Bel Canto (From Monteverdi to Verdi) Simone Kermes

• Saveio MERCADANTE (1795-1870): Virginia:
• 1Icilio io l'amo (Arie der Virginia)04:12
• Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868):Maometto II:
• 2Giusto Ciel, in tal periglio (Arie der Anna)03:25
• Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791):The Magic Flute (1791):
• 3O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn (Rezitativ und Arie der Königin der Nacht)04:55
• Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791):The Magic Flute (1791):
• 4Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (Arie der Königin der Nacht)02:54
• Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835): Norma:
• 5Casta Diva (Arie der Norma)06:38
• Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848):Betly:
• 6In questo semplice modesto asilo (Cavatina der Betly)05:52
• Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848):Linda di Chamounix:
• 7Ah! Tardai troppo - O luce di quest' anima (Arie der Linda)05:03
• Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901):I Masnadieri:
• 8Tu del mio Carlo al seno (Arie der Amalia)08:50
• Vincenzo BELLINI (1801-1835):Adelson e Salvini:
• 9Dopo l'oscuro nembo (Arie der Nelly)05:11
• Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868):Semiramide:
• 10Bel raggio lusinghiero - Dolce pensiero (Arie der Semiramide)06:47
• Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901):Attila:
• 11Santo di patria indefinito amor (Arie der Odabella)05:33
• Claudio MONTEVERDI (1567-1643):Scherzi Musicali:
• 12Sì dolce è ‘l tormento04:04
• Total Runtime01:03:24

Info for Bel Canto (From Monteverdi to Verdi)

On this successful album, Simone Kermes presents her dedication to bel canto. Despite the title the Baroque soprano hasn’t suddenly switched from one voice type to another but is simply following her own interpretation of this term, arguing that bel canto is “inconceivable without reference to the Baroque tradition”.

The album centres around famous arias of the belcanto soprano repertoire: “Casta Diva“ from Bellini’s Norma, “O luce di quest’ anima“ from Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix and “Dolce pensiero“ from Rossini’s Semiramide.

The programme also features a number of rarely performed works: Airas of Mercadantes “Virginia“, Rossini’s “Maometto Secondo“, Donizetti’s “Betly“ or Bellini’s “Adelson e Salvini“. As a connecting link between baroque and bel canto Kermes added the two arias of the Queen of Night from Mozart’s Magic Flute.

The programme is expressly devised so that Kermes can shed new light on 19th-century vocal writing, applying the stylistic approaches she has developed in music of earlier eras: her trademark blend of dazzling technical accomplishment, vital imagination, care over detail and a willingness to take risks...an unconventional but special addition to any Italian opera collection.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“What can she bring to this repertoire? As you would expect, she's good at 'the runs' and the high notes. However, she simply doesn't have the weight or dark colour to frighten us...or inspire us...The final Monteverdi item is heavenly, both in itself and in reminding us how strong Kermes is on home turf.” (Gramophone)

Simone Kermes, soprano
Concerto Köln
Christoph M. Müller, conductor

Simone Kermes
studied under Professor Helga Forner at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig, her home town. She completed her studies and two additional courses of study with distinction. She is the holder of many prizes awarded at international singing competitions.

Opera performances have taken her as Konstanze, the Queen of the Night, Fiordiligi, Donna Anna, Giunia, Rosalinde, Lucia, Gilda, Ann Truelove, Alcina and Laodice, among other roles, to New York, Paris, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Moscow, Beijing and German state opera houses. She has given solo concerts and lieder evenings all over Europe, as well as in the USA, Australia, the Sultanate of Oman, China, Russia, Mexico and Japan.

In addition to many radio and television productions, she has recorded numerous CDs. For her solo albums she has received a number of international awards, such as the annual award of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik, the Diapason d`Or, Midem Award, Choc Le Monde de la Musique and Gramophone magazine’s Recording of the Month. For her album entitled Colori d`amore she was the winner of the Echo Klassik in the highest category, Female Singer of the Year, in 2011. In 2012 the Munich Abendzeitung awarded Simone Kermes its Star of the Year Award, and in April 2013 she received one of Russia’s highest cultural awards, the Golden Mask, for her performances as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Tchaikovsky State Academic Theatre in Perm.

Simone Kermes received the Echo Klassik 2014 award for the opera of the year.

Booklet for Bel Canto (From Monteverdi to Verdi)