Cecilia Bartoli maintains a near-perfect mezzo-soprano instrument, which she patently refuses to expose to material that might damage it; never will we hear
Bartoli in voice-destroying roles such as Carmen nor in heavyweight mezzo parts such as those encountered in
Wagner's Ring cycle. Even though she is a "mainstream" classical artist, the most "modern" composer she has recorded is
Pauline Viardot, and even the Decca releases that established her as a star stick to composers such as
Mozart,
Beethoven, and
Rossini.
Bartoli eschews powerful vocal production in favor of greater flexibility, an ideal match for Baroque and Classical literature. Although one would not have pegged
Bartoli as an "early music specialist" based on her earlier recordings, clearly she has found a place as an expert interpreter of such music. In Opera Proibita, where she is accompanied by the redoubtable
Marc Minkowski and
Les Musiciens du Louvre, it is hard to imagine anyone doing better in this material, over half of it never before recorded.