Marina Viotti proves herself to be quite the multifaceted artist in this marvellous Mozart, says George Hall in his review
Mozart
Arias from The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte etc (Mezzo Mozart)
Marina Viotti (mezzo-soprano); Gli Angeli Genève/Stephan Macleod
Aparté AP350 64 mins
Clip: Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, K588 (Aria)
On stage, the Franco-Swiss artist Marina Viotti sticks to mezzo roles, but on this all-Mozart programme given with the excellent Baroque ensemble Gli Angeli Genève under conductor Stephan MacLeod (himself a singer), she ranges, with his encouragement, more widely.
In addition to soprano items, there are arias written for a soprano castrato, such as Ramiro’s furious ‘Va’ pure ad altri in braccio’ from La finta giardiniera, and the motet Exsultate, jubilate.
The virtuosity of such items seemingly holds no terrors for her.
She is, of course, not the only mezzo able to encompass some of Mozart’s soprano roles (though not sampled here, Zerlina in Don Giovanni is quite often reassigned), but certainly at this point in her vocal career she is entirely convincing when doing so.
Similarly, in repertoire set lower down in the voice, such as Sesto’s ‘Parto, parto’ from La clemenza di Tito, or Cherubino’s ‘Voi che sapete’ from Figaro, she fulfils each and every vocal requirement.
From the very first item – Dorabella’s ‘Smanie implacabili’ from Così – her rich, full-blooded tone, expressive manner and keen sense for textual meaning are apparent.
‘Ch’io mi scordi’ shows her good legato and accuracy in passages difficult to pitch (there is lovely fortepiano tone here, incidentally, from Sebastien Wienand), as does Farnace’s flamboyant ‘Venga pur, minacci e frema’ from Mitridate.
Indeed, whatever she is singing, and in whichever range, Marina Viotti proves herself to be simultaneously vocally authoritative and thoughtfully expressive. George Hall