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The English Concert, Harry Bicket - Handel: Serse (2023)

Posted By: delpotro
The English Concert, Harry Bicket - Handel: Serse (2023)

Emily D’Angelo, Lucy Crowe, Paula Murrihy, Mary Bevan, Daniela Mack, Neal Davies, William Dazeley, The English Concert & Harry Bicket
EAC Rip | FLAC (tracks+log+.cue) | Digital booklet | 02:52:32 | 828 Mb
Classical, Opera | Label: Linn Records

Each new Handel release by The English Concert and Harry Bicket is a milestone in the composer’s discography, and the latest, Serse – ‘a spectacular treat for Handel lovers’ (The Times) – is no different. Created to astonish London audiences in 1728, Handel’s romantic and at times comic opera Serse is a spectacular drama of love, war, power and civil engineering set in ancient Persia, whose opening aria ‘Ombra mai fu’ remains an enduring favourite. Serse rules a vast empire, but the human heart is more difficult to command, and sometimes the beauty of a plane tree is the only constant in a dangerous world. The work is complemented by a world - class cast including the ‘barnstorming’ (The Daily Telegraph) Emily D’Angelo as the lovestruck king and Lucy Crowe as Romilda.

Lucy Crowe, Harry Bicket, The English Concert - Il Caro Sassone: Handel in Italy (2011)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Lucy Crowe, Harry Bicket, The English Concert - Il Caro Sassone: Handel in Italy (2011)

Lucy Crowe, Harry Bicket, The English Concert - Il Caro Sassone: Handel in Italy (2011)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 317 Mb | Total time: 74:33 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMU907559 | Recorded: 2010

Handel’s musical exploits in Italy earned him the sobriquet ‘Il caro Sassone’ and brought him his first major triumphs in a number of genres. Th is recital explores Handel’s youthful brilliance in various secular and sacred contexts, allowing soprano Lucy Crowe to display her thrilling versatility. The disc includes two complete cantatas(Armida abbandonata and Alpestre monte) and a Salve Regina, as well as individual arias from other cantatas and oratorios. Plus there are three instrumental movements executed with elegant panache by The English Concert. Crowe is the outstanding performer, however, her bright, mercurial tone as affecting and effective in the Angel’s blazing, stratospheric ‘Disserratevi, o porte d’Averno’ from La Resurrezione as in Pleasure’s cajoling ‘Lascia la spina’ from Il trionfo or the suicidal desolation of ‘Almen dopo’ from Alpestre monte.

La Nuova Musica; David Bates, Lucy Crowe, Tim Mead - Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 54 & 170 (2017)

Posted By: Designol
La Nuova Musica; David Bates, Lucy Crowe, Tim Mead - Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 54 & 170 (2017)

Giovanni Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas BWV 54 & 170 (2017)
Lucy Crowe, soprano; Tim Mead, countertenor; La Nuova Musica; David Bates, conductor

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 283 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 147 Mb | Artwork included
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMM907589 | Time: 01:04:14

Two of Bach’s finest cantatas, both for solo alto, composed in Weimar (1714) and Leipzig (1726) respectively, are here coupled with the delicious agony of grief that is Pergolesi’s 'Stabat mater', an acknowledged masterpiece by one of the 18th century’s most influential composers. Bach so admired the composition of his Neapolitan colleague that he made his own ‘parody’ of it to a German text. On this recording, La Nuova Musica, in its 10th anniversary year, and its two eminent soloists display equal mastery of both idioms.

Dunedin Consort & John Butt - Mozart: Mass in C Minor - C.P.E. Bach: Heilig ist Gott (2023)

Posted By: delpotro
Dunedin Consort & John Butt - Mozart: Mass in C Minor - C.P.E. Bach: Heilig ist Gott (2023)

Dunedin Consort, John Butt, Anna Dennis, Lucy Crowe, Jess Dandy, Nicholas Mulroy, Robert Davies - Mozart: Mass in C Minor - C.P.E. Bach: Heilig ist Gott (2023)
MP3 CBR 320 kbps | 01:00:10 | 142 Mb
Classical, Sacred, Vocal | Label: Linn Records

Following a highly anticipated televised performance at the 2023 BBC Proms, Dunedin Consort and its director John Butt now release Mozart's 'Great' Mass in C minor and Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach's Heilig ist Gott on Linn. Devised to celebrate his marriage to Constanze, but left unfinished at the composer's death, Mozart's Mass can clearly be traced back to the choral writing of Johann Sebastian Bach and his son, Carl Phillip Emmanuel. This musical genealogy is displayed here in a lavish double-chorus, double-orchestra feast where both works echo each other. No stranger to Mozart - the ensemble's recording of the Requiem was a Gramophone Award Winner and Grammy-nominated - Dunedin Consort puts its stamp on these most spectacular contributions to church music.

Lucy Crowe, Malcolm Martineau - Claude Debussy: Songs, Vol. 4 (2018)

Posted By: Designol
Lucy Crowe, Malcolm Martineau - Claude Debussy: Songs, Vol. 4 (2018)

Claude Debussy: Songs, Vol. 4 (2018)
Lucy Crowe (soprano), Jennifer France (soprano), Christopher Maltman (baritone)
Malcolm Martineau (piano), Lucy Wakeford (harp)

EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 213 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 150 Mb | Artwork included
Classical, Vocal | Label: Hyperion | # CDA68075 | Time: 01:03:18

The fourth and final installment in a complete edition of Debussy songs might not seem to be a chartbuster, but that's just what this release by British soprano Lucy Crowe has become, and it deserves every bit of its success. In fact, you might even pick this one over the other three if you're looking to sample Crowe's approach: the program is exceptionally well put together, and it begins with Debussy's first published song, Tragédie, of 1881. There are several other early songs, giving insight into the young Debussy's romantic life as well as hints of the musical language to come and some real experiments (you could sample the Rondel chinois). From there, the program proceeds to later music but is not strictly chronological: instead Crowe leads you onto a path of extremely quiet songs wherein Debussy challenges the soprano to reside in her upper register, and Crowe meets the challenges beautifully. The tension is remarkable, with just a single piano solo and a pair of songs to Debussy's own texts (Nuits blanches, or Sleepless Nights) with baritone Christopher Maltman to break it. The music broadens out with some later songs, ending with Debussy's swan song, Noël des enfants qui n'ont plus de maisons, of 1915. The contributions of pianist Malcolm Martineau are substantial; he produces some truly eerie sounds in the quieter pieces. Highly recommended and often haunting.

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.

Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor (2008)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor (2008)

Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre - Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B minor (2008)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 471 Mb | Total time: 53:25+53:40 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Naïve | # V 5317 | Recorded: 2008

Like many renditions of Bach's monumental B Minor Mass, this one puts forward a musical argument: in this case, for the use of a vocal ensemble made up of ten soloists rather than a choir. Minkowski's approach may be historically aggressive, but the sound is unstintingly lovely and the pared-down arrangements shed an interesting and unusual light on this most familiar of the baroque masterworks. Highly recommended to most classical collections and all period-instrument collections.

Matthew Halls, The King’s Consort - George Frideric Handel: Parnasso in Festa (2008)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Matthew Halls, The King’s Consort - George Frideric Handel: Parnasso in Festa (2008)

Matthew Halls, The King’s Consort - George Frideric Handel: Parnasso in Festa (2008)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 660 Mb | Total time: 131:51 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA67701/2 | Recorded: 2008

Hyperion’s Record of the Month sees the long overdue return to the studio of The King’s Consort, under the baton of the group’s newly appointed Artistic Director Matthew Halls. Here the ensemble presents the premiere recording of Handel’s Parnasso in Festa: a unique example in Handel’s enormous creative career of a fully-fledged celebratory serenata (or Festa teatrale). This form was rare in England but had developed in parallel with opera in Italy, where it was popular for commemorating special occasions of international significance. Parnasso in Festa was written for Princess Anne’s marriage to Prince William of Orange.

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.

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: 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.

David Bates, La Nuova Musica - George Frideric Handel: Il pastor fido 1712 (2012)

Posted By: ArlegZ
David Bates, La Nuova Musica - George Frideric Handel: Il pastor fido 1712 (2012)

David Bates, La Nuova Musica - George Frideric Handel: Il pastor fido 1712 (2012)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 737 Mb | Total time: 66:26+78:43 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMU 907585.86 | Recorded: 2010

Nominated for a South Bank Show newcomers' award, the sprightly early music group La Nuova Musica stake their unique claim: Handel's Il pastor fido has never been recorded before in this 1712 version, though some of the fine music pops up in later incarnations. Its pastoral colours make a strong contrast with the extrovert Rinaldo, Handel's first opera for London; the sensual orchestration is beautifully realised here, but heavy vibrato is in evidence in several of the resonantly recorded voices, which often overwhelm the continuo. Lucy Crowe's magnificent soprano is allowed full rein, and I enjoyed both Anna Dennis and Clint van der Linde, an outstanding countertenor. An auspicious debut.

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - John Eccles: The Judgment of Paris, Three Mad Songs (2009)

Posted By: ArlegZ
Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - John Eccles: The Judgment of Paris, Three Mad Songs (2009)

Christian Curnyn, Early Opera Company - John Eccles: The Judgment of Paris, Three Mad Songs (2009)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 300 Mb | Total time: 62:14 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Chandos | # CHAN 0759 | Recorded: 2008

This "Paris" is special because it shows Eccles trying to shunt musical theater in an all-English direction, and move it out of the shadow of the dominant Italian and French traditions. As Lindsay Kemp points out in verbose but thorough liner notes, the word settings, or underlay is for English speech rhythms and the score focuses more on line and melody that decoration and ornamentation. This is a Maske, so it feels much more like music from a play than an opera. The score is a theatrical and musical treat, lived up to in this vibrant and energized performance, conducted by Christian Curnyn and sung by the Early Opera Company. The soloists are well cast, lucid and each of them really grasp the difference between this and opera. The Three Mad Songs that end the program are just that, set pieces from various English plays where the heroin loses it, usually because a man has done her wrong.

David Bates, La Nuova Musica, Lucy Crowe - Vivaldi: Dixit Dominus, In furore iustissimae irae; Handel: Dixit Dominus (2012)

Posted By: ArlegZ
David Bates, La Nuova Musica, Lucy Crowe - Vivaldi: Dixit Dominus, In furore iustissimae irae; Handel: Dixit Dominus (2012)

David Bates, La Nuova Musica, Lucy Crowe - Vivaldi: Dixit Dominus, In furore iustissimae irae; Handel: Dixit Dominus (2012)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 363 Mb | Total time: 75:03 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Harmonia Mundi | # HMU807587 | Recorded: 2012

Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus, RV 807, was added to the Vivaldi canon only in 2005; it was long attributed to Baldassare Galuppi. That shows you how minor composers don't get their due; it's a marvelous work, but it's only getting recordings now that Vivaldi's name is attached to it. At any rate, it's well worth hearing in this excellent performance by the rising British group La Nuova Musica, which has both vocal and instrumental components. They move like a well-oiled machine, making possible the clear communication of such vivid details as the musical depiction of a stream in the strings in the countertenor aria De torrente in via bibet (track 8) and the unusually elaborate fugue that concludes the work.

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.