Handel

This recording of Alceste is performed by the Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn, whose other Handel recordings for Chandos have all received glowing accolades: Semele, for instance, was an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone and one of the Records of 2007 in The Sunday Times. The recording of Flavio was nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2011, in the Baroque Vocal category.

George Frideric Handel - Ariodante
Freiburger Barockorchester / Nicholas McGegan - Lorraine Hunt Lieberson / Juliana Gondek etc.
EAC+LOG+CUE | 3x CD, FLAC: 891 MB | Partial Artwork: 20 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Harmonia Mundi France # HMU 907146.48 | Country/Year: Europe 2006, 1995
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Opera

"It's a glorious performance… McGegan inspires incisive, darkly dramatic orchestral playing…[and] Hunt's burnished mezzo combines fire with a poignant intensity that breaks your heart." "A milestone of the Handel renaissance of the last decade"

Sometime in late 1705 or 1706 Georg Friedrich Händel, like many German composers before him, travelled to Italy, then the fountainhead of European music. During the next three years he paid extended visits to Rome and also spent time in Florence, Venice and Naples. In 1709-10, perhaps after a year back in Hamburg, he returned once again to Florence and Venice. Rather than studying with some Italian master, as others had done, he quickly established himself as a virtuoso performer and composer, enjoying the support of leading patrons and composing numerous cantatas.

London-based early music group L'Avventura announces the launch of their debut CD, a unique collection of previously unrecorded music by Handel. Fighting the deluge of re-recordings and re-issued CDs in this Handel anniversary year, Opella Nova Records is pleased to present a new group with a completely different take on the venerated composer. The playful, eminently-listenable Handel in the Playhouse is the debut album of new early music ensemble L'Avventura London, directed by Zak Ozmo, and is based on new musicological research. Consisting mainly of previously unheard English playhouse music composed by Handel, the recording is perfectly timed to coincide with the anniversary of the composer's death.

Rodelinda was the first of Handel's operas to be revived in modern times (at Gottingen, in 1920) and the first to be performed in the USA (at Smith College, Northampton. Massachusetts, in 1931), and this summer it adds to its laurels the distinction of being the first Handel opera (as opposed to oratorio) to be staged at Glyndebourne. Composed just after Giulio Cesare and Tamerlano, it must, I think, rank in many people's top half-dozen of the Handel operas, with its complex plot of dynastic intrigue revolving around the powerful, steadfast love of Bertarido (the ousted king of Milan) and his queen Rodelinda: just the kind that unfailingly drew strong music from Handel.

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

This 2009 live performance by German-based chamber ensemble Musica Saeculorum under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker is a pure, polished recording; sharply defined and alternately musical and muscular in it's sensibility. Despite their German origin, this is a English language performance, with nary a hint of accent detectable; indeed, this is a sparkling performance from all involved, with crisp diction, razor-sharp attacks and both the orchestral and choral forces moving as one. Tenor Daniel Johannsen is electrifying in his solos, with crystal-clear singing and a heroic tone. Bass Dominik Wörner is similarly potent in his arias, bringing high drama and technique to his arias.