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30 September 2012

Mozart: Overtures



EAC | APE + CUE | Covers | 307 Mb

Date CD: May 15, 1989 | Naxos | 65:38






This 1988 Naxos recording is one of a Mozart series that Barry Wordsworth made with the Capella Istropolitana. And as with the symphonies, these overtures have a lot going for them. The playing is fresh and full of joie-de-vivre, the sound is (despite the echoey Concert Hall in Bratislava, Slovakia) perfectly acceptable. Particularly praiseworthy of course is the decision to record Mozart's early overtures and to put them in chronological order, thus giving a context to the better-known opera introductions, which are here recorded successfully and with great gusto. Perhaps this is not quite up to the standard of some of the leading period instrument ensembles (e.g. Tafelmusik on Sony), but for a budget CD it is a remarkably good effort. 

tracklist:

1 - Apollo Et Hyacinthus
2 - Bastien Und Bastienne
3 - Mitridate, Re Di Ponto: Allegro
4 - Mitridate, Re Di Ponto: Andante Grazioso
5 - Mitridate, Re Di Ponto: Presto
6 - Lucio Silla: Molto Allegro
7 - Lucio Silla: Andante
8 - Lucio Silla: Molto Allegro
9 - La Finta Giardiniera
10 - Il Re Pastore
11 - Idomeneo
12 - Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail
13 - Der Schauspieldirektor
14 - Marriage Of Figaro
15 - Don Giovanni
16 - Cosi Fan Tutte
17 - Magic Flute
18 - La Clemenza Di Tito

Capella Istropolitana
conductor: Barry Wordsworth


I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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29 September 2012

Johann Philipp Fortsch: Sacred Concertos


Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers | 373 Mb

Date CD: February 10, 2009 | CPO |79:03


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Johann Philipp Förtsch's career is associated with the founding of the opera in Hamburg.
He arrived in Hamburg some time around 1674, four years before duke Christian Albrecht von Schleswig-Holstein founded the opera. At first he served as a church musician (vocal soloist), but in the 1680s Förtsch (1652-1732) became more intimately involved with the opera, producing five librettos and the music for 12 other operas. They are not extant, alas; we have only their titles. The Roman and Greek subject matter of several of his operas like Xerxes in Abydus (1689) show Förtsch in tune with contemporary operatic tastes in Italy, but the overtly religious subject of Cain und Abel may come as a surprise. Perhaps it attests to the close connection in Lutheran Hamburg between opera and church composition. Indeed, composers often captured the character of operatic composition for the solo voice in their sacred concertos and oratorios. For this reason, Förtsch's sacred concertos, which are preserved, are important as examples of what his operas might have sounded like.
If this is a true reflection, Förtsch's operas were conservative works, at least by Italian standards. Most of his concertos are for one or two solo voices, strings, and continuo. He tends to place the emphasis on text through some rather syllabic text settings. Only his setting of Psalm 130 for solo voice, violin, and continuo impresses the listener with its use of coloratura. Heinrich Schütz, an older contemporary of Förtsch's, tends much more toward coloratura writing in his sacred concertos. On the other hand, the influence of Italian modernism is palpable in Förtsch's predilection for dissonant expression through the use of suspensions. I notice it especially in his setting of Psalm 13 for two sopranos and continuo. It is a lovely recording--an interesting comparison to the music of Schütz and Buxtehude.
American Record Guide, Peter Loewen, May/June 2009

tracklist:


Du Heiden Trost
Kommt, lasset uns gehen gen Bethlehem
Wer Jesum liebt
Herr, wie lange wiltu mein so gar vergessen
Die Wunder sind zu gross
Aus der Tiefe
Ihr Sunder, tretet bald herzu
Wohl dem, der nicht wandelt im Rat der Gottlosen
Mensch, was du tust

Capella Ducale, Musica Fiata
Roland Wilson


I'm resurrecting here some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real project behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the tide. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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28 September 2012

Monteverdi: Amori Di Marte


EAC | FLAC + CUE | Covers | 395 Mb

Date CD: 12 July 2011 | Alqhai & Alqhai | 65:27

Alqhai & Alqhai wrote me a mail and kindly asked me to remove the links to their works. That I did. 
But there's a chance you can listen to their astounding work at their site, so pay them a visit. Alqhai & Alqhai

In its new CD Accademia del Piacere sings with Monteverdi the victories of Venus against Mars: even the fierce Tancredi of the Combattimento couldn’t enjoy the victory, finally defeated by Cupid. Accademia del Piacere comes back so to the Italian Seicento, with Juan Sancho and Mariví Blasco, to show us its passionate vision of Monteverdi’s masterwork Il Combarttimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, with the most careful attention to the poems and an excellent edition with the wonderfull Fairfax’s translation of Tasso (1600).

tracklist:


1. C. Monteverdi – L’Orfeo: Toccata
2. C. Monteverdi – Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
3, C. Monteverdi – Il Ballo delle Ingrate: Entrata
4. C. Monteverdi – Lamento della Ninfa
5. C. Monteverdi – Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria: Sinfonia
6. B. Marini – Sonate Op. XXII: Passacalio
7. C. Monteverdi – Tempro la cetra
8. C. Monteverdi – Non vedrò mai le stelle
9. C. Monteverdi – Et è pur dunque vero
10. A. Bertali – Sonata a 6 violis

Accademia del Piacere


I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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27 September 2012

Vivaldi: Flute Concertos


Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers | 278 Mb

Date CD: Nov 11, 2011 | Classic Collection | 54:25
(reissue of a BIS record)


Swedish recorder player Dan Laurin has accomplished a great deal on behalf of the recorder which is viewed in many circles as merely the unworthy predecessor of the transverse flute and only appropriate for use in children's music appreciation classes and Renaissance bands. Laurin works closely with Australian instrument maker Frederick Morgan and it has resulted in a number of extinct recorders from times past rebuilt in a process nearly analogous to extracting dinosaur bones from fossilized bedrock. This has greatly expanded our knowledge of the capabilities of old recorders not known before. 


tracklist:

Concerto In C Minor, RV441
Concerto In C Major, RV444
Concerto In F Major, RV433 'La Tempesta Di Mare'
Concerto In C Major, RV443
Concerto In F Major, RV434
Concerto In G Minor, RV439, 'La Notte'

Dan Laurin: recorder
Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble

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I'm resurrecting here some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real project behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the tide. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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26 September 2012

Mozart: Overtures - Alessandrini



EAC | APE + CUE | Covers | 354 Mb

Date CD: August 25, 2009 | Naive | 66:37

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 Strictly speaking, the CD title “Mozart Overtures” is a misnomer, and rarely have I been so happy to discover a misleading label. One overture after another can make for fatiguing listening, no matter how indisputable the quality of the music and performances. The principal reason for them is to serve as a curtain raiser in a drama, although naturally Mozart elevated the form as he did for nearly everything he touched. There are only so many attention grabbers one’s ear can fully absorb in the space of an hour.

All of the concert favorites are here, but they are wisely and generously interspersed with overtures from lesser-known operas, and more important, 10 other brief instrumental movements from operas both famous and obscure. With rare exceptions, I’m not in the habit of listening to a succession of short movements with little or no relationship to each other (we have pop music for that), but this thoughtfully assembled and bracingly performed collection is hard to resist. 

tracklist:



La clemenza di Tito: Overture
Le nozze di Figaro: Sinfonia. Marcia
Die Zauberflöte: Overture
Marsch der Priester
Die Entführung aus dem Serail: Overture
Der Schauspieldirektor: Overture
Idomeneo: Overture; Marcia; Passepied; Pas seul de Monsieur Legrand; Largo
Mitridate: Overture (allegro); Overture (andante grazioso); Overture (presto); Marcia
Don Giovanni: Overture
Les petits riens: Overture
Bastien und Bastienne: Overture
Così fan tutte: Overture
La clemenza di Tito: Marcia

Norwegian National Opera Orchestra
Conductor:  Rinaldo Alessandrini



I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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25 September 2012

Sainte-Colombe: Concerts A Deux Violes Esgales


8 CD | Lossless | Covers | 2.05 GB
FLAC | Covers | ATMA | 2001/2004

A Deux Violes Esgales (Eng. 'Two Equal Bass Viols') is the name that an anonymous copyist gave to a 17th century manuscript of music for two bass viola da gambas by Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe found in Alfred Cortot's music library that was transferred to the Bibliothèque Nationale in the 1960s. The book contains music by Lully and 67 Concerts à Deux Violes Esgales.
Sainte-Colombe is a musical mystery: ‘Tous le matins du monde’ uses just a couple of real details to create a fictional account of a dour widower. As the liner notes tell us, he also was not Dautrecourt de Sainte-Colombe, a viole teacher of Lyon. He was most likely Jean de Sainte-Colombe, a middle-class independent musician and teacher from the Paris suburbs, and a Protestant too.
The works of contemporary French composers are usually for a single viole but viole duos are not without precedent – Lyra viol duos were popular in England in the seventeenth century and Schenck’s ‘Nymphs of the Rhine’ (coming soon) consists of suites for two violes without bass. However, these duos are unlike the Sainte-Colombe’s French-style character pieces in which mood and a conversational style take precedence over counterpoint and formality.
Les Voix humaines play these pieces superbly with great sympathy for the music. The Concerts are quite varied in emotion, not all portraying loss and regret in a way a less comprehensive survey of the 67 Concerts could suggest.

Les Voix Humaines


Susie Napper
(basse de viole à 6 cordes Barak Norman, Londres 1703)
Margaret Little
(basse de viole à 7 cordes Bernard Prunier, Paris 1982 d'après Colichon)

tracklist:

Vol. I
Filevelocity
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FileFactory
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CD 1 - - CD 2

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CD 1 - - CD 2

CD 1
Le Retrouvé
Le Changé
Le Tendre
L'incomparable
Le Badin
La Duchesse
Le Pleureux
La Conférence
Le Suppliant
CD 2
Les Couplet
Les Bonbon
L'emporté
Le Sérieux changeant
L'importun
L'emporté
(La) Pierrotine
Le Craintif
Le prompt
Les Bateries

Vol. II
Filevelocity
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FileFactory
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or
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CD 1
Le Long
Le Pensif
Le Villageois
L'escoutant
L'empressé
Le Gavot
(La) Caligie
Le Page
CD 2
(La) Bourrasque
Le Passant
L'eslevé
Le Trembleur
Le Gigant
L'eslevé changé
L'esveille
L'imité
Le Coupé

Vol. III
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CD 1
L'attentif
L'heureux
Le Meslé
Le Resjoui
Les Récits
Le Retour
Dalain
Le Bref
CD 2
Tombeau les Regrets
Le Cor
L'estonné
Le Pianel
Le Raporté
La Vignon
Le Brun

Vol. IV
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CD 1
Rougeville
L'estourdy
L'aureille
La Dubois
Le Résolu
Le Volontaire
CD 2
Les menuets
Les Roulades
Gigue en bourrasque
Le précipité
Le majestueux
Le varié
La boutade
Le constant
Le Réglé
L'égal
L'infidelle
Le figuré

I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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Marianna Martines - Il primo amore


EAC | FLAC + CUE | Covers | 353 Mb
Date CD: March 05, 2012 | Harmonia Mundi | 64:54


Marianna Martines, one of the most celebrated Viennese performers and composers of her day, died 200 years ago, an anniversary that offers an opportunity to reassess her output of cantatas, concertos, sonatas and concert arias. Four pieces here are recorded for the first time and reveal a talent firmly rooted in the style of her contemporaries Mozart and Haydn but imbued with a refreshingly feminine vivacity. The cantata "Il primo amore" and aria "Berenice, ah che fai?" are brought to life by the gloriously sweet-toned soprano Nuria Rial, while the formidable Nicoleta Paraschivescu directs the lithe players of La Floridiana from the keyboard in the spritely Overture in C and Concerto for harpsichord in E major.

tracklist:


Ouverture in C (1770) for wind instruments,
strings and basso continuo*
Cantata Il primo amore (1778) for soprano,
wind instruments, strings and basso continuo*
Concerto per Cembalo in E major (1766) for harpsichord solo,
wind instruments and strings*
Sonata per Cembalo in A major
Berenice, ah che fai?
(from Scelta d`Arie composte per suo diletto da Marianna Martines)*

*world premiere recording



Nuria Rial (soprano)
La Floridiana
Nicoleta Paraschivescu (conductor)


I'm resurrecting here some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real project behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the tide. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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Rachel Barton Pine - Solo Baroque


Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers | 361 Mb
Date CD: September 28, 2004 | Cedille Records | 73:00

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"A most accomplished Baroque violinist, fully the equal of the foremost specialists. Her fine tone is capable of sounding expressive without reliance on vibrato… The playing is remarkably clean, pure and stylish; I particularly admired her chord playing in the Westhoff, a densely polyphonic piece that's made to sound entirely poised and natural… Throughout the recital she demonstrates an acute rhythmic sense, allowing flexibility while retaining the character of all the dance movements. And there's a highly developed feeling for musical form; the confident way she leads us through to the climactic moments of the two long variation pieces (Biber and the Bach Chaconne) makes for unusually satisfying performances."
Gramophone

tracklist:


Bach: Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001
Westhoff: Suite II
Biber: Passacaglia
Pisendel: Sonata
Bach: Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004


Rachel Barton Pine, Nicola Gagliano violin [1770]


I'm resurrecting here some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real project behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the tide. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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24 September 2012

Anna Netrebko: Souvenirs



EAC | FLAC + CUE | Covers | 309 Mb
Date CD: November 11, 2008 | DG | 62:59


tracklist:

On her fourth solo album for Deutsche Grammophon, Anna Netrebko gives full rein to her lively sense of fun, glamour and joie de vivre. In the tradition of such opera luminaries as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Joan Sutherland and Plácido Domingo, all of whom produced acclaimed recitals of lighter music, Anna has put together this sparkling compilation of operetta classics, seductive salon songs and other charming melodies. Souvenirs is also the singer's most intimate recording yet, for - as the title suggests - each of the tracks holds a cherished place in Anna's heart, and many of them come with a special memory.

tracklist:

Emmerich Kálmán (1882 - 1953) - The Gypsy Princess (Die Csárdásfürstin)
Act 1 - Lied: "Heia, heia, in den Bergen ist mein Heimatland"

Richard Heuberger (1850 - 1914) - Der Opernball
Im chambre séparée

Franz Lehár (1870 - 1948) - Giuditta
Act 4 - Meine Lippen, die küssen so heiss


Gustave Charpentier (1860 - 1956) - Louise
Act 3 - "Depuis le jour"

Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880) - Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Act 2 - Barcarolle

Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) - Vier Lieder, Op.27
Cäcilie

Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) - Peer Gynt, Op.23
Solveig's song

André Messager (1853 - 1929) - Fortunio
L'orsque j'etais enfant

Antonín Dvorák (1841 - 1904) - Ciganské melodie (Gypsy Melodies), Op.55
Kdyz mne stara matka (instr. by Jiri Teml)

Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949) - Fünf Lieder, Op.41
Wiegenlied

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908)
'T was Not the Wind, Op.43, No.2 - orchestrated by Andreas N. Tarkmann
Captivated by the Rose (The Nightingale), Op.2, No.2

Anonymous - Schlof sche, mein Vögele (orchestrated by Friedrich Meyer)

Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948 - ) - Requiem
Pie Jesu

Reynaldo Hahn (1874 - 1947) - L'enamourée - orchestrated by Andreas N. Tarkmann

Carlos Antonio Guastavino (1912 - ) - La rosa y el sauce

Jerónimo Giménez (1854 - 1923) - La Tempranica
Tiempo de zapateado "La tarántula e un bicho"

Luigi Arditi (1822 - 1903) - Il Bacio


Anna Netrebko
Piotr Beczala
Elina Garanca
Andrew Swait

Prague Philharmonia
Emmanuel Villaume

Prague Philharmonic Choir
Lukas Vasilek


I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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19 September 2012

Mozart: Compositions for Organ K.594...



EAC | APE + CUE | Covers | 275 Mb
October 23, 1997 | Ent. Media Partners | 59:07


tracklist:


Compositions for organ K.594
German Dances Nos.1-12 K.286
A Musical Joke in F K.522



I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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17 September 2012

Handel: Operatic Arias - Emma Bell



Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers | 251 Mb
Date CD: 1 Jan 2005 | Linn Records | 51:13

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 It is tempting to go down the "star is born" path with Emma Bell. Her taking over the title role in Handel's Rodelinda at five hours' notice for Glyndebourne on Tour in 1998 while still a student at the London Opera Centre was a really lucky break, but the fact that she sang so well that she was given performances in her own right at the Festival the following year confirms that her success was based on more than just luck - it was the combination of serious hard work and great talent.

And of course it was also based on her voice. Her soprano, so bright and vibrant at the top, so warmly coloured and expressive lower down, is phenomenal, and so is her range. Her London debut early in 2005 was as Vitellia in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito at the Coliseum, and the role goes down to bottom G and up to top D. She managed it all without turning a hair, not quite the right expression in that she played the role with what looked like a crew cut, and her acting drew as much praise as her singing. No doubt a three-year contract at the Komische Oper in Berlin, where as much emphasis is placed on dramatic as on vocal values, has helped her hone her skills as an actress.

Coinciding with the release of this disc she made her Covent Garden debut as Leonora in Nielsen's Maskarade, and her career is now in full swing. Known mostly in the UK for her Handel and her Mozart, she has sung a wider repertory abroad - Mimì and Micaela in Berlin, and Britten's Miss Jessel in Geneva. The most exciting news is that she is to sing Verdi's Violetta for the first time in 2006, for ENO, and before that Agathe in Der Freischütz in Berlin. Her horizons are ever-expanding.

But since her earlier successes were in Handel - Tigrane in Radamisto and Almirena in Rinaldo as well as that unforgettable Rodelinda - it is nice that her first operatic recital disc should be devoted to that composer. The well-chosen extracts sample the whole of Handel's London operatic career, from his first (Rinaldo, 1711) to his last (Deidamia, 1741), and demonstrate his (and the singer's) wide range of moods, from defiance to resignation, from love to the wilder shores of hatred. It is especially nice that the disc includes Rodelinda's "Se'l mio duol", since Bell's delivery of that heart-piercing aria remains the most vivid memory of those wonderful evenings at Glyndebourne.

AMADIGI (1715)

Amadigi was last in the group of five early operas that Handel composed for London before the great period following the foundation of the Royal Academy of Music in 1720. It seems plain that Handel was seeking to repeat the success of the first, Rinaldo: here too we have a lovesick sorceress, Melissa, laying amorous siege to a hero, Amadigi, who loves Princess Oriana. And Amadigi was a success, not least because of its visual spectacle: it was revived twice, and was also staged in Hamburg. Following two acts of intricate amorous intrigue, Amadigi persists in rejecting Melissa and Oriana spiritedly defies the sorceress: Melissa closes the second act - as did Armida in Rinaldo - with an aria of fury, her rage enhanced by the trumpet obbligato and barely tempered by the more contemplative middle section.

DEIDAMIA (1741)

Deidamia was Handel's last opera, given at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln's Inn Fields and a failure: there were only three performances. It was, maybe, ahead of its time rather than out of date in a period when public enthusiasm for opera seria was on the wane. The tone of the libretto is ironic, cynical even, adroitly mixing the comic and the serious in near-Mozartian manner. The hero Achilles is in hiding on the island of Skyros, in disguise as the nymph Pyrrha, because prophecies have foretold both that he will die in Troy, and that the Greeks will not succeed without him. The king's daughter Deidamia has seen through his female disguise, and they are in love. The wily Ulysses comes to Skyros to find Achilles and pays court to both Deidamia and "Pyrrha", whose skill at the hunt and unfeminine interest in weapons of war betrays his identity. Lightly-treated gender confusion is indeed one of the opera's main attractions. In the finale Achilles leaves for Troy and Deidamia is heartbroken. In her third-act aria she berates Ulysses, whose courtship she took seriously, for having ruined her life; at this late stage Handel was adapting da capo form, and instead of ABA we have ABAB, largo followed by allegro with both repeated and decorated. Deidamia's reference to an "unfaithful heart" is indeed ironic: Ulysses's wife was the constant Penelope.

GIULIO CESARE (1724)

Giulio Cesare in Egitto, to give it its full title, was one of Handel's greatest successes, much revived in his lifetime, performed in Germany and France as well as London, and still the most popular of his operas world-wide today. One reason is the character of Cleopatra, whose "infinite variety" - she has eight arias - is conjured up in music utterly worthy of Shakespeare. She starts as a skittish teenager, matures as a skilled seductress, turns into a skilled politician, takes adversity in her stride, and ends in triumph as the second-most powerful ruler in the Mediterranean world. In the third-act "Piangerò", one of Handel's most heart-stoppingly beautiful arias, her fortunes are at their lowest ebb: defeated in battle and imprisoned by her devious brother Ptolemy, she faces death with stoicism, but the fast middle section reminds us of the spirited young woman we met earlier on.

LOTARIO (1729)

Lotario was the first opera of the so-called second Academy period; the original Academy had broken up, and Handel had to assemble an entirely new roster of singers for the venture, including Strada, who sang Adelaide. It was a fair success but never revived, and Handel cannibalised the score for later works. For the plot he returned to early Italian history, already treated in Ottone and Flavio. The action is impenetrably convoluted even by the standards of opera seria. Adelaide, widowed Queen of Pavia, is besieged both physically and amorously by the family of Berengario, the rival King of Milan, and finally rescued by Lotario, King of Germany (in fact Otto, renamed to avoid confusion with the earlier opera). By the end of the first act Adelaide has been imprisoned by Berengario, and responds with a textbook "simile aria": whatever threatens her, she will never give in.

RODELINDA (1725)

Just as it is hard to find a bad opera amongst the 36 Handel wrote (Silla, perhaps, though it may never have been performed, at least not in public), so is it impossible to decide which is the best, but Rodelinda is definitely amongst the top half-dozen, one of a group of astonishing masterpieces from the first Academy period. As a hymn to conjugal love it ranks with Beethoven's Fidelio, and the protagonist is one of opera's great heroines. The plot is drawn from Italian history. Rodelinda's husband, Bertarido King of Lombardy, has been deposed and has fled abroad, putting it about that he is dead. For most of the first act Rodelinda believes this to be true, but rejects the advances of the usurper Grimoaldo. She sings "Ombre piante" by a memorial to her supposedly deceased spouse. But Bertarido returns, and the bliss of their reunion is shattered by his imprisonment. In a dungeon scene foreshadowing Fidelio Rodelinda finds bloodstained garments, and assumes that her rescue attempt has failed and ended in Bertarido's death. The effect of her heartrending lament "Se'l mio duol" is sharpened by the audience's knowledge that she is mistaken and that the Happy End is in sight.

SCIPIONE (1726)

Scipione was written in great haste to open the season following Rodelinda; the planned new opera, Alessandro, had to be postponed pending the arrival of the new prima donna, Faustina. Closely based on history as retold by Livy, it tells of the Roman general Scipio's conquest of the Spanish port of Cartagena and his love for the captive Princess Berenice. But she, less historically, loves Lucejo, and so impressed is Scipio by her constancy that he surrenders her. The evident haste shows in an uneven score, but Berenice's gentle arioso "Tutta raccolta ancor", sung in prison while awaiting a fraught interview with Scipio, shows Handel at his simplest, his most eloquent and indeed his greatest.

ARIODANTE (1735)

Ariodante was the first opera Handel wrote for John Rich's new and well-appointed Covent Garden Theatre: his old stamping ground, the King's, had been taken over by the rival Opera of the Nobility, to whom many of his singers defected. But he soon recruited a new team, and incorporated Marie Sallé's dance troupe into one of his richest scores. Ariodante, too, has to be in Handel's top ten, if not half-dozen. The plot, taken from Ariosto's Orlando furioso, is lucid and well worked-out. In the opening scene Ginevra, daughter of the King of Scotland, dismisses the rashly ardent Duke Polinesso with extreme, not to say insulting haughtiness (Tesifone was a notoriously ugly Fury), so much so that you feel she needs taking down a peg. Polinesso's revenge takes her down to the very depths of despair, falsely accused of fornication and disowned by her father. Not even the jauntiness of this aria deserves that.

RINALDO (1711)

Rinaldo was the first opera Handel wrote for London, and he was out to impress, re-using some of the best music from his Italian period and setting a libretto by Aaron Hill drawn from Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata that gave many opportunities for stage spectacle. It was a huge success, and much revived in the composer's lifetime. It also introduced Armida, the first of Handel's sorceress powerwomen and forerunner of Melissa, Medea and Alcina. Inevitably, this Syrian enchantress falls in love with her intended victim, the crusader knight Rinaldo, and in "Ah, crudel" prays that he take pity on her, with bassoon adding its own air of aching melancholy. The fast and furious middle section gives due warning of Rinaldo's fate should he remain obdurate.

RADAMISTO (1720)

1719 saw of the foundation of the Royal Academy of Music and the start of one of Handel's most fertile periods. Radamisto was the first of the operas he wrote for the company, and one of his most successful, frequently revived. The plot, based at some remove on Tacitus's Annals, is extremely complex, but revolves around events in Asia Minor in the 1st century AD. Tiridate, King of Armenia and a ruthless tyrant, persecutes Radamisto, Prince of Thrace, whose wife Zenobia Tiridate desires. Perhaps the most interesting character is Tiridate's wife Polinessa, who launches the opera with the sombre arioso "Sommi dei". Her heart grieves not least because of her husband's brutality and serial infidelities. A faithful wife, she sticks by him, at one point even saving him from assassination, but by the third act she has had enough, hurling "Barbaro, partirò" at him and leaving to help incite the rebellion of his own troops that will lead to his downfall. At curtain-fall they are none-too-convincingly reconciled, and return to rule Armenia as if nothing had happened.

Recorded on 8th to 10th September 2004 at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, UK


tracklist:

01. Desterò dall'empia Dite (Amadigi)
02. M’hai resa infelice (Deidamia)
03. Piangerò la sorte mia (Guilio Cesare)
04. Scherza in mar (Lotario)
05. Ombre piante (Rodelinda)
06. Se ’l mio duol (Rodelinda)
07. Tutta raccolta ancor (Scipione)
08. Orrida agli occhi miei (Ariodante)
09. Ah, crudel (Rinaldo)
10. Sommi Dei (Radamisto)
11. Barbaro partirò (Radamisto)


Soprano: Emma Bell
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Richard Eggar

I'm beginning here to resurrect some of the works that "disappeared" from Avax or were "abandoned" from the original uploaders. There's not a real thought behind it, I'm just cleaning up my HDs and following the wind. What I downloaded long ago is flowing back. All credits go to the first uploader. Enjoy...

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13 September 2012

Handel: 12 Solo Sonatas op.I


Easy CD-DA | FLAC tracks | Covers & booklet | 893 Mb
Date CD: May 12, 2009 | Harmonia Mundi | 146:54

CD1
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CD2
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Booklet

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With its varied scoring and its exploration of instrumental combinations sometimes reminiscent of the Brandenburg Concertos, this set of 12 sonatas has nothing of an opus 1 about it, whatever the title page says! On the contrary, it is the work of a mature Handel in full command of his compositional resources.

TRACKLIST:


CD 1

Flute Sonata in E Minor, HWV 359, Op. 1, No. 1
Recorder Sonata in G Minor, HWV 360, Op. 1, No. 2
Violin Sonata in A Major, HWV 361, Op. 1, No. 3
Recorder Sonata in A Minor, HWV 362, Op. 1, No. 4
Flute Sonata in G Major, HWV 363b, Op. 1, No. 5
Oboe Sonata in G Minor, HWV 364a, Op. 1, No. 6
Recorder Sonata in C Major, HWV 365, Op. 1, No. 7
Oboe Sonata in C Minor, HWV 366, Op. 1, No. 8

CD 2

Flute Sonata in B Minor, HWV 367b, Op. 1, No. 9
Violin Sonata in G Minor, HWV 368, Op. 1, No. 10
Recorder Sonata in F Major, HWV 369, Op. 1, No. 11
Violin Sonata in F Major, HWV 370, Op. 1, No. 12
Violin Sonata in A Major, HWV 372, Op. 1, No. 10 'Roger'
Oboe Sonata in F Major 'Hautb: Solo del Sr. Hendel'
Violin Sonata in E Major, HWV 373, Op. 1, No. 12 'Roger'

Academy of Ancient Music

Richard Egarr, harpsichord
Pavlo Beznosiuk, violin
Rachel Brown, flute & recorder,
Frank de Bruine, oboe



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