Antonio Vivaldi: Les Orphelines De Venise – Les Cris De Paris

   in Early Music Today (Mar, 2017)
Les Orphelines de Venise features pieces which Vivaldi wrote for the musically trained women of the Venetian orphanage of the Pietà. The disc’s singularity, though, lies in its attempt to address the vexed question of the disposition and pitch of vocal parts among an all-female establishment. Much ink has been spilt over the topic during the past half century or so and various alternatives proposed. Geoffroy Jourdain, director of Les Cris de Paris, has adopted what seems a practical solution for female voices alone with a soprano line, an alto line, a tenor part sung by girls with a strong bottom range which they are alleged to have possessed, and a …