Michael Maniaci, male soprano, makes his recording debut with Boston Baroque and its founding conductor, Martin Pearlman. "Mozart: Arias for Male Soprano" is their first recording together and is released on the Telarc label. It is also the only recording of Mozart's arias for the castrato voice that gives audiences the opportunity to hear this music as Mozart did: sung by an artist not only with soprano range, haunting vocal colour, and brilliant coloratura, but also with male vocal power.
Michael Maniaci has been lauded by the Globe and Mail for "his natural male soprano that is probably the closest thing on earth to the sound of the castrati of long ago; and he uses it with a finesse that's rare among singers so young." Michael loves Toronto, and performs here so often (most recently with Opera Atelier and Tafelmusik) that many Toronto fans assume he's Canadian. "This album really is a love letter, of sorts, to Toronto and its arts organizations," he explains. "I was invited to perform my first ever ‘Exsultate Jubilate' with Tafelmusik and the role of Idamante with Opera Atelier. Toronto has not only contributed a great deal to the development of my career -- but to the repertoire on this debut album."
Other highlights from the release include "Il tenero momento" and "Ah se a morir" from Lucia Silla; "Il padre adorato" from Idomeneo; and "Deh per questo istante" and "Parto, parto" from La Clemenza di Tito. Michael Maniaci and Boston Baroque have enjoyed several collaborations in live performances including a program of arias, and semi-staged performances of Handel's Agrippina (with Maniaci as Nerone) and Xerxes (Maniaci in the title role).
A voice type that was enormously popular in opera and religious music in the 17th century but completely disappeared over a century ago, the male castrato's true chest voice - unlike falsetto singers - was in the soprano or alto range, yet extremely powerful due to the male lung capacity. Up until now, all we have really known of this voice are the verbal descriptions of contemporary listeners and a single, scratchy recording made late in the life of the last castrato performer. Maniaci's voice gives us our first glimpse of the power and unique timbre of this voice in his hauntingly beautiful performances, and his extraordinarily agile coloratura and ornamentation. His vocal prowess is never more evident on this recording than in Mozart's popular and virtuosic "Exsultate, jubilate", a solo motet originally written for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini in 1773 that most music lovers today have heard many times-but always as sung by a female. It is a fascinating treat to hear it sung by a male soprano.
Michael Maniaci, called "one of the greatest singers of his generation" by the Globe and Mail, has been praised for his rare, thrilling voice and sensational stage presence. He made an acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in Handel's Giulio Cesare, in which he "sang with clarity, passion, and hefty sound as Nireno" (Opera News). He made a last-minute debut to critical acclaim at Teatro la Fenice in Venice, and he has sung Handel, Mozart, Meyerbeer, Gluck and Monteverdi at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu,
Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Royal Danish Opera, Chicago Opera Theater,
Opera North (UK) and Opera Atelier, among others. He trained at the Juilliard School and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music while gaining experience with several important young artist programs such as Glimmerglass Opera's Young American Artist Program,
Wolf Trap Opera, Aspen Opera Theater, and Tanglewood Music Festival - as the first countertenor or male soprano ever invited to train there. Michael Maniaci has won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, took First Place in the
Houston Grand Opera Competition, and is the recipient of the ARIA Award and
Richard Tucker Study Grant.
Boston Baroque, founded in 1973 by Michael Pearlman, is a three-time Grammy® nominated ensemble, and this recording project marks it's 20th release on Telarc. The disc contains arias from Idomeneo, Lucio Silla, and La Clemenza di Tito, as well as the beloved motet Exsultate, jubilate. The recording is rounded out with two brilliant orchestral numbers, the overtures to Idomeneo and Clemenza.
"Mozart: Arias for Male Soprano" will be available in stores on January 26, 2010. For more information, please visit www.cami.com or www.telarc.com. Michael is available for interviews and will be in Toronto mid-February.
