Best-selling mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli honors three great Russian empresses with her latest Decca (Universal Music Group) release, celebrating the little-known flowering of opera in 18th-century St Petersburg under the enlightened rule of three exceptional women who looked to Europe to enrich the cultural life of their country.
Cecilia Bartoli – St Petersburg is a thrilling collection of eleven world premiere recordings released this month that not only celebrates three great Russian rulers, Anna, Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, but also turns the spotlight on their court composers.
Cecilia Bartoli said that the album “sheds new light on an incredible and momentous time for Russia, shaping its politics and culture towards the enlightened West. It has been a great joy to unearth these treasures and bring them back to life.”
For over two decades Cecilia Bartoli has indisputably been one of the leading artists in the world of classical music. Every new operatic role, concert program or recording project (she records exclusively for Decca) planned by Bartoli is eagerly awaited throughout the world. The huge success of her solo CDs can be seen not only in the outstanding number of discs sold – she has spent over 100 weeks in total in the international pop charts and reached ‘gold’ status on many occasions – but also in the major accolades they have been awarded.
(Picture of Cecilia Bartoli: Decca/Uli Weber)
The release was launched for international media early October amid the glittering splendor of the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles in France. (© Xavier Paris / Decca Classics)
