If the soloist was indeed a true coloratura, she may have just found the Spanish piece more suitable for her voice. The Vivaldi, which I've performed several times, has only the one soprano solo, the Domine Deus, which is a lilting largo piece, and isn't coloratura, but more bel canto. THe other piece is a duet for two sopranos, with more movement, but maybe if you felt it wasn't well-interpreted, it was the fault of the blend or the other singer. Both pieces are musically fairly simple and are a staple of a church soprano repertoire.
INterestingly, the GLoria (he wrote two, but this one is THE one) was written for a girl's convent choir, and while it's scored for tenor and bass, it wasn't performed by men, but by females singing an octave higher. I"ve never heard it done, but imagine it would be haunting. |
