TRACKLISTING

CD 1 [43:53]

[1] Una voce poco fa (Rosina) 6:45
(Il barbiere di Siviglia - Rossini)
[2] Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio … La tremenda altrice spada (Romeo) 7:39
( I Capuleti e i Montecchi - Bellini)
[3] Abscheulicher! Wo eilst du hin? (Leonore) 7:29
(Fidelio - Beethoven)
[4] Assisa a pie d’un salice (Desdemona) 12:05
Otello - Rossini
[5] Di tanti palpiti (Tancredi) 2:55
(Tancredi - Rossini)
[6] Bel raggio lusinghier (Semiramide) 6:58
(Semiramide - Rossini)

CD 2 [38:01]

[1] Pronti abbiamo e ferri e mani … Pensa alla patria (Isabella) 10:29
( L’italiana in Algeri - Rossini)
[2] J’ai perdu mon Eurydice 3:38
(Orphée et Eurydice - Gluck)
[3] Où suis-je? … O ma lyre immortelle (Sapho) 6:57
(Sapho - Gounod)
[4] Ah! mon fils, soit béni! (Fidès) 4:34
(Le Prophète - Meyerbeer)
[5] Divinités du Styx (Alceste) 4:38
(Alceste - Gluck)
[6] Stride la vampa … Condotta ell’ era in ceppi
(Azucena) 7:44
(Il trovatore - Verdi)

RECORDING INFORMATION

This much-praised programme was first released as a 2-LP set in 1966 and now appears complete on CD for the first time!

Full sung texts and articles are included in the booklet along with the illustrations which were included in the original LP booklet. This collection of arias is conceived as a tribute to two of the greatest singers of the nineteenth century, Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot, who happened to be sisters and daughters of the legendary tenor, Manuel Garcia.

"Marilyn Horne, an outstanding singer in every way, rises to the challenge magnificently ... Horne demonstrates a breadth of achievement that really harks back to an age before narrow specialization became a fetish ... Viardot, we learn even sang Act 2 of Tristan und Isolde with Wagner at the piano, and the parallel achievement there is that Horne is one of the most formidably strong and accurate singers of modern music too. Her Marie in Wozzeck at Covent Garden was a marvel in bringing out Berg's lyricism to a new degree ... the breadth of achievement in these twelve taxing numbers is still formidable. The tribute to Malibran and Viardot may seem rather outlandish, but with well-devised historical notes and a linking theme between the six items representing Malibran and the six representing Viardot, the effect of playing the set with the help of notes is to appreciate in a new way the vocal history of the important years between the first performance of Il barbiere di Siviglia in February 1816 and the first performance of Il trovatore in January 1853 ... Horne's great quality is in fact evenness. Her tone is astonishingly rich and consistent throughout her great range and it is amazing that so full a voice should be able to cope with florid singing with such precision and ease. Moreover Horne is also consistent in her interpretative powers. Always phrasing with a natural sense of style: the listener seems to breathe in time with her ... outstanding recording and first-rate conducting."
Gramophone, May 1966