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Haendel: Opera Seria

Sandrine Piau

Classical - Released November 2, 2004 | naïve classique

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Handel: Rodelinda

The English Concert

Classical - Released May 14, 2021 | Linn Records

Hi-Res Booklet
Handel's Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi, HWV 19, was a hit at its first performance in 1725 and has dropped out of the repertory only during periods when all of Handel's operas did. It is absolutely loaded with great Handelian tunes and also has a more-than-coherent plot involving an imprisoned queen in a conquered Milan, the intrigue that swirls around her among her lustful conquerors, and her disguised husband, Bertarido, who attempts to rescue her. The lead role has drawn star sopranos from Joan Sutherland on down, but many listeners will be drawn to the singing here of Lucy Crowe, who really inhabits the role. She sang it with the Dutch National Opera, and here, she returns with convincing delivery that will keep listeners' heads out of the libretto. She is aided by the clean playing of the English Concert under Harry Bicket, who leads from the harpsichord, and a strong supporting cast, including the ideal Iestyn Davies as Bertarido. This performance was planned for the English Concert's annual live concert at Carnegie Hall in New York; that was canceled due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, but Bicket and the group decided to record the opera instead, inaugurating a new series of Handel operas. The socially distanced playing and singing at St. John's Smith Square is a little rusty in spots, and the venue is somewhat airy for the music, but all in all, this is a Handel opera performance that makes one anxious for more of the same for the performers.© TiVo
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Rachel

Rachel Willis-Sørensen

Classical - Released April 8, 2022 | Sony Classical

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Mozart: Opera & Concert Arias: Classic Library Series

Margaret Price

Classical - Released February 1, 2005 | RCA Red Seal

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Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia

Teresa Berganza

Opera - Released January 1, 1972 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
This is a Barbiere "di qualità, di qualità": in fact, of very great quality indeed, from Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded in London in the summer of 1971, it is one of the first meetings of Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra. It is also the first of Alberto Zedda's philological editions of Rossini's works, whose scores have been covered over by inherited errors for over a century. Getting rid of the additions which have, quite wrongly, become traditional, means restoring certain interruptions and the fine instrumentation of the period; and above all, singing and playing without exaggerations, thanks to an innate sense for the theatre. It's a spot of spring cleaning which has restored the youth of the 24-year-old composer's masterpiece. Bravo, signor barbiere, ma bravo! It is a dream record, with singers who are well-versed in the repertoire. Everyone is right where they need to be, from Teresa Berganza's wiley and cheeky Rosina, to the refined and hard-working Figaro played by Hermann Prey, via Luigi Alva's frivolous Count and the utterly ridiculous Basilio played by the outrageous Paolo Montarsolo. We're amused by their antics, as we admire the well-oiled and unstoppable machine of Rossini's theatre, under the unceasingly inventive and thrilling baton of Claudio Abbado. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Handel: Poro, re delle Indie

Marco Angioloni

Classical - Released March 22, 2024 | Château de Versailles Spectacles

Hi-Res Booklet
Poro, re delle Indie, HWV 28 (a.k.a. Poro, re dell'Indie, Poro, or Porus), a Handel opera seria of 1731, was a great success at the beginning, and modern scholars have pronounced it one of the finest Handelian operas. The work is performed from time to time, in the original Italian or in German translation, but recordings have been sparse. The opera constructs a romantic plot around the clash between Alexander the Great and the Indian king Porus, who interestingly is attested only in Greek sources, not Indian ones. Also interesting is that the libretto by Pietro Metastasio was originally called Alessandro nell'Indie, but Handel's opera shifts the central role to Porus, perhaps because the famed castrato Senesino was set to perform the part. Here, the role of Poro is ably handled by countertenor Christopher Lowrey. However, a notable feature of the opera, and perhaps one that made this the second-most-popular of Metastasio's libretti behind only the ubiquitous Artaserse (Artaxerxes) is the large collection of strong vocal roles, giving several singers the chance to shine. The opera seria pitfall of a series of set pieces is avoided, and the drama unfolds naturally. The role of Poro is balanced that of Alessandro himself, for tenor voice, and here, Marco Angioloni, one of a new breed of singer-directors, is very strong. Hear also Giuseppina Bridelli as Poro's sister Erissena, a rich, compelling contralto. In his role as director of the ensemble Il Groviglio Angioloni, he favors a substantial ensemble (ten violins) capable of rough, rather percussive attacks. With an English opera, an Italian ensemble, and an international cast of singers, this release marks a step out for the Château de Versailles label, which generally emphasizes French Baroque repertory. The music is, however, a fine choice and beautifully brought off.© James Manheim /TiVo
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Handel: Finest Arias for Base (Bass) Voice, Vol. 1

Christopher Purves

Classical - Released December 2, 2012 | Hyperion

Hi-Res Booklet
There's no shortage of Handel aria recitals these days, especially in Britain, but this one by bass baritone Christopher Purves stands out from the crowd in several respects. First of all, it is rare in collecting arias for bass voice, which was, in Handel's time as it was later on, generally associated with a few fixed and generally negative character types (tyrants, rogues, repressive patriarchs). Second, it's a very pleasantly varied collection of tunes, including displays of brilliant passagework, out-of-the-norm writing in service of characterization (Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori, from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, track 4), and high climactic drama (the big, three-part Revenge, Timotheus cries, from Alexander's Feast, track 19, is a familiar example). Finally, Purves unearths some rarely heard pieces and programs them intelligently. When did anyone last year anything from Muzio Scevola, or Riccardo Primo, rè d'Inghilterra, which must have pleased London audiences in 1727 despite its Italian-language text. Purves does not have the biggest voice in the bass baritone universe, and there could be a bit more sound in the very low notes. But the dimensions of the music are right for the period. He's pleasingly accurate in the passagework, and he's a real actor who makes these potentially stilted characters come alive. Listeners will want to hear Purves in a small production of one of these operas after hearing this album, preferably accompanied by the strong historical-instrument group Arcangelo under Jonathan Cohen, as he is here.© TiVo
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Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice

René Jacobs

Classical - Released September 28, 2001 | harmonia mundi

Booklet
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Verdi : Ernani (Remastered)

Thomas Schippers

Classical - Released January 1, 1968 | Sony Classical

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Puccini: Turandot, SC 91

Léopold Stokowski

Classical - Released September 7, 2018 | Sony Classical

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Antonio Vivaldi : Orlando Finto Pazzo (Opere teatrale, vol. 3)

Alessandro De Marchi

Full Operas - Released April 27, 2004 | naïve classique

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Verdi : I due Foscari (Live)

Ivan Repušić

Opera - Released July 5, 2019 | BR-Klassik

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492

Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper

Classical - Released January 1, 2016 | Orfeo

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Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims (Live)

Olesya Berman Chuprinova

Opera - Released June 10, 2016 | Naxos

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason
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Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Hermann Prey

Classical - Released January 1, 1972 | Deutsche Grammophon (DG)

Distinctions The Qobuz Ideal Discography
This is a Barbiere "di qualità, di qualità": in fact, of very great quality indeed, from Deutsche Grammophon. Recorded in London in the summer of 1971, it is one of the first meetings of Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra. It is also the first of Alberto Zedda's philological editions of Rossini's works, whose scores have been covered over by inherited errors for over a century. Getting rid of the additions which have, quite wrongly, become traditional, means restoring certain interruptions and the fine instrumentation of the period; and above all, singing and playing without exaggerations, thanks to an innate sense for the theatre. It's a spot of spring cleaning which has restored the youth of the 24-year-old composer's masterpiece. Bravo, signor barbiere, ma bravo! It is a dream record, with singers who are well-versed in the repertoire. Everyone is right where they need to be, from Teresa Berganza's wiley and cheeky Rosina, to the refined and hard-working Figaro played by Hermann Prey, via Luigi Alva's frivolous Count and the utterly ridiculous Basilio played by the outrageous Paolo Montarsolo. We're amused by their antics, as we admire the well-oiled and unstoppable machine of Rossini's theatre, under the unceasingly inventive and thrilling baton of Claudio Abbado. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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'Where'er You Walk': Arias For Handel's Favourite Tenor

Ian Page

Opera - Released May 6, 2016 | Signum Records

Booklet
When it comes to Handel aria collections, it's the countertenors and sopranos that get all the recording time. The entirely beneficial trend of organizing these recordings by the people who sang the music in Handel's time may touch on a tenor here for the first time, and the effect is different from the various albums devoted to the soprano and countertenor repertoire. The tenor John Beard was not a flashy Italian import, but a native Englander, and he had a long career with Handel. He might, the detailed booklet observes, have sung Handel's anthems as a 12-year-old at the coronation of George II in 1727. One imagines that while Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni were making headlines by duking it out on-stage, connoisseurs preferred a quieter appreciation of Beard. There are several attractive features here, starting with the voice of tenor Allan Clayton: it seems suited to languid pastoral melodies, but explodes quite unexpectedly with power in the heroic ones. You get several chunks of music beyond single arias, including one by William Boyce (tracks 11-14), which breaks up the elevated Handelian mood nicely. The gentle playing of the choir and orchestra of Classical Opera under Ian Page fits the general concept well, and much of the material deserves a fresh, careful performance. Sample Clayton's extraordinarily graceful reading of "As steals the morn" from L'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato (track ten), and enjoy! © TiVo
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Sartorio: L'OrfeO

Antonio Sartorio

Classical - Released September 9, 2002 | Challenge Classics

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Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice - 1762 Edition with 1774 Paris Revisions

Teresa Stich-Randall

Opera - Released December 31, 2021 | Vanguard Classics

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Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna

Virtuosi Brunensis

Opera - Released June 9, 2017 | Naxos

Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason