MUSIC REVIEW : An Inconsistent Outing From Cecilia Bartoli at Ambassador

A second encounter with a much-heralded artist can sometimes produce disenchantment.

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For instance, the return by the spectacularly gifted and remarkably accomplished Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli to Ambassador Auditorium. As heard there Wednesday night, Bartoli, 27, remains one of the few potential superstars in a firmament depressingly unilluminated.

Yet, those of us who waxed poetic upon Bartoli’s local debut recital in February, 1992, now have reasons to reconsider, two years later, her specific potential.

The attractive young artist--her ebullience, good nature and apparently clear health keep her in such a category--seems to be developing in controversial ways. The pure and natural timbre of her easily produced voice is now taking on other colorations: a thickness and darkening in the bottom third of the range, for example, which might in time become a hoot.

At the same time, her artistry, so direct and unaffected on first encounter, seems to have been transformed by her success. Vocal mannerisms--a slight tic here, a few nearly inaudible notes there--creep into her arsenal of effects. And her new habits of raising her hands above her head, Rocky Balboa-style, and of applauding her audience even as they barely begin to applaud her, distract from the characteristic sincerity of her communicativeness.

In a program sung entirely in Italian and Latin, and assisted conscientiously at the piano by conductor Gyorgy Fischer, Bartoli made beautiful sounds and gave touching performances of songs and arias by Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Rossini and Bellini. Yet her singing on Wednesday lacked a great deal of variety, proved in-and-out in terms of style and linearity and missed by far that strong sense of definition one found at her earlier visit.

A certain discipline and self-criticism would seem to be the Roman singer’s missing attributes at this juncture; of course, their lack must affect every aspect of her work.

What Bartoli does best is sing the notes--from very low to very high, on this occasion up to C-sharp above the staff--easily, and with an enthusiasm and an abandon that listeners may find irresistible. She charms through her apparent spontaneity and instinctive musicality.

In a successful traversal of many difficulties, albeit with many technical inconsistencies, Bartoli produced engaging victories over Mozart’s motet, “Exsultate, jubilate,” and over Bellini’s aria, “O rendetemi . . . Qui la voce . . . Vien diletto,” from the Malibran version of “I Puritani.”

Then she sang four encores: Rossini’s “Canzonetta Spagnuola,” Paisiello’s “Nel cor piu non mi sento,” “Voi che sapete” from Mozart’s “Nozze di Figaro” and the Seguedille from “Carmen,” by Bizet.