Here's your disc of the week for Dec. 2, 2012. Each week CBC Radio 2's In Concert looks at new classical music releases and selects one recording that you'll want to know about.
Artists: Soprano Karina Gauvin with the Arion Baroque Orchestra.
Repertoire: Operatic excerpts by George Frederic Handel, Antonio Vivaldi and Leonardo Vinci.
Label:ATMA Classique.
Canada is home to a bevy of internationally acclaimed prima donnas these days, but perhaps none is more admired than the Montreal soprano Karina Gauvin. In this new release she's working with old friends – members of the impressive period instrument ensemble, Arion, led by her frequent collaborator Alexander Weimann.
Called Prima Donna, the disc is devoted to arias, mostly by Handel, written for the 18th-century opera star Anna Maria Strada del Pò. Handel created 13 operatic roles for Pò, evidently inspired by a voice renowned for its sensuous sound and quicksilver technique, qualities shared by today's reigning prima donna, Karina Gauvin.
A two-time Juno Award winner, Gauvin is in superb voice on this CD, displaying effortless coloratura and a rich, silky tone. And she inhabits Handel's complex characters with passionate intensity and uncommon understanding. You'll be immediately smitten by this brilliant new recording. Karina Gauvin is indeed the First Lady of music in Canada.
Verdi piantefrom Handel's Orlando.
Related:
Disc of the Week: Zelenka and Shih perform Debussy
Disc of the week: Gryphon Trio plays Messiaen
From the vaults: Arthur Ozolins