ma Dolce Vita

Danish soprano Ditte Andersen and Swedish mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg were heard to stunning effect in Spedidam's splendid 2006 recording of Gluck's Aristeo and Bauci e Filemone with the ensemble Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset. Here they tackle another obscure corner of the Baroque: cantatas and operatic arias discovered in the libraries of the palaces at Meinungen and Sonderhausen, many of which were previously unknown. The Italian composers represented include a few who are well known, but they are predominantly obscure – Antonio Caldara, Giovanni Battista Bononcini, as well as his brother Antonio, Francesco Gasparini, Giovanni Battista Alveri, Giuseppe Maria Andrea di Orlandini, Attilio Ariosti, Giovanni Porta, and Tommaso Bernardo Gaffi.

Countertenor Tim Mead leads an all-star cast in the Early Opera Company’s recording of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, conducted by Christian Curnyn. The opera was first performed in London in 1715, in the first season under the reign of George I, in the King’s Theatre on the Haymarket. The complex, twisting plot features lovers Amadigi and Orianna, imprisoned by the sorceress Melissa (who wants Amadigi’s love). Amadigi’s ally Dardano turns against his friend when he realises his love for Orianna (with whom Dardano is in love) and sides with Melissa. Her plans are repeatedly foiled, and true love triumphs at the final curtain! Amadigi is considerd the finest of his early London operas in terms of musical sophistication, theatrical pacing, and a perfectly balanced exploration of the interconnected relationships, motivations, and emotional divergences among just four dissimilar yet equally arresting characters.

Countertenor Tim Mead leads an all-star cast in the Early Opera Company’s recording of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, conducted by Christian Curnyn. The opera was first performed in London in 1715, in the first season under the reign of George I, in the King’s Theatre on the Haymarket. The complex, twisting plot features lovers Amadigi and Orianna, imprisoned by the sorceress Melissa (who wants Amadigi’s love). Amadigi’s ally Dardano turns against his friend when he realises his love for Orianna (with whom Dardano is in love) and sides with Melissa. Her plans are repeatedly foiled, and true love triumphs at the final curtain! Amadigi is considerd the finest of his early London operas in terms of musical sophistication, theatrical pacing, and a perfectly balanced exploration of the interconnected relationships, motivations, and emotional divergences among just four dissimilar yet equally arresting characters.

Amadigi di Gaula (HWV 11) is a "magic" opera in three acts, with music by George Frideric Handel. It was the fifth Italian opera that Handel wrote for London and was composed during his stay at Burlington House in 1715. It is based on Amadis de Grèce, a French tragédie-lyrique by André Cardinal Destouches and Antoine Houdar de la Motte. Charles Burney maintained near the end of the eighteenth century, Amadigi contained "…more invention, variety and good composition, than in any one of the musical dramas of Handel which I have yet carefully and critically examined.” The opera received its first performance in London at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket on 25 May 1715. Handel made prominent use of wind instruments, so the score is unusually colorful, and at points resembles the Water Music, which he composed only a few years later.

Amadigi di Gaula had its premiere in London in 1715. Its libretto, based on a medieval legend and encompassing such effects as a magically appearing sorceress, reflects the then-fashionable English taste for spectacle in operatic production. Musically, however, the opera is of chamber dimensions, involving just five soloists, and takes in some emotionally intimate moments. In this backward-looking piece – it even ends with a brief ballet – Handel doesn't attempt any structural innovations: the arias and duets are cast firmly in the tripartite da capo format. Still, he finds room for the occasional imaginative touch, as when he uses French-overture gestures in a few of the ritornelli to suggest tragic breadth, or has the two voices in a hitherto contrapuntal duet launch the "B" section in straight thirds.

Auf der neuen Kuschelklassik sind wieder einige der schönsten und berührendsten Momente der klassischen Musik zu hören. Stars wie Sol Gabetta, Joshua Bell, Lang Lang, Adoro, Yo-Yo Ma, Il Divo, Martin Stadtfeld, die 2Cellos und viele andere interpretieren einige der gefühlvollsten Stücke von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Frédéric Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Maurice Ravel oder Antonio Vivaldi. Aber auch neue Komponisten wie Yiruma, Ludovico Einaudi und James Horner sind mit ihren träumerischen Werken auf diesem Doppelalbum vertreten.

Si tratta di una collezione di record in cui le grandi canzoni e grandi cantanti che andavano di moda 1960-1969 in Italia e poi invaso il spettro musicale internazionale, che sarebbe stato sviluppato e l'accettazione del pubblico sono raccolti.