Classical Music

HANDEL: Te Deum, HWV 283, "Dettingen"

JEPHTHA

SOLOMON

CD with color book & posters

Handel' oratorio Israel in Egypt was written three years before the Messiah and, like the Messiah, is somewhat atypical of the composer' oratorios. Scored for double chorus and an orchestra using trombones, trumpets, timpani, woodwinds and strings.

It is interesting to see what uses musical amateurs of Handel’s day made of his scores, and the singing by Nicki Kennedy is excellent.

HANDEL Cantatas: So Pleasing the Pain Is. 1,2 With Roving and with Ranging. 1,2 To Lonely Shades 1,2 & • Nicki Kennedy (sop); 1 Sally Bruce-Payne (alt); 2 The Brook Street Band (period instruments) • AVIE 2153 (2 CDs: 118:57 Text and Translation)

& HANDEL Songs: 1 An answer to Collin’s complaint. Dear Adonis, beauty’s treasure. The forsaken nymph. I like the am’rous youth. Love’s but the frailty of the mind. ’Twas when the seas were roaring. Transporting joy

This recording is titled “Handel’s English Cantatas.” The three works consist of 13 arias and three duets from three Handel operas, Giulio Cesare, Ottone , and Flavio , with new English texts and arranged for two violins and basso continuo . The arrangements have been attributed to Handel, but this claim is very doubtful. The form of each work, a series of arias ending with a duet, without linking recitative, is otherwise unknown in Handel, and there is no evidence that Handel had any part in putting these works together. The notes to this recording make as good a case as can be made for Handel’s involvement, but I remain unconvinced. The works themselves make enjoyable listening, since the music is taken from three of Handel’s best operas, and it is interesting to see what uses musical amateurs of Handel’s day made of his scores.

The performances are generally enjoyable. Nicki Kennedy is the more pleasing of the two soloists. Sally Bruce-Payne has a large voice that does not sound like it is always completely under her control, and she has an annoying habit of giving a very strong accent to some words; for example, in So Pleasing the Pain Is her overstress produces too strong an emphasis on some syllables. Fortunately, she manages to control this tendency most of the time. The Brook Street Band, consisting of two violins, cello, and harpsichord, plays expertly, and one hardly misses the full orchestra for which these works were originally written.

According to the catalog of Handel’s works in the New Grove , these three cantatas were arranged for different voices than those assigned to them here: So Pleasing the Pain Is for tenor and baritone, With Roving and with Ranging for soprano and baritone, and To Lonely Shades for soprano and tenor. The notes are silent on the arrangements made for this recording.

There are two English cantatas that are accepted as legitimate. Look Down, Harmonious Saint , a single recitative and aria, is not included here but can be found as a supplement to Robert King’s recording of Acis and Galatea . The second, Venus and Adonis , survives in fragmentary form as two arias with harpsichord accompaniment. Those two arias, Dear Adonis, beauty’s treasure and Transporting joy , are included here in a group of seven songs. Many songs have been attributed to Handel. A few years ago, Somm released a recording of all of the songs of unquestioned attribution. Four of them are included here, though one ( An answer to Collin’s complaint ) is performed in a harpsichord arrangement. The forsaken nymph and the two arias from Venus and Adonis are recording premieres. All are excellently sung by Nicki Kennedy.

The three newly recorded items make this recording a must for dedicated Handelians, and the three English cantatas make interesting listening.

FANFARE: Ron Salemi

Classical Music

Classical Music

Today, it is difficult to imagine a world without the music of Handel. His operas, however, were already looked over even in the composer’s lifetime. Virtuosic and bristling with difficulties, his multithreaded works in the Neapolitan style quickly went out of fashion, and over time they have been almost completely forgotten. Only the twentieth century cracked open the doors to this extraordinary music, whetted the appetites of music lovers with performances of the most daring arias. There is nothing surprising in this- Handel’s sense of opera was incomparable, as evidenced by not only the ease of writing subsequent stage works, but also an exceptional talent for portraying human emotions with music. What we find so attractive in the music of Handel is the powerful emotional charge, making it timeless. What are actually the most successful arias from his operas, if not the musical essence of various shades of infatuation, hatred, despair or joy? Even though characters of the tacks mentioned in this recording come from distant times and spaces, their feelings still resonate with contemporary listeners, allowing a deeper insight into the full mysterious dynamics of love. These arias are performed by Natalia Kawalek and Jakub Jozef Orlinski, two young opera stars.

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REVIEWS:

This recording announces exciting new talents on several fronts. First is that of countertenor Jakub Józef Orlinski, a colorful, expressive singer endowed with plenty of power. Also to be noted is the spectacular Natalia Kawalek, who’s classed as a mezzo-soprano but runs the whole gamut from a low growl to light agility at the top, in many pieces that would generally be considered soprano arias. Complaints? Poorly edited translations in the booklet.

– All Music Guide (James Manheim)

It is the nuanced singing of countertenor Jakub Józef Orlinski that is fully to the fore in a recital partnered with mezzo-soprano Natalia Kawalek and their Polish compatriots Il Giardino d’Amore. Orlinski’s intuitive phrasing, sweet precision and sense of dramatic moods are consistently appealing.

– Gramophone

“Alexander’s Feast or The Power of Musick. An ode wrote in honour of St. Cecilia” dates from 1736, a time when Handel was attempting to counter the dwindling interest in his Italian operas with oratorios in English. Indeed this work, which resembles an oratorio, found immediate popularity and was quickly counted alongside “Messiah” among his best-loved compositions. Only “Acis and Galatea” and “Messiah” were performed more frequently than “Alexander’s Feast” during Handel’s lifetime. This high-profile recording features the singers Miriam Feuersinger, Danial Johannsen and Matthias Helm, together with the Kammerchor Feldkirch and Concerto Stella Matutina under Benjamin Lack.

The fireworks on this live recording from 2005, featuring the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra led by Nicholas McGegan, are definitely of the vocal variety.

"Nobody does baroque better than Nicholas McGegan and his Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. And nobody does Handel better than McGegan and the PBO, either. So, there's no wonder the team do such a good job with Handel's Atalanta." -- John J. Puccio, Classical Candor

"Magnificent...the most vibrant, exhilarating stretch of musical showmanship this organization has offered in many a long season. Not since a decade ago have Philharmonia audiences witnessed a performance so deep, so affecting or so rich in musical splendor."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

"It is a particular joy to see a peformance such as this, utilising many of the dramatic and musical conventions of the eighteenth century, but with more than a nod towards modern sensibilities, especially when the score is as full of glories as Atalanta, and when performed this well."
-- Sandra Bowdler, The Opera Critic

Handel: Messiah

HANDEL GREAT HITS

Handel: Water Music Suites Nos. 1 & 2 - Music for the Royal

Classical Music

Barthold Heinrich Brockes wrote a libretto on the Passion of Christ – based on the account in Matthew’s Gospel – which was set to music by many composers of his time, including Reinhard Keiser, Georg Philip Telemann and George Frideric Handel. It is Handel’s version of the latter that the period-instrument ensemble Arcangelo has chosen to present here. Under the direction of Jonathan Cohen, these specialists in the Baroque repertory are joined by the voices of Sandrine Piau, whose numerous Handel recordings are regarded as a benchmark, the tenor Stuart Jackson and the baritone Konstantin Krimmel, recently revealed in a debut recital for Alpha (Saga, ALPHA549). Together they resurrect the operatic splendor of a work that was first performed in 1719 and is thought to have influenced numerous passages of J. S. Bach’s St John Passion, written a few years later.

REVIEW:

Conductor Jonathan Cohen is working with excellent soloists. They're led by soprano Sandrine Piau, who has a crushing 14 arias and brings personality to each one. Tenor Stuart Jackson has a big, exciting voice, and baritone Konstantin Krimmel is splendid in his duet with Mary Bevan. The oratorio also has smaller solo roles, here taken by members of the choir, and all are well handled.

– AllMusicGuide.com (James Manheim)

Classical Music

This recording of recorder sonatas by Handel and an 18th c. transcription of the Royal Fireworks Suite is the work of three Melbournians who have made important contributions to early music performance in Australia for over thirty years. Published By John Walsh c. 1750, this is the only recording of the adaptation of the Fireworks Music (originally for flute, violin or harpsichord) in this arrangement. All instruments are faithful reproductions of authentic originals, historically accurate, carefully researched and tuned to a version of period temperament, giving each key its own character.

Classical Music

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Handel’s oratorio Saul is taken from the First Book of Samuel, and focuses on the first king of Israel’s relationship with David, his eventual successor, which eventually leads to his demise. The three act work with libretto by Charles Jennens premiered in January 1739, and was an immediate success. This production directed by Barrie Kosky was recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Lewes, October 2015. It was ranked by The Independent amongst five top opera and classical performances of 2015. “Musically this evening is well-nigh flawless.” (The Independent) “A theatrical and musical feast of energetic choruses, surreal choreography and gorgeous singing.” (The Guardian)

Subtitles: English, French, German, Korean
Sound Formats: 2.0 LPCM, 5.1 (5.0) DTS
Running Time 185 mins
Region Code: 0 (All)

On this double disc set, musicians from the (Western) European Baroque tradition (and from a Christian background), are joined by musicians from Jewish and Muslim backgrounds. (Capriccio)

HANDEL: Alcina / Agrippina (Excerpts)

Handel' oratorio Semele was composed in 1743 and tells of a beautiful mortal, whose short but spectacular love affair with Jupiter. King of the Gods, comes to a terrifying end in consequence of both her own vanity and the scheming of Jupiter' insanely.

Of all English oratorios Handel’s Messiah has always been the most overwhelmingly popular. It is the least theatrical of his oratorios and the most purely sacred in its choice of subject matter. The vivid choral writing- there are more choruses in Messiah than in any other Handel oratorio- coupled with the expressive density of the solo arias, have ensured its status as one of the greatest choral masterpieces in the Western canon. Since winning the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award and conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra, Edward Polochick has attracted international attention as an orchestral, operatic, and choral conductor. He is the founding Artistic Director of Concert Artists of Baltimore since 1987. He is also in his 20th season as Music Director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra in Nebraska. From 1979-1999 he was the Director of the Baltimore Symphony Chorus, and since 1979 he has been at the Peaboedy Conservatory as Associate Conductor of the Orchestra, Director of Choral Ensembles, and Opera Conductor.

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REVIEW:

What we have here can be described as a ‘popular’ approach, using a large number of performers with a conventional modern chamber orchestra, and chorus capable of lifting the roof off the concert hall, as they almost do in Hallelujah and in a triumphal Worthy is the lamb. You will enjoy the passion he infuses into the music throughout, and he obtains a neat participation from his Baltimore musicians.

Jennifer O’Loughin's account of O daughter of Zion has joy as she negotiates the fast running passages, and there's a deep sincerity in her I know my redeemer Liveth. The tenor, Nicholas Phan, tastefully decorates his arias and slows down proceedings in his deeply felt account of the recit and aria, Behold, and see if there be any sorrow. Sidney Outlaw’s bass voice warms as the performance progresses and eventually gives an enjoyable The trumpet Shall Sound.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Cleopatra, Adelaide, Alcina, Laodice, Medea, Atalanta, Melissa & Morgana: Audacious fighters, indomitable queens, and evil witches: On their debut album, soprano Margriet Buchberger and the musicians of Il Giratempo put Handel’s strongest and most mesmerizing women center stage - where they rightfully belong. The “wild” women in Georg Friedrich Handel’s operas are truly queens of their own destiny. They rule over empires, fight in bloody battles, are courageous hunters and passionate lovers. Their adventures are gems in a sea of female characters bound to tradition and cliché. “Good girls” may go to heaven, but in baroque opera they do so either as victims or trophies. At best they come into their own when they sacrifice themselves virtuously to the mercy of fate and/or the men surrounding them. We have searched for strong, self-determined women – and found fascinating, modern characters, brought to life through beautiful music.

Unlike Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the supreme composers of the high Baroque, Handel was not by profession a church composer. He did write a number of anthems and smaller sacred works and invented the English oratorio, a hybrid of sacred and secular elements that assures his renown in sacred music, particularly through a single work of that genre, Messiah. Messiah bookends this ten-album set, with a which begins with the original, and ends with Mozart's arrangement of the work. Also included are Saul, Alexander's Feast, Belshazzar, and Dettinger te Deum. These reference recordings are presented by the biggest names of baroque music scene: Karl Richter, Helmuth Rilling, Ulrich St�tzel.

REVIEW:

Thankfully, as presented here by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, this is no one-to-a-part, minimalist realization. I should probably have mentioned well before getting this far into the review that this recording, originally released on Sony Classical, was made at a time, 1997, when period-instrument ensembles still had more than four or five players on their payrolls. Thus, the performance here includes 11 violins, three violas, three cellos, two double basses, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, timpani, and harpsichord continuo. So, for all intents and purposes, the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra sounds like a modern-instrument ensemble, which, from my perspective, is a good thing.

This is a wonderful disc, and not just for Handel lovers. The music is invigorating, splendidly performed, and exceptionally well recorded. I recommend it to everyone.

— Fanfare

A glance at ensemble concert plans, opera and festival programmes and recording catalogues shows that George Frederick Handel's music enjoys enormous and unwavering popularity today. Even during his lifetime, Handel's works could be heard in his homeland as well as in his adoptive country. Following a roaring success as "Caro Sassone" among the Italians his fame spread like wildfire throughout Europe before the composer finally settled among the British in London. This release from Le Petit Concert Baroque presents some of Handel's most famous selections, including several pieces from the opera "Rinaldo," from which this album takes it's title.

Handel is best known to the wider public for his large-scale choral and orchestral works, but his organ music is equally precious. It was the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels who, diverting him from a career in the law, spotted his exceptional abilities on the instrument. By the age of seventeen, Handel was already the resident organist at the Domkirche in Halle, and he was later to defeat Domenico Scarlatti in a contest of virtuosity during his time in Rome. Martin Haselböck and the Orchester Wiener Akademie have recorded the Organ Concertos opp.4 and 7 in the prestigious Vienna Musikverein, world-famous for its acoustics. Haselböck plays on the hall’s imposing Rieger organ in what is one of its very first recordings. Inaugurated in 2011, it is the fourth organ in the Musikverein since the hall opened in 1870. With its considerable dimensions – much larger than the organs Handel used to play on – the instrument offers a tonal palette rich in contrasts.

REVIEW:

The performances, while undoubtedly in good Baroque style (the period Wiener Akademie are excellent), offer the latent thrill of a large instrument in a large hall. If for some this might not seem the stuff of a definitive recording, it is certainly fun to listen to.

– Gramophone