Cherry Ripe

13/07/2009
Joel Kasow
Culturekiosque (US)

Richard Bonynge is one of our favourite explorers of musical byways, and this compilation of songs and arias in English, Italian and even French may not reveal any undiscovered masterpieces, but the whole is charming ... The late Deborah Riedel has little trouble dealing with the occasional fioritura ... One of the first selections, in English, is none other than ‘Nel cor piu non mi sento’ by Paisiello, while we also hear works by Stephen Storace (brother of Mozart’s first Susanna), J.C. Bach, Hasse, Mayr, Cimarosa and Grétry, among a great many others. The voyage is fascinating.