A majestic selection of operatic arias interpreted by Maija Kovalevska, who, with the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, performs her favourite heroines from operas by Puccini, Mozart, Massenet, Gluck and Tchaikovsky.
From Gluck’s Orfeo & Euridice Maija Kovalevska performs Euridice’s aria, Che fiero momento! (“What a proud moment!”), which anticipates the story’s climax. From Mozart’s Don Giovanni we hear Donna Elvira’s Act II aria Mi tradì quell’alma ingrata (“Cruel heart, you have betrayed me”), which reveals a woman at war with herself, furious at her lover’s betrayal but still longing for him against her own will. There are two of Mimì’s arias from Puccini’s La Bohème, alongside powerful music from Manon Lescaut, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot. From Act II of Massenet’s Thaïs there is the sensuous, passionate Dis-moi que je suis belle (“Tell me I’m beautiful”), known as the “mirror aria”; gazing at her reflection, Thaïs fears old age and longs for her beauty to remain. The album concludes with two of Tchaikovsky’
