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Title: Pity about the soprano
Review: This was performed at Rome in January 2005 as a benefit concert. Being touched by the fact that the sale of the DVD proceeds to the victims of the tsunami in December 2004, I didn't hesitate to purchase it, Verdi's Requiem also being my favourite choral work. Under Mehta's baton, the Coro della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini and the Orchestra Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini perform passionately throughout. D'Intino (mezzo), Vargas (tenor) and Siwek (bass) are in really fine voice, but the wobbly decibels of Cedolins (soprano) spoil the whole performance, not to mention her inability to sustain even the shortest of phrases, as well as poor projection (she sings with a half-open mouth). As if this weren't enough, an insensitive member of the audience begins applauding before the conductor has lowered his hands: silence follows, then applause.
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