John l Lewis

Quand, à la mort de ses parents, Lewis va habiter chez son oncle Jonathan, il s’attend à rencontrer quelqu’un d’ordinaire. Mais Oncle Jonathan et sa voisine, Mme Zimmermann, sont tous les deux des magiciens ! Lewis est ravi… au début. Puis il se met lui-même à faire de la magie et il ressuscite par mégarde l’ancienne propriétaire de la maison, Serenna Izard. Or Serenna et son mari ont autrefois caché dans les murs de la maison une horloge, une horloge qui a le pouvoir d’anéantir l’Humanité tout entière… Et seuls les Barnavelt peuvent l’arrêter.

Jennifer Vyvyan is the star of Handel’s Semele in an early recording of the opera conducted by Anthony Lewis and recorded for L’Oiseau-Lyre in 1956; this pioneering Handel recording of the 1950s in a new digital remastering, released on Decca CD for the first time.

Following the premiere performance of Handel's opera "Sosarme, re di Media" on 15 February 1732, Viscount Percival remarked that, the work is well received in the city, and quite rightly so, for it is one of the best I have ever heard. The intrigue-laced plot goes back to 14th century historical events, when a dispute about succession broke out between King Dionysius (Denis), his son Alfonso and King Ferdinand IV of Castile. Following the last performance of Sosarme in 1734, the work slumbered for some two hundred years until British composer, conductor and musicologist Anthony Lewis revived Handel's composition in 1954. This recording, featuring the St. Anthony Singers and St. Cecilia Orchestra and conducted by Lewis, vouches for historical authenticity last but not least thanks to an ensemble of singers well-versed in Handel's works, including counter-tenor Alfred Deller and contralto Helen Watts.

This performance from the 1950s sounds surprising after decades of authentic performance. The instruments are modern, the forces large and the style of singing rich, full and almost romantic. Yet the effect is electrifying. All the performers sing with such conviction that this Poppea moved me and it makes some authentic performances sound thin and academic by comparison.

Jérôme Lejeune continues his History of Music series with this boxed set devoted to the Renaissance. The next volume in the series after Flemish Polyphony (RIC 102), this set explores the music of the 16th century from Josquin Desprez to Roland de Lassus. After all of the various turnings that music took during the Middle Ages, the music of the Renaissance seems to be a first step towards a common European musical style. Josquin Desprez’s example was followed by every composer in every part of Europe and in every musical genre, including the Mass setting, the motet and all of the various new types of solo song. Instrumental music was also to develop considerably from the beginning of the 16th century onwards.