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Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Matheus - Antonio Vivaldi: Griselda (2005)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Matheus - Antonio Vivaldi: Griselda (2005)

Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Matheus - Antonio Vivaldi: Griselda (2005)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 791 Mb | Total time: 58:58+59:28+36:18 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naïve | # OP 30419 | Recorded: 2005

Written in 1735 for his protégée Anna Girò, Griselda takes a story from Boccaccio and turns it into a hymn of praise to nobility and constancy. Yet though the story is tired and true, Vivaldi's music is real and vibrant and as attractive as anything in his instrumental works. In this recording by Jean-Christophe Spinosi leading the Matheus Ensemble with Marie-Nicole Lemeux in the title role, Naïve has released another strong argument for the high quality of Vivaldi's operas. Spinosi has a light hand but a dramatic touch and he keeps the music moving even while granting the soloists ample scope to develop their characters.

Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford - The Art of Melancholy: Songs by John Dowland (2014)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford - The Art of Melancholy: Songs by John Dowland (2014)

Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford - The Art of Melancholy: Songs by John Dowland (2014)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 304 Mb | Total time: 76:33 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA68007 | Recorded: 2013

Countertenor Iestyn Davies has kept himself busy, releasing a steady stream of albums in the early 2010s that has propelled him to the top of his field. It's easy to see why people keep snapping them up: Davies has an unusually creamy voice and a gentle touch that make the music easy to settle into. The lute songs of John Dowland demand something more than a pleasant tone, however, and on this release Davies really shows what he can do. He's aided by an ideal collaborator in lutenist Thomas Dunford, and the delicacy and intricate ensemble of the pair is remarkable.

Lea Desandre, Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford, Jupiter - George Frideric Handel: Eternal Heaven (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Lea Desandre, Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford, Jupiter - George Frideric Handel: Eternal Heaven (2022)

Lea Desandre, Iestyn Davies, Thomas Dunford, Jupiter - George Frideric Handel: Eternal Heaven (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 431 Mb | Total time: 86:25 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Erato | # 5054197196775 | Recorded: 2021

Lutenist Thomas Dunford’s first project for Warner Classics is a complete Handel programme with his Ensemble Jupiter, and his longstanding musical partners Lea Desandre and lestyn Davies. The album stems from Dunford's desire to bring together these two sublime voices and tell a love story through Handel’s most beautiful spiritual music. During the pandemic, Thomas and Lea went through Handel's entire English-language oeuvre to build a narrative Dunford has dubbed ‘a Baroque West Side Story’. The album features arias from Semele, Theodora, Saul, Susanna, Esther, and more.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Flavio (2010)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Flavio (2010)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Flavio (2010)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 671 Mb | Total time: 77:03+69:20 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0773(2) | Recorded: 2010

Early music specialists are still working through the wealth of Handel operas that began coming more to light in the late 20th century. Flavio, Rè di Longobardi remains one of his more obscure works. Its musical variety and richness make it a piece that deserves more attention and this excellent recording in Chandos' series of Baroque operas featuring Christian Curnyn and Early Opera Company makes a strong case for it. The plot, like that of many of Handel's operas, is convoluted to the point of being indecipherable, but each of the characters is carefully drawn. These singers invest each one with an incisive dramatic distinctiveness, and their voices are different enough that here is never in doubt as to which characters are singing. Curnyn leads a superb cast in an elegant performance.

Stephen Layton, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio (2013)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Stephen Layton, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio (2013)

Stephen Layton, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio (2013)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 724 Mb | Total time: 151:49 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA 68031/2 | Recorded: 2012

Christmas Oratorio is topical, it’s also universal. It doesn’t require lights or tinsel or presents under the tree to instruct, inspire, and/or entertain, especially if it is presented in as fine a performance as this one fashioned by Stephen Layton and his cohort. Layton is the director of music at Trinity College, Cambridge (having succeeded Richard Marlow), and his choir is top-notch, as is the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, mercifully identified as OAE. OAE’s roster is rife with such familiar names from the period instruments movement as Margaret Faultless (who is just that here) and Alison Bury. To mention Anthony Robson, oboe, and David Blackadder, trumpet, is not to slight any of the other players.

Stephen Layton, Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music - Handel: Chandos Anthems Nos. 7, 9 & 11a (2009)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Stephen Layton, Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music - Handel: Chandos Anthems Nos. 7, 9 & 11a (2009)

Stephen Layton, Trinity College Choir Cambridge, Academy of Ancient Music - George Frideric Handel: Chandos Anthems Nos. 7, 9 & 11a (2009)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 312 Mb | Total time: 66:09 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA67737 | Recorded: 2008

In a year of Handel celebration and many new recordings, this is a welcome addition to the discography. Stephen Layton, the Academy of Ancient Music, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and a stellar group of soloists—in fact, the best in solo Handel singing that this country has to offer—present a disc of three of the Chandos anthems which is sure to achieve the same critical and public acclaim as the recent Dettingen Te Deum from Trinity.

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies & Graham Ross - Rolling River: American Choral (2023)

Posted By: delpotro
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies & Graham Ross - Rolling River: American Choral (2023)

Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies & Graham Ross - Rolling River: American Choral (2023)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 254 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 172 Mb | Digital booklet | 01:14:33
Classical, Choral | Label: harmonia mundi

Choral singing enjoys astonishing vitality in the United States of America. Alongside Bernstein’s prodigious Chichester Psalms, Barber’s Two Choruses, and Erb’s much-loved arrangement of Shenandoah, Graham Ross and the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge introduce us to the colourful works of the younger generation of composers on the other side of the Atlantic. A splendid panorama of American choral music from the post-war period to the present day.

Harry Bicket, The English Concert - George Frideric Handel: La Resurrezione (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Harry Bicket, The English Concert - George Frideric Handel: La Resurrezione (2022)

Harry Bicket, The English Concert - George Frideric Handel: La Resurrezione (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 519 Mb | Total time: 01:57:18 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Linn Records | # CKD675 | Recorded: 2021

Following their acclaimed recording of Handel’s Rodelinda (BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month, Gramophone Editor’s Choice), The English Concert and Harry Bicket continue their Handel series with a superb soloist line-up including Sophie Bevan, Iestyn Davies, Ashley Riches, Hugo Hymas and Lucy Crowe. Starting with an unusual verbal altercation between an Angel and Lucifer, Handel’s La Resurrezione is an extraordinary retelling of the three days between Christ’s death and resurrection which is unlike any other Passion or Oratorio. This journey centres around women, Mary Magdalene and Mary Cleophas, in a way that seems very modern, and which mirrors the ambiguities of their feelings in music that is completely original in concept and orchestration.

William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - George Frideric Handel: Belshazzar (2013)

Posted By: ArlegZ
William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - George Frideric Handel: Belshazzar (2013)

William Christie, Les Arts Florissants - George Frideric Handel: Belshazzar (2013)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 880 Mb | Total time: 55:21+68:13+42:52 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Les Arts Florissants | # AF.001 | Recorded: 2012

A brand-new label from one of the world's finest early music ensembles makes an auspicious debut with this stunning new recording of Handel's oratorio Belshazzar. Les Arts Florissants, led by the great William Christie, have launched their new label with the goal of expanding the ensemble's connection to the listening public on a scale far beyond the concert hall. Belshazzar was first performed in 1745, and was frequently revised. Christie has chosen what he considers to be the most successful of the various versions of Belshazzar, resulting in the restoration of the piece in all its splendor. The libretto's subject, which focuses on the decline of a once glorious society and the ephemeral nature of Empire, is especially relevant today. This deluxe set also includes a bonus essay by Jean Echenoz entitled In Babylon, printed separately on special paper and included alongside the regular booklet. This specially commissioned work draws the reader deep into the ancient, majestic city, the seat of power of Belshazzar the King.

Emmanuelle Haim, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (2009)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Emmanuelle Haim, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (2009)

Emmanuelle Haïm, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea (2009)
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) | Italiano (LinearPCM, 2 ch) | (DTS, 5 ch) | 193 min+41 min (bonus) | 7,55+7,36 Gb (2xDVD9)
Classical | Label: DECCA | Sub: English, Francais, Deutsch, Italiano, Espanol, Chinese | Recorded: 2008

The major debut on Decca DVD of Danielle de Niese. Returning to the opera house where she sang her sensational Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare, Danielle performs the title role in Monteverdi's great opera of lust and power, in Robert Carsen's new, modern-dress staging. De Niese is perfectly cast as the beautiful and seductive Poppea who ruthlessly grabs power as Nero's lover but, in this production, is doomed from the moment of her coronation. De Niese's performance is vocally and dramatically powerful, perfectly complemented by Alice Coote as Nero. The two are supported by an outstanding cast, together with period-performance stars Emmanuelle Haïm conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Carsen creates an intelligent and visually-strong production, focusing on the personal side of the story. At times the action is violent and shocking, but this is juxtaposed with episodes of lightness and humour.

Iestyn Davies, Jonathan Cohen, Arcangelo - Arias for Guadagni (2012)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Iestyn Davies, Jonathan Cohen, Arcangelo - Arias for Guadagni (2012)

Iestyn Davies, Jonathan Cohen, Arcangelo - Arias for Guadagni (2012)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 385 Mb | Total time: 78:03 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA67924 | Recorded: 2011

British countertenor Iestyn Davies is one of the fastest rising stars on the concert and opera circuit. Following his highly acclaimed recording of Porpora cantatas, he returns for a second solo album with Hyperion, a selection of arias written for Gaetano Guadagni. Italian-born Guadagni was the first ‘modern’ castrato, famed all over Europe for the lyric purity of his voice and his powerful, naturalistic acting style. Not only did he enjoy a close artistic relationship with Handel, who nurtured Guadagni’s voice to fit the alto roles in his English oratorios, but he effectively created the role of Orpheus in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera he thoroughly made his own. Here, Iestyn Davies is joined again by the renowned period-instrument band Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen.

David Bates, Leo Duarte, Joe Qiu, Thomas Gould, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Christine Rice - Handel’s Unsung Heroes (2021)

Posted By: ArlegZ
David Bates, Leo Duarte, Joe Qiu, Thomas Gould, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Christine Rice - Handel’s Unsung Heroes (2021)

David Bates, Leo Duarte, Joe Qiu, Thomas Gould, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Christine Rice - Handel’s Unsung Heroes (2021)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 382 Mb | Total time: 71:16 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Pentatone | # PTC 5186892 | Recorded: 2020

After their acclaimed recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, La Nuova Musica and David Bates expand their PENTATONE discography with Handel’s Unsung Heroes, in which the instrumentalists of Handel’s operas are put centre stage. Traditionally restricted to an “invisible” existence in the orchestra pit, La Nuova Musica’s obbligato instrumentalists – violinist Thomas Gould, oboist Leo Duarte and bassoonist Joe Qiu – are now in the limelight. They will stand as equal partners alongside a world-class line up of soloists – soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and countertenor Iestyn Davies – showing how Handel wrote music as virtuosic and lyrical for his unsung heroes as for their singing counterparts.

Iestyn Davies - Bach: Cantatas Nos 35 & 169 (2022)

Posted By: Rtax
Iestyn Davies - Bach: Cantatas Nos 35 & 169 (2022)

Iestyn Davies - Bach: Cantatas Nos 35 & 169 (2022)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 326 MB | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 160 MB
1:05:13 | Classical | Label: Hyperion

Bach wrote four cantatas for solo countertenor, two of which, BWV 35 and 169, incorporate magnificent concerto movements. So, they’re the perfect vehicles for the crack team of Iestyn Davies’s extraordinary vocal control and Arcangelo’s nimble-footedness.
BWV 169, Gott soll allein mein Herze haben (‘God alone shall have my heart’) leaps from the starting blocks with an ebullient sinfonia with organ obbligato that Bach himself probably played at its first performance in Leipzig in 1726, and which he later arranged as the first movement of the E major Keyboard Concerto BWV 1053. It’s compellingly paced and played here by Arcangelo who, in later movements, adapt to every one of Davies’s vocal inflections, most notably in recitatives. The second aria, ‘Stirb in mir’, a sicilienne, is one of Bach’s most breathtaking, and Davies and Arcangelo strike a near-perfect mix of ‘Affekt’ and rhythmic swing. No less impressive is the performance of BWV 35, Geist und Seele wird verwirret ('Spirit and Soul become confused') with its two noble sinfonias from a now-lost oboe concerto. The first of its three arias is another sicilienne, this time juxtaposing a decorative organ part.

Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen - Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas Nos 54, 82 & 170 (2017)

Posted By: Designol
Iestyn Davies, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen - Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas Nos 54, 82 & 170 (2017)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas Nos 54, 82 & 170 (2017)
Iestyn Davies, countertenor; Arcangelo; Jonathan Cohen, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 341 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 154 Mb | Artwork included
Genre: Classical, Vocal | Label: Hyperion | # CDA68111 | Time: 01:04:51

Gramophone Magazine Editor's Choice - January 2017. Ich habe genug is a timeless, transcendental masterpiece: a profound expression of Christian faith at the very end of life. It demands artistry of a special order, and Iestyn Davies now joins the likes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in the work’s distinguished discography. The couplings are equally ravishing performances of two other great solo cantatas, while the two orchestral sinfonias which complete the album will prove refreshingly familiar.

Iestyn Davies & Joseph Middleton - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin (2022)

Posted By: delpotro
Iestyn Davies & Joseph Middleton - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin (2022)

Iestyn Davies & Joseph Middleton - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin (2022)
WEB FLAC (tracks) - 227 Mb | MP3 CBR 320 kbps - 150 Mb | Digital booklet | 01:04:20
Classical, Vocal | Label: Signum Classics

Renowned performers Iestyn Davies and Joseph Middleton perform Schubert’s tragic song-cycle Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill).