Cecilia Bartoli & Bryn Terfel - Duets (1999)

The kind of collaboration, friendship and joyous love for the music evident on this CD is exactly what opera should be. It brings a ray of sunshine to us listeners, particularly to those of us who haven't yet gotten a chance to see Cecilia and Bryn live. (Thankfully, there is a video account of their splendid "Le Nozze di Figaro", selections from which are featured here.)
The CD is clearly subdivided into Mozart, Rossini, and Donizetti sections, with Mozart given a priority in terms of number of selections. Both artists are blessed with a gift for opera buffa, their personifications are very funny and very accurate without exaggerations. They may go full-out on stage (e.g. the way Suzanna hits Terfel's 6'6" Figaro is hilarious) but it does not distort their exemplary vocal lines. The recitatives included are extremely important and the lines are tossed back and forth with unrestrained enjoyment. Conductor Myung-Whun Chung gives the singing actors plenty of space to express their ideas, my favorite example being "Il Barbiere" where the tempi slows down as Rosina and Figaro work out the details of their plan.
The booklet does not include libretti, but since the selections are from well-known operas, it's not a problem. But it does include marvelous pictures of Cecilia and Bryn, this alone is guaranteed to put you in a good mood. Like the reviewer from San Francisco, I also loved the ice-cream shot.
After listening to this album, all I could say was "I want more." I hope these wonderful young artists would get together real soon and give us another album to treasure. By the way, if you liked this one, check out the one from Olga Borodina and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. They also shine, but in a different program (Dunque io son being the only common number) and they have completely different but also lustrous voices. But from pure fun standpoint, I've never heard a more delightful album than Cecilia and Bryn. Don't delay and get it now!