Andreas Scholl

This disc collects a great variety of performances recorded for the Decca label by German-born countertenor Andreas Scholl, who says that the high male voice in which he sings is something he produces naturally, not something he specially cultivates. He makes you believe it. The diverse program is logically organized, with Baroque arias of various kinds surrounding a central core of quieter material, and sonically Decca has made a convincing whole out of material with various producers and recording locales.

It's been conventional wisdom for several generations that Solomon, great oratorio though it may be, contains a lot of deadwood; conductors have regularly cut some items and changed the order of others. (Even John Eliot Gardiner's excellent recording cuts about 30 minutes of music.) Leave it to Paul McCreesh to give us the complete score–and demonstrate that Handel's original structure makes plenty of sense and that every number is worthwhile.

Andreas Scholl & Orlando - Scholl Goes Pop
Andreas Scholl / Orlando & Die Unerlösten / Nürnberger Symphoniker / Rick Stengards
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 451 MB | MP3 CBR 320: 179 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # 88697127902 | Country/Year: Germany 2007
Genre: Classical / Pop | Style: Crossover

Auf seiner neuen CD *Andreas Scholl Goes Pop* präsentiert der bekannte deutsche Countertenor Andreas Scholl zusammen mit seinem Fachkollegen, dem Counter ORLANDO alias Roland Kunz und dessen Pop-Band "Orlando und die Unerlösten" sowie den Nürnberger Symphonikern unter der Leitung von Rick Stengards eine fantasievolle Mischung aus Klassik und Pop, Barock und Folk, Mystik und Sinfonik. Die CD enthält Songs und Duette aus der Feder der beiden Countertenöre, Balladen in Arrangements von Craig Leon, Frank Zabel, Dieter Reith und Chris Walden - ein spannendes Klassik-Pop Crossoverprojekt, in dem Vergangenheit und Gegenwart engste Kontakte knüpfen.

Recorded in 1995 this album has never been one of the "hits" by German countertenor Andreas Scholl. It covers a repertoire that was (and remains) virtually unknown, and it doesn't really play to the sentimental side of Scholl's personality. Nevertheless, this is one of his very best releases, and even casual Scholl fans who missed it the first time around are advised to pick it up. In 1995 he was in absolutely prime voice, and even though he here has few of the pure melodies in which he excels, he finds plenty of subtle ways to deploy it in text expression and in delineating unusual harmonic moves.