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Deborah Riedel, Della Jones, Michael Kraus, Lawrence Foster - Waxman: The Song Of Terezin (1998)

Posted By: tirexiss
Deborah Riedel, Della Jones, Michael Kraus, Lawrence Foster - Waxman: The Song Of Terezin (1998)

Deborah Riedel, Della Jones, Michael Kraus, Lawrence Foster - Waxman: The Song Of Terezin (1998)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 59:04 | 260 MB
Genre: Classical | Label: Decca | Catalog: 4602112

Waxman is best known as a writer of film music, like Korngold. He was also a fine composer, again like Korngold, and in his threnody in memory of child holocaust victims, he composed a masterpiece. This work is roughly comparable in subject matter with Survivor from Warsaw, or the War Requiem, but is more accessible than the former and more sincere than the latter sounds (or so it seems to me). This is one of those odd masterpieces that should be well known but isn't. The recording is clear and immediate.

Roger Norrington, The English Chamber Orchestra, Janet Baker - George Frideric Handel: Radamisto (2007)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Roger Norrington, The English Chamber Orchestra, Janet Baker - George Frideric Handel: Radamisto (2007)

Roger Norrington, The English Chamber Orchestra, Janet Baker - George Frideric Handel: Radamisto (2007)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 994 Mb | Total time: 75:54+79:03+79:44 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Ponte | # PO-1054 | Recorded: 1984

The performance of Radamisto is notable for an array of vocal talent headed by Janet Baker. Every name is familiar and admired. The ECO was a vibrant presence in the Handel operatic and oratorio market at this time and Norrington at the helm ensures that period practices are helpfully integrated into the fabric of a modern instrument performance – recitatives for instance, once the bane of some 1960s and 70s performances, move fluidly and intelligently, highly responsive to textual meaning and dramatic implications. Note Act I’s Reina, infausto avviso when Tigrane and Polissena’s recitative embodies fine pacing, telling rubato, and appropriately coloured accompaniment. Some cuts though were clearly necessary to accommodate the length of the production.

Leslie Head, Pro Opera Orchestra - Gioacchino Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna (2023)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Leslie Head, Pro Opera Orchestra - Gioacchino Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna (2023)

Leslie Head, Pro Opera Orchestra - Gioacchino Rossini: Adelaide di Borgogna (2023)
WEB FLAC | Tracks ~ 732 Mb | Total time: 02:22:15 | Scans included
Classical | Label: MP Historical Recordings | Recorded: 2078

Adelaide di Borgogna es uno de los títulos más infrecuentes en la producción operística de Rossini, siendo ésta la número 23 de las 39 que el compositor llegó a escribir. Se trata de una composición de escritura musical no muy habitual en el pesarés, resultando bastante sobria y austera en lo que a canto canoro se refiere, haciendo primar sobre ello un equilibrio vocal, sobre todo en lo tocante a los roles de Adelaide y Ottone.

Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - George Frideric Handel: Teseo (1992)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - George Frideric Handel: Teseo (1992)

Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - George Frideric Handel: Teseo (1992)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 707 Mb | Total time: 74:10+74:04 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 2292-45806-2 | Recorded: 1992

Teseo (HWV 9) is an opera seria with music by George Frideric Handel, the only Handel opera that is in five acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault's Thésée. It was Handel's third London opera, intended to follow the success of Rinaldo after the unpopular Il pastor fido. First performed on 10 January 1713,Teseo featured "magical" effects such as flying dragons, transformation scenes and apparitions and had a cast of notable Italian opera singers. It was a success with London audiences, receiving thirteen performances even though the stage machinery for the "magical" effects broke down, and would have received more performances had not one of the theatre's managers run away with the box office receipts.

The Grainger Edition, Volume 14 - Works for Chamber Ensemble 2 (2000)

Posted By: ArlegZ
The Grainger Edition, Volume 14 - Works for Chamber Ensemble 2 (2000)

The Grainger Edition, Volume 14 - Works for Chamber Ensemble 2 (2000)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 275 Mb | Total time: 67:49 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9819 | Recorded: 1999

Though Australian, more than any figure in English music Percy Grainger consistently blurred the bounds between folk-music arrangements and original composition. Two arrangements of Danish folk songs on this disc, "The Nightingale" and "The Two Sisters," have never been recorded before, while 13 others of the 23 pieces are, in these versions, premiere recordings. An essential issue for Grainger collectors, the music has broad appeal, conveying a direct emotional intimacy in such pieces as the solo piano version of "The Power of Love," a tune that, Grainger noted, "matched my soul-seared mood" after his mother's death. "Molly on the Shore" is among Grainger's best-known folksong arrangements, though not so many will know this vibrantly performed string quartet version.

The Grainger Edition, Volume 12 - Songs for Mezzo-soprano (1999)

Posted By: ArlegZ
The Grainger Edition, Volume 12 - Songs for Mezzo-soprano (1999)

The Grainger Edition, Volume 12 - Songs for Mezzo-soprano (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 277 Mb | Total time: 73:49 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 9730 | Recorded: 1998

Again Grainger amazes, amuses, arouses, intrigues. These 'Songs for mezzo' originate in Britain (with an excellent sequence of Scottish songs), Jutland and Australia. Some are folksongs collected in the early years of the century; two have words by Kipling, five by Ella, Grainger's wife, and some have no words at all.

Charles Mackerras, English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus - George Frideric Handel: Julius Caesar / Giulio Cesare (1999)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Charles Mackerras, English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus - George Frideric Handel: Julius Caesar / Giulio Cesare (1999)

Charles Mackerras, English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus - George Frideric Handel: Julius Caesar / Giulio Cesare (1999)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 883 Mb | Total time: 183:20 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 3019 | Recorded: 1984

This opera was a personal triumph for Dame Janet. As Caesar, she arms the voice with an impregnable firmness, outgoing and adventurous. Valerie Masterson shares the honours with Dame Janet, a Cleopatra whose bright voice gains humanity through ordeal. The tinkle of surface- wear clears delightfully in her later arias, sung with a pure tone and high accomplishment. As a total production, Julius Caesar was an outstanding achievement in ENO's history. Strongly cast, it had a noble Cornelia in Sarah Walker, a high-spirited Sesto in Della Jones, and in James Bowman a Ptolemy whose only fault was that his voice lacked meanness of timbre appropriate to the odious character. John Tomlinson's massive bass also commands attention. Mackerras's conducting is impeccable and the opera is given in clear, creditable English.

John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - George Frideric Handel: Solomon (1985)

Posted By: ArlegZ
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - George Frideric Handel: Solomon (1985)

John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir - George Frideric Handel: Solomon (1985)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 685 Mb | Total time: 68:32+67:23 | Covers included
Classical | Label: Philips | # 475 7561 | Recorded: 1984

Acts I and III of this oratorio are sumptuous pageants: Solomon on the throne with his adoring Queen; Solomon receives the Queen of Sheba. In between, Act II's depiction of Solomon's judgment (over the baby) is one of the finest dramatic scenes Handel wrote in any context. The First Harlot's fear, desperation, and gratitude, the Second Harlot's grief-crazed jealousy, Solomon's serene wisdom–all are smashingly portrayed by Handel and by Rodgers, Jones and Watkinson. Argenta's Queen is a girlish delight; the regal Hendricks as Sheba sounds quite comfortable among these Baroque specialists; Rolfe Johnson and Varcoe have two splendid arias each. The choir and orchestra–whether in the amorous "Nightingale" chorus, the sequence of pictorial numbers in Act III, or the stunning double choruses throughout–are magnificent.

Richard Hickox, City of London Baroque Sinfonia - Claudio Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1990)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Richard Hickox, City of London Baroque Sinfonia - Claudio Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1990)

Richard Hickox, City of London Baroque Sinfonia, Arleen Augér, Della Jones - Claudio Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1990)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 897 Mb | Total time: 72:27+78:32+43:31 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Virgin | # 353 468-234 | Recorded: 1989

There’s not much cruelty, corruption or ruthlessness in Arleen Auger’s exquisitely sung portrayal of the manipulative Poppea, but this hardly detracts from her otherwise radiantly expressive performance. This welcome reissue is not just exhilaratingly played by the City of London Baroque Sinfonia with a spareness and verve that keeps the drama taut, but impressively cast. James Bowman is an elegantly spurned Ottone; Gregory Reinhart a noble Seneca; and the wonderful Della Jones a spirited, quite convincingly masculine Nero. The only snag is Linda Hirst’s unlovely, rather hectoring Ottavia; it doesn’t do, somehow, to sympathise with Nero’s decision to dump her.

John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists - George Frideric Handel: Agrippina (2007)

Posted By: ArlegZ
John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists - George Frideric Handel: Agrippina (2007)

John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists - George Frideric Handel: Agrippina (2007)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 1.10 Gb | Total time: 74:52+73:43+69:08 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Philips | # 475 8285 | Recorded: 1991-1992

Agrippina – a portrayal of lust and power set in first century Rome – was first performed in December 1709 at the Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo, Venice. This "arrangement" by John Eliot Gardiner was recorded in 1991/2 in London and has now been re-released. It was Handel's second and last opera to be composed during his time in Italy, from 1706 to 1710. Written against some resistance (the composer at first saw "no good reason" to write (such) an opera) in three weeks while in Venice, it represented the first such popular acclaim of Handel's career being performed over two dozen times in succession.

Arnold Ostman, The Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra and Chorus - Mozart: Don Giovanni (2001)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Arnold Ostman, The Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra and Chorus - Mozart: Don Giovanni (2001)

Arnold Östman, The Drottningholm Court Theatre Orchestra and Chorus - Mozart: Don Giovanni (2001)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 583 Mb | Total time: 75:04+79:21 | Scans included
Classical | Label: DECCA | # 470 059-2 | Recorded: 1989

It is an elegantly comic performance with a light orchestral sound, brisk tempi and lighter voices than usual. This is not to say that the reading is lacking in gravitas and there are many felicitous moments. It is a good cast, headed by Håkan Hagegård in the title role. His Giovanni is a little lacking in menace, but is full of volatile energy and sung in a suave baritone voice. The standout performance is the Leporello of the French-Swiss bass-baritone Gilles Cachemaille; the quick and pointed recitatives between him and Hagegård really fizz and his Catalogue aria is a masterpiece of breath control. The two leading ladies are interestingly cast; Arleen Auger’ lighter-voiced than most Donna Annas, produces a rich, creamy sound, while the mezzo Della Jones is a fiery Donna Elvira, with the pungency of her high notes especially impressive.

Alun Francis, London Symphony Orchestra - Donizetti: Maria Padilla [1992]

Posted By: Vilboa
Alun Francis, London Symphony Orchestra - Donizetti: Maria Padilla [1992]

Alun Francis, London Symphony Orchestra - Donizetti: Maria Padilla [1992]
EAC (flac, image, cue, log) | TT: 50.39+41.18+59.28 | Covers | 699 Mb
Classical | Opera Rara | # ORC06 | Rec: 1980

The most enduring number from this opera was the duet of Maria and her sister Ines, which became a popular concert piece in the 19th century. Maria is the mistress of Pedro the Cruel of Castile. Her father, Ruiz, discovers the identity of her lover and, burdened by shame, loses his reason. Donizetti rises to this dramatic challenge, writing a poignant mad scene – this time for a tenor voice. This was a very successful opera for Donizetti, written in 1841.