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

Also available on standard DVD

This outstanding live recording is the first ever collaboration between director Luc Bondy, conductor William Christie, and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato. This recording was taken in December of 2004 at the Opera National de Paris. Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie, does a beautiful job of performing the score by G. F. Handel.

Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Formats: PCM Stereo, 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Manfred Huss and the period orchestra Haydn Sinfonietta Wien are internationally acclaimed for their rousing performances of music by Haydn and Schubert. They now bring their indomitable enthusiasm and collective expertise to one of Handel's most famous and popular works, rounding off the disc with the composer's far less well-known, but equally resplendent Ouverture from the Occasional Oratorio.

Also available: Handel in Italy, Vol. 2 / Cunningham, London Early Opera

The Handel Album is the Aulos Ensemble's fifth in a series of critically acclaimed releases for Centaur Records, which include a collection of Christmas music, as well as albums dedicated to Rameau, Telemann and the Bach family. Soprano Dominique Labelle, whose voice has been called "angelic," "silvery," and "vibrant", is noted for her probing explorations of the repertoire from the Baroque to new music. This selection of Handel's masterful operatic arias and other vocal excerpts is interspersed with individual movements from his instrumental Trio Sonata and Concerto masterpieces.

Handel, G.F.: Apollo E Dafne

After finishing the chorus ‘How dark, O Lord, are thy decrees’ in February 1751, Handel noted in the autograph score that he couldn’t continue his work on Jephtha because of eye problems. Later in the year, he regained his eyesight and was able to complete the work in the autumn. The problems returned however, and in January 1753 a London newspaper reported that ‘Mr Handel has at length, unhappily, quite lost his sight’. Jephtha was thus to become Handel's last oratorio, and indeed his last major work. It is nevertheless no less a masterpiece than his earlier works, and contains some of his noblest music.

The plot of this ‘Sacred Drama’ is loosely based on the story of Jephtha in the Old Testament: a father who in order to win the the Israelites’ struggle against the Ammonites makes a rash promise to God, and after his victory is compelled to sacrifice his own daughter. The situation gives rise to music of touching poignancy, as well as great choral set-pieces.

This rousing live performance, recorded in 2008 in the Stavanger Concert Hall, boasts a roster of soloists headed by the fine British tenor James Gilchrist as Jephtha, as well as the eminent Belgian choir Collegium Vocale Gent, all backed up by the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. At the helm of these large forces is Fabio Biondi, the Baroque violinist and conductor who since 2005 has been artistic director of the Stavanger orchestra in the baroque and classical repertoires.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.

Classical Music

Elsewhere in this issue, in choosing the records of the year, I have singled Out the new version of Handel's opera Admeto for its broadly successful attempt at a true Handelian style. Well, those words were no sooner in the post to the Editor than I heard this new set, which considerably surpasses it in almost all regards: indeed this seems to me comfortably the best Handel opera recording I have heard. It is an easier opera to perform than the heroic ones of the 1720s (at least, to perform on records; perhaps it is not so easy on the stage— though I remember with pleasure its only English revival, at Abingdon in 1961). Partenope was written in 1730, for the first season of what was called the 'new Academy', run by Handel himself and his manager, after the collapse and the discrediting of the Royal Academy, of which Handel had been salaried musical director and which had organized opera in London since 1720. Handel now had a new team of singers, and the operas he wrote for them show distinctly the influence of the works he encountered during his talent-spotting trip to Italy. Partenope does so in particular. It is to a libretto by Silvio Stampiglia, markedly influenced by the vein of ironic humour popular in Venetian opera. The plot concerns the founding queen of Naples, Parthenope, and her various suitors, one of whom (Arsaces) deserted his betrothed (Rosmira) to woo her, and is pursued by Rosmira who in male clothes is herself masquerading as an admirer of Parthenope. The musical idiom beautifully catches the vivacity, the ironic wit, the gentle ardour and the charm that distinguish the plot. The musical textures are for the most part light and airy; there is more of rapid music than in most of Handel's operas; the phrase structure is simpler; and the vocal colour is different from usual—dictated, to be sure, by the particular cast Handel had at his disposal, yet characteristically he turned to positive ends the fact that he had only one soprano (Parthenope), one tenor, one baritone and all the rest altos of one kind or another. The orchestral texture, more often than usual, consists of just a violin line and continuo: the occasional more fully-scored aria, like Emilius's in Act I with its rich semi-contrapuntal string writing, or Rosmira's brilliant hunting aria with oboes and horns to end the act, accordingly makes a striking effect—and none more so than Arsaces's G minor lament, with muted violins, moaning flutes, theorbo and pizzicato basses, near the end of the opera. There are several ensemble numbers, including a trio and a quartet, but as the characters rarely sing simultaneously this does not make a geat deal of difference.

In Adnseto I questioned the wisdom of using so small an orchestra. Here the orchestra is much the same size, but it is about right since the music is so much less heroic in temper. It would perhaps be cynical to suggest that Handel, now he had to pay the bills himself, wrote music that worked well with fewer players; but with Partenope it could be not far from the truth. The group here p1a(s superbly: there is a dash and a sparkle to the string playing that makes the rapid passage work a real joy to listen to; the bass is firm and shapely; the wind playing is on the whole very well tuned; and the continuo playing provides sensible and unobtrusive support. Above all, the direction has the kind of rhythmic breadth and sense of purpose that I had despaired of meeting in an 'authentic' performance. Too often Handel's stature is diminished, the grandeur of his designs whittled down, by short-breathed and finicky phrasing. Here, in authentic timbres, Handel emerges as the giant he always did under the Woods and the Sargents, but without any over-inflation. This is greatly to the credit of the musicianship of Sigiswald Kuijken and his players. His orchestra has strings numbering 5.5.2.3.2, with four oboes and two bassoons, and pairs of flutes and horns and a trumpet as needed.

As for the singing, there are two names new to me of which I shall hope to hear very much more. One is the Parthenope, Krisztina Laki, a fluent and agile soprano with a happy glitter to her voice. She copes comfortably with the difficult divisions, and brings a suitably light expressive touch to the slower arias; altogether an accomplished and promising performance and an intelligent interpretation. Even more striking, perhaps, is the Rosmira of Helga Muller Molinari—plumb in her intonation (more so than anyone else in the cast), and capable of infusing her passage work with genuine vigour and passion. The angry C minor aria in the Second Act is magnificent, a real musical explosion of wrath; but the love music too is finely done. The timbre itself is not extraordinary, but the voice is perfectly focused and controlled. With the Arsaces (and this is the biggest part, composed for the famous castrato Bernacchi) I am less happy; as in Admeto, René Jacobs swoops and swoons too much, in a mannered way, and is not dependable over pitch. John York Skinner gives a capable account of the role of Armindus, Parthenope's ultimately successful lover, best in the direct style of his Act III aria than in the more expressive earlier ones. Martyn Hill as Emilius is firm and clear in the tenor arias, and accurate and expressive too; and Stephen Varcoe does his single aria in a pleasantly clean and light manner, without any booming or ranting.

Handelians may object, with some justification, that there is insufficient ornamentation in this set. That is true. Here and there a cadence crying for a trill is . . . well, left crying; and even the da caps sections of the arias are mostly sung without elaboration, which we know is contrary to Handel's expectation. Still, it is far better to do nothing than to do something wrongly or tastelessly, and that is particularly true in recordings, where one does not want to hear the same piece of bad decoration every time. Jacobs decorates a little, and some of the others do, too, very modestly. I wish a little more effort had been made over achieving a performing style a little more accurate and historical in this respect. On the other hand, I have nothing but praise for the execution of the recitatives, which (given in a form more complete than in the Handel-Gesellschaft score) move along quickly and conversationally, with the cadences correctly elided, while losing nothing of their dramatic force or their meaning from these excellent, and obviously well coached, singers. Altogether this set can be warmly recommended to lovers of Handel operas—and indeed to others too, who might find themselves drawn to become lovers of these masterpieces.

-- S.S., Gramophone [12/1979] Reviewing original LP

This third double CD set completes Gilbert Rowland's survey of these Handel's groundbreaking solo keyboard music, works that began to free the form from the formal constraints of Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue. Forty-plus years of recitals, appearances at major festivals in several countries, together with regular broadcasts, have helped to establish Gilbert Rowland's reputation as one of Britain's leading harpsichordists. The standard of playing is very high indeed... a most enjoyable recording. (The Consort on Vol.1)

Beyond its musical riches, this medley of 1950s BBC radio broadcasts (from the Richard Itter Collection) opens a portal on England’s post-war Handelian revival. It is no accident that all these performances involve Thurston Dart, as harpsichordist, conductor or musicologist. His energy inspired a generation of musicians to explore neglected works by Handel and a host of other baroque composers, in a lithe chamber style more appropriate to their work than the heavyweight, orchestral grandeur favoured by previous generations. The efforts of Dart and other performers featured here paved the way for those more radical, ‘historically informed’ performance practices, which swept all before them in later decades.

London, February 1719: the birth of the Royal Academy of Music. George Frideric Handel was appointed musical director. German-born Handel, having spent four years in Italy, wanted to make London the new capital of opera. The only language to be sung on the stage of the King’s Theatre was to be Italian, and two other composers, Attilio Ariosti and Giovanni Battista Bononcini, were imported from the Italian peninsula. Both men were string players and contributed a new instrumental sweep to the company. Public enthusiasm reached considerable heights: thirty-four operas- more than 460 performances in all- were given at the Royal Academy over a period of nine years. Handel premiered his masterpieces Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Ottone and Radamisto. Ariosti and Bononcini also enjoyed great success between 1720 and 1723, notably with Coriolano (Ariosti) from which the sublime aria ‘Sagri numi’ is taken. ‘Royal Handel’ is a musical portrait of the first Royal Academy of Music. Eva Zaicik and her partners in Le Consort celebrate the prodigious variety of the Handelian genius and introduce us to previously unrecorded arias by Ariosti and Bononcini: ‘We are captivated by the ghostly sonorities of ‘Stille amare,’ the engulfing fury of “Agitato da fiere tempeste,” the virtuosity of ‘Gelosia, spietata Aletto,’ the swirling excitement of ‘L’aure che spira,’ the ascetic counterpoint of ‘Ombra cara’ and the poignancy of ‘Deggio morire’.’

Jean-Claude Malgoire conducts his Parisian ensemble, La Grande Ecurie et La Chambre du Roy, in a complete 1979 recording of Handel’s delightful comic opera Serse, best known for its universally familiar opening aria “Ombra mai fu”. The distinguished cast includes Carolyn Watkinson, Paul Esswood and Barbara Hendricks.

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REVIEW:

This is one of the milestone recordings in the history of Handel opera. At the time few of the canon had been recorded, and still fewer in historically-informed practice, as here. Nearly forty years later the recorded sound remains clear and crisp.

Malgoire’s cast is distinguished and creditable, led by Carolyn Watkinson’s assured Serse. Generally she is radiant, but sometimes she is steely, though that means her whizzing cadenzas are well controlled. There is a slightly brittle wobble in Paul Esswood’s singing as Serse’s brother Arsamene, and there are times when he projects more confidently, though there is haunting forlornness in Act One’s ‘Non so se sia la speme’ and his coloratura is accomplished too. Ortrun Wenkel’s Amastre is sometimes foursquare, but elsewhere there is greater colour in her realisation. More distinguished are Barbara Hendricks’s pure-toned Romilda (sounding almost like a treble in some instances) and Anne-Marie Rodde’s coquettish Atalanta. The Ariodate of Ulrik Cold is languid, but Ulrich Studer as the comic servant Elviro is characterful.

– ClassicalSource.com

These keyboard pieces are just so agreeably written, the notes falling so easily under the fingers, the lines flowing so naturally, the melodies and harmonies so, well, Handelian, who wouldn’t love to play them–or hear them? And because of this it doesn’t seem to matter which competent pianist (and the piano is really the way to go here) does the honors–however, Philip Edward Fisher is an especially accomplished interpreter and more than able advocate for pieces that inexplicably don’t get the respect they deserve.

For some reason it’s been five years since the release of Fisher’s Volume 1 traversal of the first four of the eight suites known as “the eight great”, which colleague Jed Distler described as “an absorbing listen” and “provocative” and “inspired”. The same descriptors hold true here, driven by Fisher’s straightforward, discreetly ornamented, and clearly articulated interpretations of some of Handel’s most ingratiating and memorable keyboard inventions–including the famous E major suite No. 5 that concludes with a remarkable variations movement known today (but never titled by Handel) as “The Harmonious Blacksmith” (do yourself a favor and listen to the Swingle Singers’ faithful and very exciting version).

My long-time favorite recording of Handel keyboard suites–a selection that includes several of the “eight great” pieces–features Keith Jarrett (ECM) in somewhat more sharply articulated interpretations in a dryer, more close-up acoustic. I’m still a fan of those–Jarrett is a cool, capable master of the clear, simple, unadorned expression that defines one approach to these pieces, but Fisher employs just that slight bit of lyricism–more legato in this movement, a tiny bit of rubato there, a dynamic swell or fade in this or that phrase–that transforms these works from clever inventions to more deeply involving, affective performance pieces.

Fisher gives us big drama in movements such as the Prélude and Largo of the F-sharp minor Suite, makes it impossible not to join the dance in the concluding Gigue of the F minor, and makes us want to linger even longer over the gentle, mellifluous, caressing melodies and ingratiating harmonies of the Allemandes from the E major and F minor Suites. It all adds up to an hour of easy, happy listening–whether your interest is foreground or background. And the sound, from Symphony Hall in Birmingham, UK, gives Fisher’s Steinway plenty of space while allowing the listener to hear every detail. Strongly recommended.

-- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

George Frederic Handel's music has thrilled a wide audience for over 300 years. Today it is more popular than ever and you can find it almost everywhere: on opera stages, in churches and concerts, even on the TV broadcasts of the Football Champions League. Handel was celebrated throughout Europe during his lifetime, in Hamburg as well as in Italy - they called him "dear Saxony" (il caro Sassone) - and of course in England, his main place of work. For the Pfeiffer Trumpet Consort, which has dealt with Handel's work since it's foundation, it was only natural to design his fifth album on Cantate in the year of his 250th death exclusively with works by Baroque's most important composer besides Bach. In numerous works, the trumpets set the triumphal highlights, reason enough for the ensemble to make their own arrangements in the greatest possible variety. In addition to the main work - the "Fireworks Music" - a small insight into Handel's extensive oeuvre should be granted, for example with excerpts from the oratorio "Saul", the world-famous aria "Lascia ch'�o pianga" to the "Collection of Original Marches", a probably unique compilation of small cabinet pieces from Handel's operas, oratorios and instrumental music. - The Pfeiffer Trumpet Consort was founded by the brothers Joachim, Harald and Martin Pfeiffer together with the organist Peter Schumann at the Heiliggeistkirche in Heidelberg, initially with four trumpets. Mathias M�ller, the timpanist, soon joined. When it comes to it's own arrangements, the Pfeiffer Trumpet Consort is particularly keen to combine the possibilities of today's instruments and baroque playing practice. The ensemble continues to appeal to a wide audience of audiences with great enthusiasm.

Gems of baroque music spirit and virtuosity, Handel’s concertos for organ and orchestra were composed to serve as intermezzos during his oratorios. Played at the time by Handel himself – he was known to be an unequaled organist, these agile, tender and poetical pieces reveal a singular color… which Gaétan Jarry will interpret on the new “grand” positive organ built by Quentin Blumenroeder for Versailles: at last an organ that can convey Handel’s music in all its beauty! Responding to the instrumental jubilation expressed by the Marguerite Louise musicians, Handel’s motets for one voice and orchestra will bring the audience the fire and freshness of his composition, in the exceptional interpretation of the soprano Chiara Skerath, a fine finale for this program full of jubilation and grace.

Conductor Ferdinand Leitner (1912-96), learning his trade from masters like Walter, Busch, Richter and Karl Muck (as rehearsal pianist at Bayreuth), gained the experience that lead to his being dubbed the "singers' conductor" by all who worked with him during a long and lustrous career marked by his tenure as Zurich Opera music director (1969-84) and some 300 commercial recordings. The 1970's-80's Bayreuth stalwart, bass-baritone Franz Mazura as Tamerlano and famed American lyric soprano Helen Donath as Asteria headline this 1966 Leitner-led performance of Handel's Tamerlano.

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Classical Music

Handel composed Hercules for his 1744-45 oratorio season as the secular foil to one of his most ambitious sacred dramas, Belshazzar, hoping to repeat the success of the previous season' Samson/Semele pairing.

HANDEL Suites, HWV 426–429 • Philip Edward Fisher (pn) • NAXOS 8.572197 (61:55 )


Handel’s keyboard suites—though still not as established in the repertoire of the average pianist as Bach’s are—are steadily gaining popularity with many performers. Just last issue (in Fanfare 33:6), I had the pleasure of reviewing two new recordings of some of this repertoire. Here, we have Volume 1 of what looks like a complete recording of the so-called “Eight Great Suites.”


Philip Edward Fisher certainly has the mechanical capabilities to play this music in a convincing manner, as the virtuosic opening preludes to both the first and third suites, in A Major and D Minor, respectively, can attest. His free way with them pays dividends, as it feeds off the very nature of their origins—improvisation. Fisher does have one eccentricity to his playing in terms of this freedom, though, one that if he did not overuse might be more convincing. He enjoys starting many movements slowly, then accelerating into the full tempo in the second measure of the movement. This most notably occurs, to my ears, in the Gigue to the A-Major Suite, not only the first time, at the onset of the piece, but all four times, as he plays every single repeat of this movement! How this is supposed to be dance-like, I’m not sure. Fisher’s tone, in addition, tends to have a bit more weight than does Gould’s or Perahia’s. He has a keen sense of voicing and tonal shading, as well as tempi which tend to be moderate, except occasionally. The Air to the D-Minor Suite, which he, along with many others, plays just too slowly for me, is an example. For a better overall approach, I prefer Perahia, who is able to lend unity to this movement through the slow accelerando from the onset of the piece—one that continues through all of the variations, bringing a beautiful sense of momentum. Fisher’s E-Minor Suite comes off the best, as he plays it in the most unaffected way: a light and bouncy, virtuosic fugal Prélude, followed by a soft and flowing Allemande, an aggressive and assured Courante, a pensive Sarabande with little ornamentation and played at a gently lilting tempo, and a lively, quirky, and lightly ornamented Gigue. Fisher seems to let the music speak for itself here—something that many performers can do a little more of from time to time.


All in all, this is a very fine disc, to be warmly recommended, not only for its low price, but also for its often assured and inspired playing. In addition to this disc, I would highly recommend those performances by Murray Perahia (Sony 62785), Evgeny Koroliov (seemingly only available for download on Amazon and iTunes, or check out amazon.de for the actual disc), and Racha Arodaky (AIR 001-2009). Here’s hoping that Fisher will grace us not only with the complete “Eight Great Suites” of 1720 in the following volume(s), but all 16.


FANFARE: Scott Noriega


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The modern concert grand lends itself well to the idiomatic flair and delightful variety characterizing Handel's keyboard suites, yet surprisingly few pianists champion them on disc. Philip Edward Fisher is an exception, and his first volume in what promises to be a complete cycle adds up to an absorbing listen.

Naxos' close, dry pickup imparts an analytic, Glenn Gould-like clarity to Fisher's touch, although there's plenty of nuance and tonal shading. You hear this right away in the First suite's Prelude, and also in the Gigue, where Fisher states the main theme's first four repeated notes before accelerating into a faster basic tempo--an oddly convincing gesture.

In contrast to Sviatoslav Richter's straightforwardly plain dispatch of the Second suite's Fugue and Presto movements, Fisher generates more textural variety by elongating accented notes and pressing slightly ahead in sequential passagework. And listeners familiar with the E minor suite's Courante as a courtly allegretto by way of Keith Jarrett or Ragna Schirmer will be surprised by Fisher's relatively subjective deliberation. How the remainder of this cycle will fare next to Schirmer's more warmly engineered traversal of all 16 suites remains to be seen, but so far Fisher and Handel appear to be a provocative and often inspired match.

--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com

Brilliant Classics proudly presents 5 more titles in the exciting 5-album sets series: QUINTESSENCE, attractively priced compact box sets containing essential core classical repertoire in outstanding performances. Aimed at attracting both the discerning classical connoisseur and the classical newcomer it presents the pillars of classical music: Dvorák Complete Piano Music, Tchaikovsky Complete Ballets, J.S. Bach Famous Concertos, Handel Complete Organ Concertos and Locatelli Complete Violin Concertos. World class performers include Inna Poroshina, Igor Ruhadze, Christian Schmitt, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Pieter-Jan Belder, Musica Amphion, Erik Bosgraaf, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and others. The fresh and colorful artwork is eye-catching while the booklet contains liner notes in English. A great series at an unbeatable price! The present release features Christian Schmitt and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra performing Handel’s complete organ concertos.

2 CDs plus 1 DVD

Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire celebrate the holiday season with a unique release of Handel’s Messiah: a three-disc set presenting a dramatic approach that explores the work as the theatrical entertainment Handel intended—an oratorio being a dramatic work, and Handel’s bold declaration that Messiah was “A Sacred Oratorio.” The DVD includes footage from rehearsals, concerts, and recording sessions as well as interviews with soloists, principal players, and Sorrell.

“The Messiah we’ve been waiting for.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“A blend of scholarship and visceral intensity.” — Gramophone

The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin and its chief conductor Justin Doyle present Handel’s Messiah, together with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and an all-British quartet of outstanding soloists, consisting of Julia Doyle (soprano), Tim Mead (countertenor), Thomas Hobbs (tenor) and Roderick Williams (bass). Messiah is not only Handel’s most famous work, but equally one of the cornerstones of British choral culture. Soon after the work’s premiere, a tradition of mass performances full of pomp and circumstance took root, with the Hallelujah as a showstopper. This new period-instruments recording, however, aims to bring the piece back to the size and intimacy of the 1742 premiere in Dublin. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin has a substantial PENTATONE discography, including Handel’s Concerti grossi Op. 6 and Op. 3, (released in 2019 and 2020), Telemann’s opera Miriways (2019) and CANTATA with Bejun Mehta (2018). The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, Justin Doyle, Julia Doyle, Tim Mead, Thomas Hobbs and Roderick Williams all make their PENTATONE debut.

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REVIEW:

The list of solid performances of Handel's Messiah, HWV 56, from outside Britain is growing longer, and this one, released in 2020 just in time for sacred music season, is a case in point. All four soloists and the conductor are indeed anglophones, and they offer much to enjoy. Veteran baritone Roderick Williams is in fine voice, and the silvery soprano of Julia Doyle has a classic Handelian sound with a nice bloom at the top, but Messiah succeeds or fails on its chorus, and the work of the RIAS Kammerchor is as impressive as that of the soloists. The historical instruments of the Akademie für alte Musik Berlin add sharpness in the trumpets and drums. Listeners new to historical performance will find a satisfying and friendly instance of it here.

– AllMusic Guide (James Manheim)

What we know as ‘Handel’s Opus 3’ is most likely little more than a brazen attempt by the London publisher John Walsh to make some quick money. In 1715, Walsh had issued a pirated edition of Corelli’s 12 Concerti Grossi Opus 6 which proved an instant success and left him constantly looking for similar opportunities. Almost 20 years later, perhaps in the knowledge that the royal protection granted to Handel’s musical output was about to expire, Walsh assembled a set of six orchestral pieces for a wide range of instruments. He prefaced them with a wholly misleading title-page – based on Corelli’s style-defining collection – and advertised them as Handel’s ‘Opera Terza’. It is likely that Handel never took part in the selection and organization of the individual movements, although he may have been involved in the revisions made when a reprint was necessary a few years later. Selected from various sources, the six concertos certainly don’t form an organic cycle – in complete contrast to the future Op.?6 concerti grossi, which Handel carefully conceived as a set. The fact remains that Opus 3 contains some of Handel’s best-loved music, in instrumental combinations that are colorful and often unexpected – aspects that Martin Gester and his musicians in the Tasmanian period band Van Diemen’s Band make the most of.

REVIEW:

Handel's op. 3 collection is a test for any group: staying true to the letter & spirit of the score, while keeping the music sounding fresh and alive. Martin Gester and his Tasmanian group Van Diemen's Band have done exactly that, in this wonderful new album from BIS. There's plenty of fire burning here, but it's within the context of impressive musical discipline and lightly-worn Historically Informed Performance scholarship. BIS provides the kind of direct and transparent sound that allows Early Instruments to flourish. This is a highly recommended release!

-- Music for Several Instruments

Experience the transcendent glory of Messiah in Sir Andrew Davis’s majestic, must-hear edition of Handel’s beloved classic. Recorded live on SACD, this unique version makes use of all the colours available from the modern symphony orchestra to underline the mood and meaning of the individual movements. Without detracting from the innate power of the original, the conductor’s score calls for moments of drama, pathos, and even, sometimes, whimsicality. It is supported by substantial brass and woodwind forces, and several percussion instruments (including marimba!).

REVIEW:

The performance is lightly cut, mainly toward the ends of Parts II and III, and both da capo arias (‘He was despised’ and ‘The trumpet shall sound’) have only the A section. Most of the ornamentation, including simple appoggiaturas, is omitted, as well as most occasions for what I call justified rhythms, where, say, upbeat eighth notes are taken as sixteenths to match other parts. Where choices are available, the common ones prevail, as in the 4/4 ‘Rejoice’ and the duet version of ‘He shall feed his flock’.

Tempos are crisp and modern, and the performers are all very good. The four soloists (with mezzo, not countertenor) are first rate; and the choir, which must number around 150, sings with the agility of much smaller groups. This is a “big” Messiah with none of the problems we normally associate with such endeavors. I guess we could call it “historically informed” because tempos are brisk and the spirit is not at all romantic. It also struck me as a gentle repudiation of Musicological Correctness—and that is no doubt a good thing. I dare say that if you had a contest lining up all the approaches to Messiah and had a review panel consisting of people with no musicological prejudices, this would be the winner.

-- American Record Guide

Handel’s Almira with the BEMF. The Boston Early Music Festival has recorded George Frideric Handel’s very first opera, Almira, Queen of Castile, with a superlatively sumptuous ensemble. For its previous recordings of Baroque operas this successful ensemble has won prizes such as the Grammy, the German Record Critics Annual Prize, and the Echo Klassik. The Hungarian soprano Emoke Baráth sings the role of Almira with a choice ensemble of singers, all of whom have performed in the world’s most renowned concert halls and opera houses. Handel’s Almira is based on a freely invented plot featuring fine entertainment in the form of love and marriage schemes among the nobility, infidelity and mistaken identities, and a happy ending brought about by a court servant’s negotiations. This work was presented at the Hamburg Opera House in 1705 about twenty times and with great success. At the time Reinhard Keiser was the director of the Hamburg Opera, and he merits great praise for giving the young Handel, who then was earning his livelihood as a second tutti violinist in the orchestra pit, to compose and present an opera under his supervision. Handel’s Almira would as a work not be imaginable apart from the special circumstances prevailing at the Hamburg Opera: various styles and various languages are mixed, and it includes German and Italian arias, vocal dance numbers and da capo pieces, as well as instrumental ballet inserts of larger format. The result is indeed a colorful mixture, and the melodic signature so typical of Handel is already omnipresent and creates a fascinating unity – now heard with a top-quality ensemble!

CHRISTMAS WITH WINCHESTER COLLEGE CHAPEL CHOIR

Sara Macliver, soprano
Winchester College Chapel Choir
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
William Lacey, conductor
Recorded live at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, 22-23 December 2004

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo / AC3 5.1 / DTS
Region code: 0 (all)
Booklet notes: English, German (sung text included)
Running time: 102 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

* This selection of music for Christmas brings together East and West in the collaboration of Winchester College Chapel Choir and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded live in Hong Kong in December 2004, this disc features a selection of perennial favourites from the Baroque period, including Bach cantatas and Handel’s Messiah, and three exquisite modern carols.

Chapter 1:
Arcangelo Corelli: Concerto Grosso, Op. 6 No. 8 ‘Christmas Concerto’

Chapter 2:
From Praetorius to Weir
Michael Praetorius: Come, thou Redeemer of the earth
Richard Rodney Bennett: Out of your sleep
John Tavener: The Lamb
Judith Weir: Illuminare, Jerusalem

Chapter 3:
O Come All Ye Faithful
Anonymous, arr. Willcocks: O come all ye faithful

Chapter 4:
Works by Johann Sebastian Bach
Sinfonia from Cantata, BWV 42
Kyrie from Mass in G, BWV 236
'Herr, der du stark and mächtig bist' from Cantata, BWV 10
'Jesus bleibet meine Freude' from Cantata, BWV 147

Chapter 5:
George Frideric Handel: Concerto Grosso in F, Op. 6 No. 2

Chapter 6:
G.F. Handel: Messiah (excerpts)

Chapter 7:
Joy to the World and The First Noel
Lowell Mason, arr. Rutter: Joy to the World
Anonymous: The First Noel

Famed for it's interpretations of some of Handel's most loved works, The Sixteen marks the start of it's 40th anniversary season by releasing it's first new Handel recording in five years. Handel's pastoral opera is a tale of love, tragedy and liberation. The libretto by John Gay, based on Ovid's Metamorphoses (book XIII), tells of the eternal love between the mortal shepherd Acis and goddess Galatea and how it is doomed by the jealous cyclops Polyphemus. Handel's music beautifully demonstrates the pain and love in such beautiful, dramatic choruses as 'Wretched lovers!' and the grief felt by Galatea in 'Must I my Acis still bemoan'. Staying true to the premiere in 1718, just five singers and nine instrumentalists feature on this intimate recording.