After extensive research, Cecilia Bartoli has produced not only a new recording, but also a comprehensive study of the castrati and their time period through two lavishly produced and illustrated articles included in the deluxe package.

Sacrificium marks the first collaboration of Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini, and Bartoli since their Grammy® Award-winning The Vivaldi Album ten years ago.

• Hardback book
• 44-page libretto
• 2 CDs of music including 11 world-premiere recordings

R E V I E W S:

"The striking package imagery – Cecilia Bartoli's head photoshopped on to male statuary – cheekily conveys the thinking behind Sacrificium, on which the soprano tackles some of the cornerstone works of the castrati tradition, there being few male performers with (or rather, without) the equipment to deliver this material in the required register.
For the same reason, the majority of these pieces are premiere recordings, being written by specialist composers such as Nicola Porpora, whose "Come nave in mezzo all'onde", from Siface, is typical – all romping horns and furiously sawing strings, frantically struggling to keep up with the virtuosic, dancing ornamentation of the vocal line."

-- Andy Gill, The Independent (independent.co.uk)