KEY POINTS:
In 2003, Cecilia Bartoli gave us an album of arias by Antonio Salieri, the man who has gone down (falsely) in history as murdering Mozart; a year later her Opera Proibita showcased savvy 18th-century composers channelling their operatic impulses into oratorio to avoid the displeasure of the Vatican.
Bartoli's new release, Maria, is a tribute to Maria Malibran (1808-1836), Rossini's favourite mezzo and, as it happens, one of the first singers to take Italian opera over the Atlantic.
For many, this diva could do no wrong. The painter Delacroix was one of the few dissenters, suggesting that Malibran's artistry appealed to "people whose minds do not ride very high and who are not at all demanding in matters of taste - that is to say, unfortunately, the majority".
In 2007, good-taste watchdogs might wince at some of the kitscherie in the handsome 148-page book that encloses Bartoli's album, available in this luxurious packaging only while limited stocks last. Images of the lady on a porcelain pipe have a quaint period charm; but a photograph of Bartoli cradling Malibran's death mask is, well, just a little weird.
Yet there is a certain seriousness here. Adam Fischer conducts a first-rate period band in Orchestra La Scintilla and Bellini's Casta Diva introduced by the dulcet tones of a period flute is a revelation.
Bartoli's singing, though, may be an acquired taste.
Her Casta Diva is best described as a breathy croon, with terrifying if thrilling note-swells.
It is the curiosities that will attract many, such as Mendelssohn's concert scena Infelice, with an emotion-drenched obbligato from violinist Maxim Vengerov.
Many now-forgotten operas were written for her by composers like Giovanni Pacini, including, on this recording, his extraordinary insert aria for Rossini's Tancredi.
As to be expected, Bartoli comes up with the sort of singing that should be registered as an Olympic sport.
There is much of the circus to this outing and perhaps it is none the worse for it. Yodelling with Hummel as he toys with a Tyrolean Air or marching around the lounge while Bartoli duets with snare-drum on Malibran's own Rataplan can be a diverting pastime.
* Cecilia Bartoli, Maria (Decca 475 9077)
