Synopsis
Authors Stendhal and Chernin document Cecilia Bartoli's 14 appearances in staged opera, with a generous helping of unrestrained diva worship.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-01-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 232 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 20.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
At the ripe old age of 29, Cecilia Bartoli has risen to the top of the opera world. Her astonishing mezzo coloratura has been called the finest since Marilyn Horne and Teresa Berganza; her recordings have sold more than a million copies; and her concerts are sold out in hours. What has made Bartoli an overnight sensation? Why does she fascinate so many people? In this first book about the singer, Kim Chernin goes in search of the mystery behind the legend.Kim Chernin first heard Bartoli when she was hardly a name, let alone a legend. Chernin was immediately fascinated by the singer and began to study her art. She knew that she had to interview Bartoli. Here, she tells the story of a fan's quest to meet her idol and to understand the nature of a musical obsession.Over the years, Chernin has also spoken with Silvana Bazzoni, Bartoli's mother, who was and is Bartoli's only teacher. She has also interviewed Bartoli's manager (who works with most of today's major opera stars), her producer at London/Decca records and opera directors who have been close to her career. Chernin was an observer of the first master class in singing offered by the mother and daughter, where she spoke with them about Bartoli's career and learned how Bartoli herself had been taught to sing.Bartoli's story is a fascinating rags-to-riches tale. Both of her parents were opera singers, and she spent much of her early life backstage. When she was 16, she began studying with her mother; a few years later she was an international star. Bartoli is in full control of her own career and sets very high standards for herself. She refuses to behave like a diva. She turns down appearances in large stadiums. She successfully resists any pressure to accept roles in major world opera productions until she herself feels ready for them.Chernin also writes about the enthusiasm of opera fans and the phenomenon of diva worship. She discusses our yearning for female opera singers who carry an essential but hidden cultural and spiritual message.Cecila Bartolialso contains a detailed performance guide, written by Renate Stendhal, which examines the first decade of Bartoli's career as an opera singer, from her first public appearance on the Italian TV show Fantasticoto her debuts at La Scala and the Metropolitan. Stendhal, who demonstrates that "the opera singer who rarely sings opera" in fact has a substantial operatic career behind her, analyzes Bartoli's development as a comic, romantic and dramatic performer.
Industry Reviews
"Most of the book I would call a heartfelt stab at wondering if her subject is this or if she's that. Ms. Chernin seems to think she's more this, whereas Ms. Stendhal, as it develops, thinks she is more that. Consequently, what the book also seems to chart is the wedge driven between two friends by an interloper. This angle also divides me: on the one hand I'd like to know more, on the other hand a little voice tells me not to touch it with ice tongs, except to say that I think Ms. Stendhal's account is, as assessment, more clearheaded. Even so, where is the record of Ms. Bartoli's studies at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, and particularly what is the opinion of her voice teacher there (''a nice person,'' Ms. Bartoli calls her) of the ministrations of her mother? Does Ms. Bartoli continue daily exercises from the legendary Mathilde Marchesi? Does she sight read? Can she readily transpose?"
New York Times Book Review - James McCourt (03/16/1997)
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