Cecilia Cara

An absolute delight for collectors, this new series showcases Decca's rich heritage of singers' recitals, featuring performances from some of the biggest names of the 20th Century - José Carreras, Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter, Lisa Della Casa and many more! Of the fifty titles in the series, the majority have never been recorded on CD before.The range of repertoire encompassed by these recitals is very broad - from opera arias and Lieder to popular songs, folk tunes and the hits of Broadway.

Known for her idiosyncratic performances of baroque repertoire and eccentric personal style, the German coloratura soprano Simone Kermes trained in her native Leipzig, with early successes including the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition. Bach has not, however, figured prominently in her career since then – Kermes gravitated towards Vivaldi, Handel and the Neapolitan composers who wrote for the great castrati, such as Riccardo Broschi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Porpora. (She has recorded several solo albums of such repertoire for Sony, including Dramma, and Colori d’Amore – reviewing the latter, BBC Music Magazine described her as ‘a remarkable artist, charming, fascinating and boldly risk-taking by turns’).

Das renommierte Berliner Barockensemble Lautten Compagney feiert 2009 sein 25-jähriges Bestehen. Mit seinem neuesten Programm "Handel With Care" feiert es aber vor allem den großen Komponisten Georg Friedrich Händel anlässlich dessen 250. Todesjahres. Viele Melodien aus Händels Arien und Chören waren bereits zu Lebzeiten des Komponisten regelrechte Schlager. Wolfgang Katschner, der 2004 mit dem Händelpreis ausgezeichnet wurde und seine Lautten Compagney haben unter dem Motto "Instrumente singen" für "Handel With Care" ihre Lieblingsarien aus Opern und Oratorien wie "Rinaldo", "Tamerlano", "Samson" u.v.a. für Soloinstrumente und wechselnde Instrumentalbesetzung neu arrangiert.

This recording has plenty to recommend it, despite the star power of its competition. The Aradia Ensemble–17 string players, 11 wind and brass players and four continuo players–are a lively, more-than-proficient group of period instrumentalists who, under Kevin Mallon, play the heck out of Handel's colorful, ever-changing score, and can be compared with the finest ensembles around. The obbligato oboist, harpsichordist, and sopranino recorder virtuoso (in Almirena's gorgeous first act "bird" aria) are superb. Mallon doesn't go for fierce string attacks, but every bit of his leadership has spring and energy. He and his cast are particularly careful with the recitatives, which are dramatically put forth. The cast is uniformly good.

I do think that this Decca set is arguably the best compilation reissue of such a bulk of Handel work which has been released in a long time, just in time to commemorate the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the passing of il caro Sassone. There is a lot in this box, absence of libretti notwithstanding. The enclosed booklet is essential to navigate you through the track listings and timings and little else but a small general essay on GFH.

By John Van Note