Tracia

Georg Friedrich Händel - Floridante
Marijana Mijanovic / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis
3xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 806 MB | Full Artwork: 351 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Archiv Produktion # 477 6566 AH3 | Country/Year: Germany 2007
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, Opera

"…their instrumental contributions are always judicious. The brooding yet lively performance of the magnificent overture sets the tone for a performance which frequently brings out the inventive genius of Handle's writing. The pacing and rhetoric of the music is intelligently delivered throughout the performance, and (…) the cast is remarkably excellent: Joyce DiDonato's silvery singing is beautiful, stylish, dramatically astute yet unforced; her first contributions are matched by comparable quality from the light-voiced Sharon Rostorf-Zamir; Vito Priante smoulders with menacing villainy as Oronte; Roberta Invernizzi navigates the role of the disguised hero Timante with style and charm, and combines to wonderful effect with Rostorf-Zamir in the spellbinding duet "Fuor di periglio". Curtis certainly reveals that "Floridante" is a compelling and richly rewarding opera, and Handelians should not hesitate to add this to their collection." ~Grammophone

Handel wrote Floridante in 1722 for a London audience infatuated with Italian opera. The plot, like that of so many Baroque operas, was taken from ancient history and concerns romantic liaisons thrown into turmoil by political rivalries, in this case between Persia and Tyre. Handel wrote over 50 Italian operas, and it's remarkable that he was consistently able to summon such a high level of inventiveness and inspiration when faced repeatedly with librettos that must have come to look depressingly alike in the conventions of their labyrinthine plots.