Amore Per Rossini
Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore lacks Cecilia Bartoli's expansive charm and personal magnetism, but she is more enterprising and versatile, as evidenced by this disc of little-known contralto arias from operas such asLa pietra del paragone,Le siege de Corinthe,Maometto II,Bianca é FallieroandOtello. Though she hasn't the warmest voice in the world, her coloratura technique is cleaner than either Bartoli's or Marilyn Horne's, and she often manages real expressive depth amid the welter of notes. Most of the music is top-drawer Rossini: The compositional devices are recycled endlessly but with a scintillating sense of drama.--David Patrick Stearns