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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.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Amadigi di Gaula (2022)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Amadigi di Gaula (2022)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Amadigi di Gaula (2022)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 732 Mb | Total time: 157:16 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHSA04062 | Recorded: 2021

Countertenor Tim Mead leads an all-star cast in the Early Opera Company’s recording of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, conducted by Christian Curnyn. The opera was first performed in London in 1715, in the first season under the reign of George I, in the King’s Theatre on the Haymarket. The complex, twisting plot features lovers Amadigi and Orianna, imprisoned by the sorceress Melissa (who wants Amadigi’s love). Amadigi’s ally Dardano turns against his friend when he realises his love for Orianna (with whom Dardano is in love) and sides with Melissa. Her plans are repeatedly foiled, and true love triumphs at the final curtain! Amadigi is considerd the finest of his early London operas in terms of musical sophistication, theatrical pacing, and a perfectly balanced exploration of the interconnected relationships, motivations, and emotional divergences among just four dissimilar yet equally arresting characters.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Alceste (2012)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Alceste (2012)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Alceste (2012)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 307 Mb | Total time: 63:16 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0788 | Recorded: 2011

Handel wrote incidental music for only one play, Tobias Smollett's Alceste, and it was never produced, so the composer, characteristically, recycled most of its major numbers. In this recording, Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company deliver a distinguished account of the rarely performed or recorded complete score. Written in 1750, late in Handel's career, it is clearly the work of the composer at the height of his powers, and many of its numbers deserve broader exposure. The soprano aria "Gentle Morpheus" is easily among the loveliest the composer ever wrote, and Lucy Crowe sings it with ravishing sensuality. Crowe's luminous singing in her three arias is one of the highlights of the album. Tenor Benjamin Hulett, whose part is given the bulk of the solos, performs with agility and lightness.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a (2011)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a (2011)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a (2011)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 578 Mb | Total time: 137:27 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Wigmore Hall Live | # WHLive0042/2 | Recorded: 2010

Wigmore Hall Live kicks off New Year with an early music release. Handel s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno was the composer s first opera to feature the celebrated aria Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa (Avoid the thorn, pluck the rose). Recorded for Wigmore Hall Live in January 2010 by the Early Opera Company, one of Britain s leading early music ensembles, the group features contralto Hilary Summers in the traditional countertenor role of enlightenment, her voice specifically chosen for its depth and fullness of tone. Director and harpsichordist, Christian Curnyn, was determined to recreate as faithful a sound as possible to what audiences at the time would have heard, not only instrumentally but notably in relation to tempi: Everything in Handel comes back to the heartbeat rate, fifty per minute.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Semele (2007)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Semele (2007)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Semele (2007)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 829 Mb | Total time: 59:57+46:10+63:28 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0745 | Recorded: 2007

This 3 CD set represents the first complete recording on period insruments of Handel's 'Semele'. Written at the peak of Handel's powers, and derisively described at its premiere by one critic as "no oratorio but a bawdy opera", this theatrical entertainment is crammed with Handel's most sparkling music: spectacular orchestral numbers and powerful choruses combine with heart-stopping arias, including the popular 'Where'er you walk'.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a (2018)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a (2018)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Acis and Galatea, HWV 49a (2018)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 438 Mb | Total time: 37:38+49:10 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0404 | Recorded: 2017

The award-winning Early Opera Company under the direction of founder Christian Curnyn celebrates the 300th anniversary of the premiere of one of Handel’s most sublime creations: Acis and Galatea. This unique interpretation is performed as Handel himself specified in the manuscript: supported by fourteen period instruments, the outstanding cast of singers takes on the solo parts as well as the magnificent choruses. This is Handel writing at his highest levels of intimacy and intensity; the music superbly supports the libretto's evocative portrayal of the story, simultaneously restrained, economical, and deeply moving.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Serse (2013)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Serse (2013)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - George Frideric Handel: Serse (2013)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 736 Mb | Total time: 66:46+60:16+39:27 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0797(3) | Recorded: 2012

The opera is based on a libretto adapted by the poet Silvio Stampiglia for Giovanni Bononcini, whose setting was staged at Rome’s Teatro di Torre Nona in 1694. Handel completed his opera in 1738 in little more than a month. However, his typically swift pace and resourceful treatment of musical themes and models should not be misconstrued as complacency, carelessness, or low imaginative powers. The autograph manuscript reveals that Handel invested considerable skill in arias that are perfectly tailored to the dramatic storyline, many of which were meticulously crafted and then redrafted.