarl, a trait common among Italian baritones singing at the turn of the twentieth century. Whether you try Battistini in a moment from Tosca, a song by Tosti; or the grandest of Golden Age aria he delivers magnificence with imperturable grace.
If you love opera this is an album to save and treasure.
For a fine book on singing which includes the best essay on Battistini consider John Steane's Voices Singers and Critics. I hope to soon write a short review.

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