专辑简介

When we think about Italian music, we think above all of opera. Liriche have always been overshadowed by French mélodie and German Lieder. The intensity and scope of Italianate emotion seems to require a sprawling canvas to contain it. However, the foundation of Italian opera is melody--passionate, soaring, sensuous. And what better way to showcase melody than in the simple and direct genre of the song? The liriche performed here were written during the great efflorescence of operatic art that took place around the turn of the 20th century known as verismo: truth. The basic experiences of life, such as romantic love and love of nature are depicted here on a more human scale than that of opera, a scale we indeed feel to be true. We can hear our own lives reflected in these exquisite miniatures, colored by the warmth of the Mediterranean sun: riflessi di sole.