Queen Aid

This is a particularly welcome and important world-premiere recording. Handel composed Esther in about 1718?20 for James Brydges, the Earl of Carnarvon (and later Duke of Chandos), using a libretto that was anonymously adapted from Thomas Brereton’s English translation of a play by Racine. This slender work, containing only six scenes, lays a strong claim to being the first English oratorio, but Handel seems not to have considered performing it for a public audience until 1732, when the entrepreneurial composer thoroughly revised the score to fit his company of Italian opera singers (including Senesino, Strada and Montagnana, who all sang in English), and enlisted the aid of the writer Samuel Humphreys to expand the drama with additional scenes (which made the oratorio long enough to fill a theatre evening, advantageously fleshed out some of the characters a little bit, and also enhanced the musical attractiveness of the oratorio).

Maar liefst 14 cd's met daarop verzameld het mooiste uit 20​ jaar Top 2000. De cd's zijn gerangschikt naar de periode van waaruit de nummers komen: de 50, de 60,'s, de 70's, de 80. de 90's, de 00's en de 10's. Daarnaast is er nog een dubbelcd met daarop Long Versions van een aantal classic Top 2000 nummers.

The circumstances of the composition of Purcell’s only opera, Dido and Æneas, are unclear. First performed in the 1680s, it received few performances in the composer’s lifetime, before disappearing until its revival at the very end of the nineteenth century. This miniature, poetic, dramatic, delightfully melodic, and containing some unforgettably beautiful vocal pieces (Dido’s “Lament”, the Witches’ songs…) has enjoyed great success ever since.

The best Christmas hits by famous artists Hitzone! New release by the Dutch radio station Radio 538 (103 FM) and Universal Music B.V., includes: Justin Bieber & Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Wham!, Melanie Thornton, Chris Rea, Elvis Presley, John Legend, Queen, Ariana Grande, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, ABBA and others …