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Rossini: Franco Fagioli

Franco Fagioli (countertenor)

Armonia Atenea, George Petrou

Rossini: Franco Fagioli

Awards:

[Fagioli] certainly has a distinctive, plum-coloured voice, very mezzo-ish in timbre, ranging somewhere between Cecilia Bartoli and Ewa Podlés…he certainly throws himself into high notes with...

Gramophone Magazine, December 2016

More reviews

Rossini: Franco Fagioli

Franco Fagioli (countertenor)

Armonia Atenea, George Petrou

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Awards:

[Fagioli] certainly has a distinctive, plum-coloured voice, very mezzo-ish in timbre, ranging somewhere between Cecilia Bartoli and Ewa Podlés…he certainly throws himself into high notes with...

Gramophone Magazine, December 2016

More reviews

About

Franco Fagioli has taken the countertenor voice to a new heights, with a sound and technique that nobody thought were possible; he is the first countertenor to sign exclusively to the 'yellow label' in its 118-year history.

For his debut album on DG, Fagioli has chosen to focus on so-called "trouser roles" that confront the delightful confusion between voice and gender, particularly in Rossini’s rarely performed serious operas, with many male characters whose substantial roles were written for women rather than for castrati. But Rossini remained fascinated by the castrati and their "purity and wonderful flexibility; their profoundly penetrating accent”. For Franco Fagioli there is a special appeal to performing these roles which were written for the female voice out of necessity due to the dwindling supplies of castrati; therefore this album is so far the closest that we can get to the sound that Rossini had in mind and would have wished for this repertoire.

The exceptional bel canto technique which Fagioli has developed makes him the ideal choice for this repertoire; with his rich, colourful and at the same time incredibly agile voice, he paints a series of fascinating portraits of characters including Siveno from Demetrio e Polibio, and Arsace from Semiramide.

Franco Fagioli has already performed major roles on prestigious stages including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Semperoper in Dresden and the Zürich Opera House. In the coming seasons he will be performing this Rossini programme in selected concerts and appear in opera houses such as Aix en Provence (Grand Théâtre de Provence), Paris (Opéra National), Madrid (Teatro Real) and Lille (Opéra de Lille), among others.

Contents and tracklist

Rossini: Demetrio e Polibio / Act I / Scene 2
Work length4:10
"Pien di contento in seno"
Track length4:10
Rossini: Matilde di Shabran - Neapolitan Version / Act II / Scene 9
Work length11:38
"Sazia tu fossi alfine"
Track length2:08
"Ah, perché, perché la morte"
Track length9:30
Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna / Act II / Scene 16
Work length9:59
"Serti intrecciar le vergini"
Track length2:23
"Questi che a me presenta"
Track length0:53
"Vieni, tuo sposo e amante"
Track length3:00
"Al trono tuo primiero"
Track length3:43
Rossini: Tancredi / Act I / Scene 3
Work length11:45
"O sospirato lido"
Track length5:25
"Dolci d'amor parole"
Track length6:20
Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna / Act I / Scene 2
Work length9:13
"Salve, Italia"
Track length1:44
"O sacra alla virtù"
Track length1:53
"Soffri la tua sventura ... Amica speme"
Track length5:36
Rossini: Semiramide / Act I / Scene 2
Work length12:25
"Eccomi alfine in Babilonia"
Track length5:58
"Ah, quel giorno ognor rammento"
Track length6:27
Rossini: Eduardo e Cristina / Act 2 / Scene 12
Work length16:03
"Nel misero tuo stato"
Track length4:04
"Ah! Chi sa dirmi se la sposa"
Track length2:03
"La pietà che in sen serbate"
Track length9:56

Spotlight on this release

Awards and reviews

December 2016

[Fagioli] certainly has a distinctive, plum-coloured voice, very mezzo-ish in timbre, ranging somewhere between Cecilia Bartoli and Ewa Podlés…he certainly throws himself into high notes with abandon – a white-knuckle ride on occasions

June 2017

His voicee is of a fascinatingly ambiguous timbre, reminiscent of yesteryear's contraltos in its chesty resonance and with agility to match, and I very soon forgot all abtou the singer's gender. He phrases in long lines, often carrying over after a cadenze into the following phrase, and his embellishments are stylish and imaginative.

Opera Now January 2017

Fagioli’s technical skill is without doubt and he can fling off the most challenging coloratura with aplomb…challenging, slightly mad – and why not?
4 out of 5 stars
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