Handel Rinaldo

Arcangelo Corelli is the (unheard) presiding genius behind this sequel to Rinaldo Alessandrini’s chronological survey of 17th-century Italian string music (6/12). The Roman master’s influence is audible in works ranging from a concerto by the Paris-based Michele Mascitti – Corelli with an added touch of Gallic chic – via a gravely impressive sinfonia by Caldara, to a Galuppi concerto a quattro that stands on the cusp of a new age. Here and elsewhere, Corelli’s trademark dignity and sobriety often receive a more extrovert, dramatic twist, in keeping with changing tastes.

Extraordinarily, Alessandro Scarlatti (who died in 1725 and forms a strong bridge between the mature Baroque and later classical traditions, according to musicologist Edward Dent) wrote some sixty-four operas, twenty oratorios, hundreds of chamber cantatas, and a host of madrigals, masses, motets, toccatas, concertos, sonatas and symphonies. Very little of this is heard today, sadly, except in specialist circles. Perhaps one of the more popularly performed pieces is 'Abramo, il tuo sembiante' (a Christmas cantata). When Handel visited Italy between 1706 and 1710, he met Scarlatti and may even have studied with him. This performance of said cantata is well within the Italian style - clear lines and intricate ornamentation.

Handel wrote ‘Arresta il passo’ (which Hyperion has renamed after its hero and heroine) for Rome’s Arcadian Academy in 1708. A suitably pastoral cantata for two voices, strings and continuo, it depicts the shepherd Aminta’s wooing of the initially reluctant nymph Fillide in a series of charming arias (some of which Handel reused in Agrippina and Rinaldo).

Horst-Tanu Margraf (26 October 1903 − 1978) was a German conductor, Generalmusikdirektor of Halle (Saale) from 1950 to 1969. Margraf was music director in Lemberg during World War II. In Halle he was one of the founders of the Handel Festival. He conducted the Staatskapelle Halle in several operas of George Frideric Handel, some in their first modern production, such as Rinaldo in 1954. He conducted for the festival Radamisto (1955), Poro (1956), Admetos (1958), Giulio Cesare (1959) and Imeneo (1960). In 1966 he conducted a recording of a shortened version of Imeneo with Günther Leib in the title role, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch as Tirinto, and Sylvia Geszty as Rosmene.

The solo boy soprano album has a kind of intensity, born of knowing that the sound will soon end, that attracts some and puts others off, but Norwegian treble Aksel Rykkvin, with flawless schoolboy good looks, has become something of a sensation with this album of Baroque and Classical arias. His voice has a rather metallic quality, and you might think that forcing it into these big arias would be an unnatural thing. Yet in fact some of these pieces, including the tough arias from Handel's Alcina, were originally written for a boy soprano, and Bach's church music made use of them as well. Rykkvin handles the acrobatics quite well.

For more than two decades, Cecilia Bartoli has undeniably been one of the leading artists in the field of classical music. All over the world, her new operatic roles, her concert programs and recording projects – in exclusivity with Decca – are expected with great eagerness and curiosity. The exceptional amount of 8 million CDs sold, more than 100 weeks ranking in the international pop charts, numerous Golden Discs, four Grammys® (USA), nine Echos and a Bambi (Germany), two Classical Brit Awards (UK), the Victoire de la musique (France) and many other prestigious awards reflect the immense success of for example Opera proibita and her solo albums dedicated to Vivaldi, Gluck and Salieri and that she is firmly established as today’s “best-selling classical artist”.

Brilliant Classics continues its famous Composer Edition series with one of the giants of the Baroque, George Frideric Handel, the celebrated German who settled in London. Having absorbed the German and Italian styles of his time he formed his own distinctive musical language, which, while following the current fashions and audience preferences, retained his own deep humanity and inner power.

The Triumph of Time and Truth was Handel's last oratorio. But its composition goes back half a century, to his very first work in the form, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, written in Italy in 1707.
'Enchanting music, performed with warmth and insight. An important addition to the current list of Handel recordings' (The Sunday Times)
'Much recommended' (The Daily Telegraph)

This almost unknown, large scale (almost 3 hour) oratorio, The Triumph of Time and Truth, was composed by Handel in Rome in 1707 and revised by him for performances in London’s Covent Garden in 1737 (the version recorded here) and then translated into English, revised again and presented, with new additions, in 1757. The performance recorded here contains, probably, everything Handel composed for this work in its various incarnations, and then some: A brief organ concerto by the composer is added to the second part’s introduction and another pops up before the final chorus; a number from the serenata Acis & Galatea is inserted at one point; and a Saraband for two harpsichords from Handel’s Almira is used as an interlude in Part III. Furthermore, some will recognize the beautiful aria from the original, “Lascia la spina,” which became “Lascia ch’io piango” in Rinaldo, set to another text and very different music.