Stradivarius' series La voce contemporanea in Italia is a comprehensive survey of new vocal music from Italy, where opera, it seems, is "king" and perhaps always will be. The artist on all volumes of the series, of which this is the fourth, is Duo Alterno, consisting of soprano Tiziana Scandaletti and pianist Riccardo Piacentini. Scandaletti is a very gifted new music soprano; she is not a high-priced diva known for singing works of living composers, but a singer who is especially well-versed in avant-garde techniques; more ...
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Stradivarius' series La voce contemporanea in Italia is a comprehensive survey of new vocal music from Italy, where opera, it seems, is "king" and perhaps always will be. The artist on all volumes of the series, of which this is the fourth, is Duo Alterno, consisting of soprano Tiziana Scandaletti and pianist Riccardo Piacentini. Scandaletti is a very gifted new music soprano; she is not a high-priced diva known for singing works of living composers, but a singer who is especially well-versed in avant-garde techniques; more like Cathy Berberian, Jan de Gaetani, Esperanza Abad, and other new music sopranos of a bygone generation. Piacentini -- when you can hear him -- appears to be as expert inside the piano and in handling external sound sources as he is at the keyboard. On the Riccardo Piacentini work An Mozart (2008), they are joined by the Penderecki String Quartet.Before getting to the highlights of the program, it should be mentioned that recording quality of this disc is a major drawback to...
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