American male soprano Michael Maniaci (he declines the descriptor countertenor) pursues beauty rather than power in his singing, which is entirely worth hearing. The booklet notes for this Telarc release, by an unidentified annotator, spend a lot of time speculating as to whether castrati might have sounded like this in the 18th century, and not enough asking how often they actually sang Mozart's music; by the time of the latest opera represented in this collection of arias, La clemenza di Tito, the castrati were in decline ...
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American male soprano Michael Maniaci (he declines the descriptor countertenor) pursues beauty rather than power in his singing, which is entirely worth hearing. The booklet notes for this Telarc release, by an unidentified annotator, spend a lot of time speculating as to whether castrati might have sounded like this in the 18th century, and not enough asking how often they actually sang Mozart's music; by the time of the latest opera represented in this collection of arias, La clemenza di Tito, the castrati were in decline. Mozart rarely if ever wrote the "arias for male soprano" promised on the cover of this release; he wrote for female singers. All this said, Maniaci's voice is unusual enough to make news. There is none of the sheer power that is generally held to be the distinctive quality of the high male voice. Instead, Maniaci cultivates agility -- quiet high notes are always impressively precise -- and a delicate melodic quality. His lower register is a bit underpowered; if a line begins at the...
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Seller's Description:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Poor. Used-Acceptable, withdrawn library disc(s) with liner notes. Disc(s) should play great without any playback issues. Disc(s) & liner notes may contain typical library markings like stickers, protective label covers, & writing. Discs may be repackaged in library style casing. Back artwork & any other promo material not included.
