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Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria

Emiliano Gonzalez Toro

Classical - Released September 22, 2023 | Gemelli Factory

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or - 4F de Télérama
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Handel: Poro, re delle Indie

Marco Angioloni

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

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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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Vivaldi : Il Giustino

Ottavio Dantone

Full Operas - Released November 16, 2018 | naïve classique

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - Gramophone Editor's Choice - Choc de Classica
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Jean-Baptiste Lully : Amadis

Christophe Rousset

Opera - Released September 22, 2014 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4F de Télérama - Diamant d'Opéra - Choc de Classica - 5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik
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Mio caro Händel

Simone Kermes

Classical - Released February 8, 2019 | Sony Classical

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While the German soprano follows in the footsteps of Cecilia Bartoli, her virtuoso voice separates her fans from the purists who prefer a less fanciful vocal-line. This long-awaited new album from Simone Kermes shows off her masterful voice in almost every register and there is no sign of the excessiveness for which she has previously been criticised. Typically referred to as a “Ba-rock” star, some people are irritated by her gestures and extreme theatrics during her concerts, but those mannerisms are long forgotten here in the absence of any images. The title of the album, “Mio caro Händel”, says a lot about the affinity Simone Kermes feels with the Saxon composer. She has selected his most popular pieces, such as Ombra mai fù(Largo of Love), Piangeró la sorte mia(I will lament my fate) and Lascia ch’io pianga(Let me weep), along with some much less well-known pieces, which are some of the most wonderful revelations and rare musical gems on the album. The singer recorded this testimony of love to Händel in Berlin’s famous Jesus-Christus-Kirche in 2018 accompanied by Amici Veneziani, an ensemble put together especially for her which mostly comprises of German musicians and is led by Russian violinist Boris Begelman. As a great traveller who went all over Europe, this captures Händel’s European spirit perfectly. © François Hudry/Qobuz
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Handel: Rodelinda

The English Concert

Classical - Released May 14, 2021 | Linn Records

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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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Ombra cara (Airs de Georg Friedrich Händel)

Bejun Mehta

Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released November 16, 2010 | harmonia mundi

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 4 étoiles Classica
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Verdi : Ernani (Remastered)

Thomas Schippers

Classical - Released January 1, 1968 | Sony Classical

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Farinelli (Porpora, Broschi, Leo, Hasse, Handel...)

Ann Hallenberg

Secular Vocal Music - Released November 1, 1994 | Aparté

Hi-Res Booklet Distinctions 5 de Diapason - 4F de Télérama
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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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Rachel

Rachel Willis-Sørensen

Classical - Released April 8, 2022 | Sony Classical

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Verdi : Le Trouvère (Diapason n°609)

Choeur de L'Opera de Vienne

Classical - Released September 25, 2011 | Les Indispensables de Diapason

Booklet Distinctions Diapason d'or
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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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Haendel: Opera Seria

Sandrine Piau

Classical - Released November 2, 2004 | naïve classique

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The Verdi Album

Sonya Yoncheva

Classical - Released February 2, 2018 | Sony Classical

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For huge fans of Yoncheva, this is a beautiful collection of some of the Verdian soprano's finest moments. Half of the tracks are great hits: Otello and his famous prayer, Don Carlo, Nabucco, Il Trovatore and La forza del destino, the other half being made up of lesser-known works such as Stiffelio, Luisa Miller or Attila. The Bulgarian soprano (note that she was born in 1981, and is already a star at the peak of her career) demonstrates at once the warmth of her voice, an instrument fallen from heaven, with her mezzo tones and the range of her great lyrical voice, but also her bel canto vocal technique which is deployed to great effect in this brilliant repertoire. More purist listeners might have issues with her way of making her attacks "from below" in the Italian style, but that is her stylistic and technical choice, and it is a choice shared by a good proportion of lyrical singers who work with the Italian repertoire. This studio recording was created in 2017. © SM/Qobuz
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La musique au temps des castrats (Astrée Recordings)

James Bowman

Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released March 24, 2014 | naïve classique

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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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Halévy : La Reine de Chypre

Hervé Niquet

Full Operas - Released May 11, 2018 | Bru Zane

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We'll admit: this Reine de Chypre by Fromental Halévy is probably not the unfairly-overlooked work of commanding genius for which the lyrical world has been waiting for fifty years… But it would still be a shame to miss it, especially when performed by such a line-up, with Véronique Gens, Cyrille Dubois and Etienne Dupuis at the top of the bill. And after all, the score is full of vocal marvels and very original ensembles; but it is rather in the orchestration – which is not much more adventurous than that of any other piece of Italian bel canto of the era – that Halévy has taken it easy. The melodic richness was pointed out in an article in the Revue et gazette musicale in April 1842: "In the Reine de Chypre, Halévy's new style is on display with more dash, and more success. I have had occasion to point out the preconditions, as I see them, of the production of a good opera, by pointing out the obstacles which stand in the way of meeting these conditions fully and in good time, whether by the poet or the composer. When these conditions are met, it is an event of great importance for the world of art. Now, in the present case, circumstances have conspired in the performance of a work which, as even the most exacting critic must admit, possesses all the qualities which constitute a good opera. (…) The composer has put all the enchantment of his art into the duet that breathes the sentiments that enrapture them. The dark cloth on which these two charming figures are drawn shows through even in those songs which are so sparkling and alive with happiness, like a sinister cloud, and lends them a particular character of melancholy intrigue. There is no equal, in nobility or in grace, of the magnificent melody of the final part of this duet." The article continues in this vein. The byline? One Richard Wagner… © SM/Qobuz
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Sartorio: L'OrfeO

Antonio Sartorio

Classical - Released September 9, 2002 | Challenge Classics