Handel

This is the most complete of the Handel overture discs available. Includes many of the most important overtures from Handel operas. 9 Opera overtures are included- Lotario, Admeto,Alcina, Orlando, Poro, Partenope, Ottone, Aridante, Il Pastor Fido, and the oratorio Esther. Unfortunately however this recording does not include one of Handel's best overtures, that of Faramondo. This is an modern instrument performance by Leppard, a conductor very familar with HIP practices. The performances are exhuberant and vital. This compilation is far superior to the Pinnock performances on Archiv where only 3 opera overtures are performed (on authentic historical instruments) (Agrippina, Teseo, Il pastor Fido) + 2 oratorio overtures (Samson, Saul) and 1 theatrical drama overture (Alceste). A must recording for any Handel collection.

Handel in Italy, Volume 2 - London Early Opera, Bridget Cunningham (2016) {Signum Classics Official Digital Download SIGCD462}
FLAC (tracks) - 16bit/44kHz - Official Digital Download (chandos.net) -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 131 Mb
Full Artwork (jpg+pdf) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 2016 Signum Classics | SIGCD462
Classical / Baroque

London Early Opera continue their new series of Handel's works with the second volume of pieces composed in Italy. Both volumes of Handel in Italy explore the young composer's Italian years through his cantatas, sacred pieces, operatic works and instrumental compositions. Featuring performances from internationally acclaimed soloists, the sopranos Sophie Bevan and Mary Bevan with their uncle, baritone Benjamin Bevan, conducted and conceived by Bridget Cunningham.

It is not known when Handel composed his keyboard works. A number of them probably date from his youth in Germany. His teacher Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow is known to have owned a large collection of German and Italian keyboard music. And French music was well known in Germany when Handel lived there. So the very fact that Handel’s suites show a wide range of influences – German, Italian and French – doesn’t necessarily mean that they were written after his stay in Italy. At the same time it is likely that some of his keyboard works were written after his arrival in England. It is suggested that some of them were used for keyboard lessons.

Handel’s opera 'Alessandro', first performed at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket in London on 5 May 1726, was one of the composer’s most successful works for the stage. This opera displays Handel at the pinnacle of his career and enjoyed repeated performances over a period of several years.

According to Christopher Hogwood, in his marvelous biography of Handel, "In the winter of that year [1750], Handel received what was for him an unusual commission. Although closely associated with the London theatre, he wrote very little incidental music for plays. A request from John Rich to provide airs and dances for Smollett's 'Alceste' was undertaken, according to Hawkins, in repayment of a debt to Rich."

George Frideric Handel - Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan - Theodora HWV 68 (Repost)
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC+ART: 1,4 GB | MP3 CBR 320: 420 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info + rev-Part
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi HMU 907060.62 | Country/Year: Europe 1992 | Genre: Classical | Style: Oratorio

Theodora (HWV 68) is an oratorio in three acts by George Frideric Handel, set to an English libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio concerns the Christian martyr Theodora and her Christian-converted Roman lover, Didymus. Handel wrote Theodora during his last period of composition, his Indian summer. He was sixty-four years old when he began working on it in June 1749. He had written the oratorios Solomon and Susanna the previous year. Theodora would be his second-to-last oratorio…

Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist and pianist whose performances, teaching, writings and especially her many recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century. She was the first person to record Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations on the harpsichord in 1933. She became a naturalized French citizen in 1938.

…“full of the most delicious music you could ask to hear, and the players give every indication of loving every note they play” was how one enthusiastic reviewer described the first volume of aria arrangements on SOMM, of “Handel at Home” (SOMMCD 055) with the London Handel Players in Pan Magazine.