Correspondence

I noticed that the liner notes for the Rossini Heroines album were written by Philip Gossett, so I wrote:

"Did you have anything to do with Cecilia's Rossini Heroines album besides writing the line notes? It's one of the great things."

And he wrote:

"It happened so long ago (1990-92) that I had to go back and check my notes. But, yes indeed, I suggested the repertory for her (many of the pieces she had never sung before). That was the second disc I did repertory suggestions for her: the first was her disc of Rossini songs (the one that also has "Giovanna d'Arco" on it). Most of those songs were simply unavailable in modern editions. (By the way, we are now--finally--editing the volume of songs for the new Baerenreiter continuation of the Rossini edition, so we hope that the volume will be out in 2009. And it will have some unknown material!!!) For the "Rossini heroines" disc, then, I did indeed suggest the Colbran arias that she did (I suggested more than she ultimately chose, of course) and even prepared some of the ornamentation for her to use (which, of course, she adapted for herself--was is right and proper).

"It's fun to realize that I've saved all the documentation about these projects! Memory fades...

"Would she had continued to do Rossini, but her interests have largely pushed her back to the eighteenth century. She remains superb!"

Then I said:

"She is following her bliss."