Handel Dantone

This is just a beautiful recording. The perspective is close so every detail is clearly captured, but there is plenty of ambiance. The music is great,too. Scarlatti may not be as melodically inventive as Handel or Corelli, but this is no amateur music! He makes frequent use of counterpoint, usually imitative, and varies the movement order and number of movements considerably, which adds some needed variety when listening to all six concerti in one sitting. The performers play with great gusto and precision. Highly recommended.

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.

This 55-CD set chronicles the remarkable Archiv label, begun in 1947. Devoted mainly to early and Baroque music, the recordings presented here, in facsimiles of their original sleeves (a nice touch), cover the period from Gregorian chant to Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies, played on period instruments. There are stops in between for a great deal of Bach, music of the Gothic era, the French Baroque (Mouret, Delalande, Rameau, etc), Gibbons, Handel (Alcina, La Resurrezione, Messiah, Italian cantatas), Telemann, Zelenka, Gabrieli, Desprez, Haydn, LeJeune, and plenty of the usual, as well as unusual, suspects. There’s also a final CD with selections of new releases (more Handel, Cavalli, Gesualdo, Vivaldi).

Born in Milan, Roberta Invernizzi was first a pianist and double bass player before studying singing under the tutelage of Margaret Heyward. She is one of the most sought-after soloists in the field of Baroque and Classical repertoire.

An outstanding Italian musican, Stefano Demicheli has been René Jacobs' closest assistant for many years and with him has performed on Europe's main opera stages. A distinguished harpsichordist, who studied with Ottavio Dantone, he is now the leader of the Dolce & Tempesta ensemble, consisting of the best soloists from the European period instrument ensembles.This new recording on Fuga Libera gives us the world première of the three Notturni composed c.1740 by Porpora, Handel's strongest rival in London, for the All Souls Day in Naples. Carried by one of the most powerfully expressive texts in the Christian canon, this is an opportunity to hear two stunning soloists: Monica Piccinini and Romina Basso and also the Stagione Armonica of Padova.