Il Sibilo -- The Whisper.

Nuccia Focile, Donata D'Annunzio Lombardi, Paul Charles Clarke and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo [] "IL SIBILO -- THE WHISPER" Songs of Pacini, Donizetti, Ricci, Crescentini et al. Harper, piano. Texts and translations. Opera Rara ORR 219 (Harmonia Mundi, dist.)

This collection features songs originally printed on the back pages of Il Sibilo, a Neapolitan weekly journal of literary, musical and theatrical news that lived out its brief span between 1843 and 1845. The songs are short and sweet; designed to fit on a single sheet of paper roughly ten by seven inches in size, they comprise little romanze, barcaruole, ariettas and songs in Neapolitan or Sicilian dialect. But their brevity casts no shadow on their quality. The best composers in Naples contributed to Il Sibilo, and there are songs here by the big names of the time, notably Giovanni Pacini and Gaetano Donizetti. Having been intended originally for use by amateurs, they would be a perfect collection for young singing students today.

For the most part, the Donizetti songs stand above the others. The romanza "Malvina la bella sull'arpa" is a good case in point. In a short space, Donizetti weaves a beautifully crafted, Mary Shelley-ish story of a lovely young virgin grieving over her harp; the arpeggiated accompaniment runs fluidly through a number of keys evoking dark moods as Malvina moves toward death. Likewise, the Byronesque image of a sailor mourning his drowned beloved in "Sovra il remo" and the required brevity of the setting cause Donizetti to modulate through a palette of lights and darks in quick succession. The songs of Pacini are not far behind in concision. "T'amai! con te dividere" paints a beautiful picture of the sorrowing, unrequited lover in a minute and a half. There are high-grade delights here from other composers as well, ...