Mattia Battistini (1856-1928)
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Hector Berlioz, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Friedrich (Adolf Ferdinand) von Flotow, Giuseppe Verdi, (Louis Joseph) Ferdinand Hérold, Gaetano Donizetti, Gioacchino Cocchi
Label: Lebendige Vergangenheit
Magazine Review Date: 2/1992
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
Acoustic
ADD
Catalogue Number: 89045
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Don Giovanni, Movement: Là ci darem la mano |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Emilia Corsi, Soprano Mattia Battistini, Baritone Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Martha, Movement: ~ |
Friedrich (Adolf Ferdinand) von Flotow, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Friedrich (Adolf Ferdinand) von Flotow, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
(La) Favorita, Movement: A tanto amor, Leonora |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Dom Sébastien, Movement: O Lisbone, o ma patrie |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Zampa |
(Louis Joseph) Ferdinand Hérold, Composer
(Louis Joseph) Ferdinand Hérold, Composer |
(La) Damnation de Faust, Movement: Voici des roses |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Hector Berlioz, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Ernani, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Aristodemo Sillich, Bass Emilia Corsi, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Luigi Colazza, Tenor Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Ernani, Movement: Vieni meco, sol di rose. |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Aristodemo Sillich, Bass Emilia Corsi, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Luigi Colazza, Tenor Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Ernani, Movement: O sommo Carlo |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Aristodemo Sillich, Bass Emilia Corsi, Soprano Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Luigi Colazza, Tenor Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
(Un) ballo in maschera, '(A) masked ball', Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
(La) traviata, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Hamlet, Movement: O vin, dissipe la tristesse (Brindisi) |
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Hamlet, Movement: Comme une pâle fleur. |
(Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra (Charles Louis) Ambroise Thomas, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Per la patria |
Gioacchino Cocchi, Composer
(Anonymous) Orchestra Gioacchino Cocchi, Composer Mattia Battistini, Baritone |
Author:
Meanwhile we have riches enough to be going on with. Of course it is well to be clear from the start that Battistini (''the glory of Italy'', ''king of baritones'' and so forth) had his fair share of faults. By 1906 (when he was 50) the low notes had become so colourless that it is almost comical to hear him, in the solo from Zampa for example, plagued by the repeated low D flats which he can neither avoid nor sing with comfort. He sometimes pushes a high note further than it should go, as at the end of Hamlet's Drinking song and in the supernumerary high G flats of Papa Germont's aria in La traviata. There are some old-fashioned portamentos, Don Giovanni's ''ci sposeremo'' being the first of many; and sometimes he takes a breath defying linguistic sense. But the three supremely needful qualities are there in supremely plentiful supply: beauty of voice, excellence of technique, and an imaginative, living, individual art. He is always called the master of bel canto, and in many ways this is true; but it can be misleading. He was one of the great expressive singers. Hear, for instance, the start of ''O de' verd'
anni miei'' and compare de Luca (Preiser (CD) 89036, 1/92): de Luca preserves the smooth, bel canto line, while Battistini is smooth and emphatic by turns. His style provides for a fascinating variety of expression, and this is the paradoxical thing about him: he was generally regarded as an 'old master' in an old-fashioned school, yet in many ways his art led forward to the modern school of expressiveness, with exponents such as Gobbi and even Fischer-Dieskau.'
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