Simone Kermes - Image of the Day

Simone Kermes - Dramma, © Jörg Strehlau

So every now and then I get my baroque on for a festival of florid singing.  A couple of years ago I purchased a copy of Vivaldi's opera Griselda, a true gem of the Venetian Opera style at the time. 

The recording was from the naive label, a part of their Vivaldi Collection, dedicated to recording the complete works of Antonio Vivaldi, who claimed to have written over 90 operas, though there is only record of approximately 50 and only the scores of about 20 survive or have been found to this date.

Anyway, the recording introduced me to the remarkable soprano Simone Kermes.  Gobsmacking in her vocal agility, she manages to be equally at home in some of the most difficult vocal terrain as well as those moments that demand a smooth and endless vocal line.  As well as the Baroque Opera specialist she already is, she is also an accomplished Bel Canto singer even adding the Trovatore Leonore to her repertoire, her latest album is a collection of these arias, some quite rare, others very popular.

But what I would like you to listen to is the aria below, I first heard it sung by Cecilia Bartoli, and loved it, but this is really something else.  It totally blew me away.  That and Simone Kermes is one of the most dynamic performers to watch, especially below.