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Handel Edition Volume 1 - Alcina & Orlando / Christe, Les Arts Florissants
Release Date: 02/17/2008
Label: Warner Classics Catalog #: 69653 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Kathleen Kuhlmann, Renée Fleming, Laurent Naouri, Susan Graham, ...
Conductor: William Christie
Orchestra/Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants
Number of Discs: 6
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 6 Hours 0 Mins.
EAN: 0825646965328
Works on This Recording
1. Alcina, HWV 34 by George Frideric Handel
Performer: Kathleen Kuhlmann (Alto), Renée Fleming (Soprano), Laurent Naouri (Bass),
Susan Graham (Mezzo Soprano), Natalie Dessay (Soprano), Timothy Robinson (Tenor),
Juanita Lascarro (Soprano)
Conductor: William Christie
Orchestra/Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants
Period: Baroque
Written: 1735; London, England
Date of Recording: 06/1999
Venue: Live Palais Garnier, Paris Opéra, France
Length: 190 Minutes 57 Secs.
Language: Italian
2. Orlando, HWV 31 by George Frideric Handel
Performer: Patricia Bardon (Mezzo Soprano), Hilary Summers (Alto), Rosemary Joshua (Soprano),
Harry Van der Kamp (Bass), Rosa Mannion (Soprano)
Conductor: William Christie
Orchestra/Ensemble: Les Arts Florissants
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1733; London, England
Language: Italian
Notes and Editorial Reviews
“Christie is very much concerned with a smooth and generally rich texture and with delicacy of rhythmic shaping. His management of the recitative could hardly be bettered and moments of urgency or of other kinds of emotional stress are tellingly handled. Sometimes he favours a rather sustained style in the arias, making the textures seem airless and heavy, and the lines within them too smooth. However, to set against it there's his exceptional delicacy of timing, his careful but always natural-sounding moulding of cadences and other critical moments in the score. Not many Handel interpreters show this kind of regard for such matters and it's a delight to hear Handel's music so lovingly nurtured; it also helps the singers to convey meaning. The cast is very strong. The title-role is taken by a mezzo, Patricia Bardon, who draws a firm and often slender line, with that gleam in her tone that can so enliven the impact of a lowish mezzo – the famous Mad Scene is magnificent. The Sleep Scene, with very sweet, soft-toned playing of the violettemarine, is lovely. Hilary Summers offers a very sensitively sung Medoro, pure and shapely in line. Harry van der Kamp makes a finely weighty Zoroastro, with plenty of resonance in his lower register; the last aria in particular is done in rousing fashion. As Angelica, Rosemary Joshua's musicianship comes through in her attractive phrasing and timing. Rosa Mannion's Dorinda is no less full of delights, catching the character to perfection. Hogwood's lighter orchestral textures are appealing but the refinement of detail in the newer set is equally admirable.”
-- Gramophone Classical Music Guide Edition, 2010
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“‘Alcina is among the finest of Handels operas. The fine Erato set was recorded live at the Paris Opera. Christie too is masterly at avoiding any monotony in the long sequence of da capo arias, with the recitative superbly timed and reprises beautifully decorated. It is striking that the star singers here are not just brilliant in tackling elaborate passage-work and ornamentation, but are stylishly scrupulous in avoiding unwanted aspirates. Renée Fleming is in glorious voice as Alcina… Natalie dessay as Alcina's sister, Morgana, relishes the challenge…”
-- Penguin Guide ***
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Produktinfo
Alcina', Händels 1735 an der noch jungen Covent Garden Opera uraufgeführte 30. italienische Oper, ist eine Zauber-Oper. [...] Sehr schwungvoll, präzise und überaus durchsichtig lässt Christie sein Orchester Les Arts Florissants musizieren, und der dazu gehörige, hörbar von unverbrauchten, jungen Stimmen geprägte Chor tut es den Instrumentalisten gleich. “ Susanne Benda, Rondo Das Klassik-Magazin.
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Pressestimmen
FonoForum 6 / 2000 (Alcina):
"Der größte Triumph bei diesem Sänger-Fest (die Oper enthält mehr als zwei Dutzend Arien mit überwiegend kurzen rezitativischen Überleitungen) ist offenbar Nathalie Dessay in der Rolle der Morgana zugefallen. Die französische Sopranistin entzündet in der Arie "Tornami a vagheggiar" ein virtuoses Feuerwerk mit wahren Feuerball-Staccati - Händel gleichsam aus der Perspektive von Straussens Zerbinetta."
FonoForum 12 / 1996 (Orlando):
"William Christie läßt mit kräftigen Farben malen, schärft die Kontraste und entfacht ein Bühnenfeuer auf höchstem technischen und musikalischen Niveau."
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