Bel Raggio (Rossini Arias) Aleksandra Kurzak

• 1 'Bel raggio lusinghier' 07:25
• 2 'S'allontanano alfin!....Selva opaca, deserta brughiera' 08:34
• 3 'Gran Dio! Deh, tu proteggi il mio prode campion... Giusto Dio che umile adoro' 08:23
• 4 'Ami alfine? E chi non ama?...Tace la tromba altera' 08:30
• 5 'L'ora fatal s'appressa...Giusto ciel' 05:43
• 6 'Dunque io son... tu non m'inganni?' 05:12
• 7 'O tranquillo soggiorno...Ogetto amabile' 08:49
• 8 'Sento un’interna voce' 06:02
• 9 'I vostri cenci vi mando... Squallida veste, e bruna… Caro padre, madre amata' 09:42
• Total Runtime 01:08:20

Info for Bel Raggio (Rossini Arias)

Somewhat confusingly, three of Rossini’s heroines are named Matilde, and all are represented here. The earliest of them appears in Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra (1815), the opera that opened Rossini’s Neapolitan period and a work just predating such popular scores as Barbiere and La Cenerentola. The name reappears as the heroine of Rossini’s operatic swansong, Guillaume Tell (1829), written for Paris in French but recorded here in its Italian version as Guglielmo Tell. “I’d love to sing it in the theatre. This is very mature music, showing the new direction that Rossini might have taken. But I must admit that when I’m preparing new roles I never worry too much about where they belong in a composer’s output. I concentrate hard on the technical side when working with my teacher, who also happens to be my mother” — the distinguished soprano Jolanta Żmurko — “but otherwise I need to keep things fresh and free for the interpretation to flow.”

The great showpiece “Bel raggio lusinghier” also puts the title role of Semiramide (1823) on Kurzak’s wish-list. “Because it was made famous by Joan Sutherland, I’ve followed her very beautiful ornamentation.” A rarely performed masterpiece on account of its challenges, its music is still much better known than Pamira’s aria from Le Siège de Corinthe (1826 — also heard here in an Italian version). And though Sigismondo (1814) has been described by the Rossini authority Richard Osborne as “arguably Rossini’s most unrevivable serious opera”, it is represented here for a good reason: the title character is the King of Poland. Kurzak includes an aria for Sigismondo’s wife Aldimira, the daughter of the King of Hungary, “to leave a small Polish mark on this recording”.

Even growing up around an opera house—thanks not only to her mother, but also because her father played French horn in the orchestra — Kurzak had few early opportunities to hear Rossini and has recollections from that time only really of L’italiana in Algeri. Yet despite there not being much of a Rossini tradition in Poland, she has earned her place alongside another Polish star, the contralto Ewa Podles ́, in the ranks of internationally acclaimed Rossinians. As she prepares new roles that may take her away from this composer, he will always occupy a unique place in her affections: “There is only one Rossini!” (John Allison)

“Kurzak is a dazzling new star” (The Sunday Times)

“A superstar in the making, as I noted here after her Adina in last year’s L’elisir d’amore, Kurzak fills the house with her thrillingly pure, warm voice and acts the rest of the cast off the stage. It is a rare moment, indeed, when an opera singer can change the mood with a flash of an eye, the tiniest gesture of disdain.” (The Guardian)

“A Commanding Vocal Presence” (The Independent)

Aleksandra Kurzak, soprano
Artur Rucinski, bass-baritone
Warsaw Chamber Choir
Sinfonia Varsovia
Pier Giorgio Morandi, conductor

Aleksandra Kurzak
Polish-born soprano Aleksandra Kurzak began her musical education at the age of 7, playing violin and piano. She studied voice at the conservatories of Wroclaw and Hamburg. She made her professional opera debut at the age of 21 at the Wroclaw State Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro. Her mother and teacher Jolanta Żmurko performed the role of Countess. Kurzak is a laureate of singing competitions in Warsaw, Barcelona, Helsinki and Canton. In 2009 she received a PhD in Music. Between 2001 and 2007 Kurzak was a member of the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera, where she sang numerous roles: Queen of the Night, Blonde, Susanna, Servilia, Marzelline (Fidelio), Nanetta (Falstaff), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), Gilda, Adèle, Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Maid (Powder her Face), Musetta, Cleopatra, Fiorilla (Il Turco in Italia), Marie (La Fille du Régiment)

In 2004 Kurzak made her debut at The Metropolitan Opera in the role of Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. In the same season she debuted at the Royal Opera House-Covent Garden as Aspasia in Mitridate, Re di Ponto. The artist returned to the Met, singing Blonde in Entführung aus dem Serail, Gilda in Rigoletto, Gretel in Hansel & Gretel and Adina in L'Elisir d'amore. Since her first London appearance, Kurzak has returned regularly to the Royal Opera House, where she has performed roles of Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Susanna, Matilde (Matilde di Shabran), achieving a real triumph on this stage and most recently as Fiorilla (Turco in Italia), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Gilda and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor.

In February 2010 Kurzak made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala in the role of Gilda and returned as Susanna and Adele in Le Comte Ory.

Kurzak has appeared as well at the Staatsoper in Berlin (Queen of the Night), Teatro Regio in Parma and Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse (Gilda), Bavarian State Opera in Munich (Cleopatra, Adele, Rosina, Fiorilla, Adina, Rachel), Vienna State Opera (Rosina, Adina, Susanna, Marie, Gilda, Violetta), Teatro Regio in Torino (Vioetta), Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Norina), Teatro Massimo di Bellini in Catania (concert with arias by Bellini), Teatro Real in Madrid (Susanna, Marie), Lyric Opera House in Chicago (Blonde), Salzburg Festival (concert arias by Mozart, Ännchen and Donna Anna), Arena di Verona (Rosina, Juliette, Gilda, Verdi-Gala), Los Angeles Opera (Fiordiligi), San Francisco Opera (Gilda), Palau de les Arts in Valencia (Adina), Mozart Festival in A Coruña as well as at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff (Aspasia) and at the Theater an der Wien (Donna Anna and Amenaide), Finnish National Opera (Gilda), National Opera in Warsaw (Gilda, Violetta, Lucia) and Teatro La Fenice (Donna Anna), Opernhaus in Zurich (Gilda, Norina, Nedda), Opera de Paris (Adina) and Lucia in Seattle. Kurzak has collaborated with many well known conductors including Ivor Bolton, Bruno Campanella, James Conlon, Sir Andrew Davis, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Riccardo Frizza, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Nicola Luisotti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Ingo Metzmacher, Daniel Oren, Antonio Pappano, Carlo Rizzi, Ralf Weikert, and Simone Young. Aleksandra Kurzak has an exclusive recording contract with DECCA.

In the season 2016/2017 Kurzak will appear Mimi at the Staatsoper in Berlin, Micaela in Opera de Paris, Adina at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Adina and Liu at the ROH.

Booklet for Bel Raggio (Rossini Arias)