![Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/20/53/005d5320_medium.jpg)
Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)
![Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/20/53/005d5320.jpg)
Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 619 Mb | Total time: 68:29+68:50 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Somm | # 238-9 | Recorded: 2002
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 619 Mb | Total time: 68:29+68:50 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Somm | # 238-9 | Recorded: 2002
This is a particularly welcome and important world-premiere recording. Handel composed Esther in about 1718?20 for James Brydges, the Earl of Carnarvon (and later Duke of Chandos), using a libretto that was anonymously adapted from Thomas Brereton’s English translation of a play by Racine. This slender work, containing only six scenes, lays a strong claim to being the first English oratorio, but Handel seems not to have considered performing it for a public audience until 1732, when the entrepreneurial composer thoroughly revised the score to fit his company of Italian opera singers (including Senesino, Strada and Montagnana, who all sang in English), and enlisted the aid of the writer Samuel Humphreys to expand the drama with additional scenes (which made the oratorio long enough to fill a theatre evening, advantageously fleshed out some of the characters a little bit, and also enhanced the musical attractiveness of the oratorio). This is the historic version of Esther that launched Handel’s oratorio career in London, but it has remained inexplicably neglected in modern times.
Laurence Cummings is one of our finest and most natural Handelian conductors. The Israelite Woman’s sensuous opening number “Breathe soft, ye gales” (featuring recorders, oboes, bassoons, harp, theorbo, five-part strings and organ) is neatly judged by the impressive London Handel Orchestra. The superb choir is enthusiastic and masterful, and the two inserted Coronation Anthems My heart is inditing and Zadok the Priest (the latter given a parody text) are both performed magnificently. James Bowman sounds a little fragile in the most extensive coloratura passages written for Senesino in “Endless fame”, and the part of Mordecai seems uncomfortably low for Susan Bickley (which is not helped by the dragging speed of “Dread not, righteous Queen, the danger”), but in general the soloists form a consistently solid team. Christopher Purves is marvellous as the scheming and bullying evil minister Haman, and is equally good at singing the pitiful and lyrical “Turn not, O Queen, thy face away” when the villain fears his deserved doom.
The all-round excellence of this live concert performance from Handel’s parish church, St George’s, Hanover Square, makes it an essential treat for Handelians.– David Vickers
Performer:
Esther - Rosemary Joshua
Ahasuerus - James Bowman
Mordecai - Susan Bickley
Haman - Christopher Purves
Israelite Woman - Rebecca Outram
First Israelite - Andrew Kennedy
Second Israelite - Cecilia Osmond
Harbonah - Angus Smith
London Handel Orchestra & Choir
Conductor - Laurence Cummings
Tracklist:
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Esther, HWV 50
CD1:
01. Act I. Overture
02. Scene 1. Breathe soft ye gales
03. Scene 1. Watchful Angels
04. Scene 1. O King of kings, celestial Lord!
05. Scene 1. Alleluia
06. Scene 1. With transport, lovely queen
07. Scene 1. So much beauty sweetly blooming
08. Scene 1. Again shall Salem, to the skies
09. Scene 1. My heart is inditing
10. Scene 1. Kings' daughters
11. Scene 1. Upon the right hand
12. Scene 1. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers
13. Scene 2. Let me with freedom thy petition know
14. Scene 2. Endless fame
15. Scene 3. 'Tis greater far to spare
16. Scene 3. Pluck root and branch
17. Scene 3. Our souls with ardour glow
18. Scene 3. Shall we the God of Israel fear?
19. Scene 4. Jerusalem no more shall mourn
20. Scene 4. Tune your harps to cheerful strains
21. Scene 4. Shall we of servitude complain
22. Scene 4. Praise the Lord with cheerful noise
23. Scene 5. How have our sins provok'd the Lord!
24. Scene 5. Ye sons of Israel, mourn
25. Scene 5. O Jordan, Jordan, sacred tide!
26. Scene 5. Ye sons of Israel, mourn
CD2:
01. Act II. Scene 1. Tyrants may awhile presume
02. Scene 2. Why sits that sorrow on thy brow?
03. Scene 2. Dread not, righteous queen
04. Scene 2. O heaven, protect her
05. Scene 2. Blessings descend on downy wings
06. Scene 2. I go, the pow'r of grief to prove
07. Scene 2. Tears assist me, pity moving
08. Scene 2. Save us, O Lord!
09. Scene 3. Who dares intrude into our presence
10. Scene 3. Who calls my parting soul from death?
11. Scene 3. O beauteous queen, unclose those eyes
12. Scene 3. If I find favour in thy sight
13. Scene 3. How can I stay when love invites?
14. Scene 4. With inward joy his visage glows
15. Scene 4. Heav'n has lent her ev'ry charm
16. Scene 4. The king will listen to the royal fair
17. Scene 4. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord
18. Act III. Scene 1. Jehovah crown'd with glory bright
19. Scene 1. He comes! He comes to end our woes
20. Scene 2. Now O my queen, thy suit declare
21. Scene 2. Turn not, O queen, thy face away
22. Scene 2. Flatt'ring tongue, no more I hear thee
23. Scene 2. Guards, seize the traitor
24. Scene 2. Through the nation he shall be
25. Scene 2. All applauding crowds, around
26. Scene 2. How art thou fall'n from thy height!
27. Scene 2. I'll proclaim the wond'rous story
28. Scene 3. The Lord our enemy has slain, Allelujah!
Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 23. May 2017, 18:33
Laurence Cummings / Handel - Esther - CD1
Used drive : MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8E1 Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" -T "BAND=%albuminterpret%" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" %hascover%–picture="%coverfile%"%hascover% %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 7:06.16 | 0 | 31965
2 | 7:06.16 | 3:44.34 | 31966 | 48799
3 | 10:50.50 | 1:34.36 | 48800 | 55885
4 | 12:25.11 | 0:23.39 | 55886 | 57649
5 | 12:48.50 | 3:06.25 | 57650 | 71624
6 | 15:55.00 | 0:38.38 | 71625 | 74512
7 | 16:33.38 | 4:16.20 | 74513 | 93732
8 | 20:49.58 | 0:15.14 | 93733 | 94871
9 | 21:04.72 | 2:43.42 | 94872 | 107138
10 | 23:48.39 | 3:20.70 | 107139 | 122208
11 | 27:09.34 | 2:58.49 | 122209 | 135607
12 | 30:08.08 | 3:10.24 | 135608 | 149881
13 | 33:18.32 | 1:10.60 | 149882 | 155191
14 | 34:29.17 | 7:30.01 | 155192 | 188942
15 | 41:59.18 | 0:38.69 | 188943 | 191861
16 | 42:38.12 | 2:06.43 | 191862 | 201354
17 | 44:44.55 | 0:08.12 | 201355 | 201966
18 | 44:52.67 | 1:42.47 | 201967 | 209663
19 | 46:35.39 | 0:30.28 | 209664 | 211941
20 | 47:05.67 | 4:16.36 | 211942 | 231177
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22 | 51:35.12 | 2:34.61 | 232137 | 243747
23 | 54:09.73 | 0:53.27 | 243748 | 247749
24 | 55:03.25 | 2:16.56 | 247750 | 258005
25 | 57:20.06 | 8:22.46 | 258006 | 295701
26 | 65:42.52 | 2:44.35 | 295702 | 308036
Range status and errors
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Filename C:\Users\Usuario\Desktop\Laurence Cummings - Handel - Esther - CD1.wav
Peak level 100.0 %
Extraction speed 4.9 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 982D5512
Copy CRC 982D5512
Copy OK
No errors occurred
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No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: GOpJPsDam3cudOVS1ToIjZ7.Qfs-] disk not present in database
Submit result: GOpJPsDam3cudOVS1ToIjZ7.Qfs- has been uploaded
==== Log checksum 8F9222FCEF50688FEA7C4607CD4D4323E22E8D04D9568B66A49A7090E898E2AC ====
Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 23. May 2017, 19:03
Laurence Cummings / Handel - Esther - CD2
Used drive : MATSHITADVD-RAM UJ8E1 Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" -T "BAND=%albuminterpret%" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" %hascover%–picture="%coverfile%"%hascover% %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
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2 | 2:43.63 | 0:51.60 | 12288 | 16172
3 | 3:35.48 | 5:08.48 | 16173 | 39320
4 | 8:44.21 | 0:14.29 | 39321 | 40399
5 | 8:58.50 | 4:34.57 | 40400 | 61006
6 | 13:33.32 | 0:16.24 | 61007 | 62230
7 | 13:49.56 | 3:01.26 | 62231 | 75831
8 | 16:51.07 | 1:35.44 | 75832 | 83000
9 | 18:26.51 | 1:11.63 | 83001 | 88388
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11 | 22:33.19 | 5:49.19 | 101494 | 127687
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13 | 28:47.11 | 3:14.60 | 129536 | 144145
14 | 32:01.71 | 0:36.06 | 144146 | 146851
15 | 32:38.02 | 4:36.29 | 146852 | 167580
16 | 37:14.31 | 0:13.62 | 167581 | 168617
17 | 37:28.18 | 5:25.48 | 168618 | 193040
18 | 42:53.66 | 1:34.06 | 193041 | 200096
19 | 44:27.72 | 2:00.66 | 200097 | 209162
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23 | 54:54.57 | 0:26.11 | 247107 | 249067
24 | 55:20.68 | 1:43.29 | 249068 | 256821
25 | 57:04.22 | 0:51.44 | 256822 | 260690
26 | 57:55.66 | 2:46.60 | 260691 | 273200
27 | 60:42.51 | 2:48.43 | 273201 | 285843
28 | 63:31.19 | 5:16.56 | 285844 | 309599
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\Users\Usuario\Desktop\Laurence Cummings - Handel - Esther - CD2.wav
Peak level 99.6 %
Extraction speed 5.0 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC ABDFF636
Copy CRC ABDFF636
Copy OK
No errors occurred
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You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: sW_KRE16q9ZFGDiggV9odJ.lfDU-] disk not present in database
Submit result: sW_KRE16q9ZFGDiggV9odJ.lfDU- has been uploaded
==== Log checksum 35F0AE7E6C18CD3DE66716343F2D3F19D2580605025FE33A850714CD962EA00C ====
![Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/21/53/005d5321_medium.jpg)
Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)
![Laurence Cummings, London Handel Orchestra and Choir - Handel: Esther [1732 Version] (2007)](https://pixhost.icu/avaxhome/21/53/005d5321.jpg)
Thanks to the original releaser