Gennari Rinaldo

Bach - Ouvertures for orchestra - Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini (2019) {2CD Set Naïve OP 30578}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 733 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 312 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 17 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2019 Naïve | OP 30578
Classical / Baroque / Period Instruments

Like the Brandenburg Concertos and other instrumental works of Johann Sebastian Bach, the four Orchestral Suites are available in mainstream and period versions, and listeners have a variety of valid interpretations to explore. This 2019 release by Rinaldo Alessandrini and Concerto Italiano definitely belongs to the period category, and fans of original instrumentation and researched historical practices will find this album not only true to Baroque style but also as robust and energetic as any performance on modern instruments.

Mario Bernardi revived the Horne-Corsaro ''Rinaldo'' for the National Arts Center of Canada, and a new and much more elaborate production designed by Mark Negin had a great success at Festival Ottawa in the summer of 1982. ''Rinaldo'' is in essence Marilyn Horne's production. She sings the title role in a version that has been tailored specifically for her vocal powers, and she has obviously had a lot to say about the hows and the whos of this production.

Rinaldo, Handel's first Italian opera, is still arguably his best Italian opera. Or, to put it another way, Handel found what worked – hair-raising arias, affecting harmonies, colorful orchestrations, wild special effects, and a story that his English audiences would accept as a compliment to their own magnificence – and he stuck with it until the English were sick of Italian operas. Handel's Rinaldo works wonderfully well in this recording directed by Rene Jacobs. Jacobs makes the drama work, making one believe in the unlikely coincidences that constitute its plot. He makes the theatrical effects work, making one believe in Handel's monumental thunder that precedes the arrival of the evil queen.

Diana Moore lends her youth and tight vibrato to Rinaldo; a greater vocal presence should come with the experience. Cyndia Sieden is an ideal Almirena, as well as Dominique Labelle in the often poorly served and yet essential role of the magician Armida. Andnew Foster-Williams and Cecile van de Sant excel and carry Argante and Goffredo to a rare level of emotion for one and dramatic consistency for the other. The counter-tenor Chnistophe Dumaux is a perfect Eustazio. Finally, under the lively, dramatic and witty direction of Nicholas McGegan, the Concerto Köln is simply phenomenal.