Dagmar Pecková Breaks Out A Battery Of Sinful Women On New Disc

Mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková as Klytaemnestra for the new recording on Supraphon.

"Recorded at the Studio of Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Bratislava, September 2–4 and 8–10, 2014. The provocative title of the new album by the feted mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková reflects a remarkable dramaturgic idea: that which connects the life of modern humans with the heroines of Antique mythology is the principle of sin – and forgiveness. This is perhaps why all

The singer as Cherubini's demented Medea

the featured characters are smart and strong women, some of them even endowed with supernatural abilities. Women determined to apply the boldest means so as to gain that which they long for – or to take revenge. Women betrayed by a ruse or wounded by their own love. The very first aria featured, that of Massenet’s Marie-Magdeleine, opens the scope for the message – that the only way out of sin is forgiveness. 'When you look at mezzo-soprano characters, virtually all of them can be branded sinners. Perhaps it is owing to the darker voice colour...' says Dagmar Pecková. As rendered by her on the present album, each of the 'sinful women' is profoundly treated in psychological and emotional terms. This profundity and inspiration is based on the soloist’s own professional experience and is also the fruit of the collaboration with the accompanying Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, under the uncompromising and masterful baton of Aleksandar Markovic. Love, sin and forgiveness. An insight into the mysterious female soul." [Source] Read more about the album here. Watch a video from the recording session, see more photos, and the full track list, after the jump.

Greek Sorceress Murders Her Own Children in 1797

Medea (1964), Bernard Safran

"Médée is a French language opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini. The libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann (Nicolas Étienne Framéry) was based on Euripides' tragedy of Medea and Pierre Corneille's play Médée. The opera was premiered on March 13, 1797, at the Théâtre Feydeau, Paris. It met with a lukewarm reception and was not immediately revived. During the nineteenth- and most of the twentieth-century, it was usually performed in Italian translation as Medea, with the spoken dialogue replaced by recitatives not authorised by the composer." [Source]
Overture

Gwyneth Jones "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Anna-Caterina Antonacci "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Eileen Farrell "Dei tuoi figli la madre"

Sylvia Sass "E che? Io son Medea"

Leonie Rysanek "E che? Io son Medea"

Maria Callas "Del fiero duol che il cor frange"

Violeta Urmana "Del fiero duol che il cor frange"

Bonus clips of Giasone, Neris and Glauce arias and original French-version arias after the jump.