René Jacobs - Handel : Rinaldo; Flavio; Giulio Cesare; Duetti e cantata da camera (2008)
Baroque | 9 CD | EAC | APE+CUE, LOG | Covers | TT 10h 35’ | 2,59 GB
Freiburger Barockorchester, Ensemble 415, Concerto Köln, Concerto Vocale, René Jacobs
Recirding: 1978, 1990, 1991, 2003 | Released: 2008 | Label: Harmonia Mundi
The real prize in this jam packed nine-CD set is of course the incandescent recording of Giulio Cesare with some of the most phenomenal singing on record by Larmore, Schlick, and Fink. When this came out it created quite a stir, given it is about as complete as it ever has been, and filled with Jacob’s searching and trend-setting conducting. While it won’t displace favorites of yesteryear, those recordings are of a different era and style altogether, and here the opera comes together in a manner fully redolent of what Handel must have envisioned.