Handel Arias for Cuzzoni / Saffer · PBO · McGegan

1. Rodelinda, regina de' Langobardi, opera, HWV 19 Act II, Scene 3: Spietati io vi giurai
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
2. Rodelinda, regina de' Langobardi, opera, HWV 19 Act I, Scene 7: Ombre piante urne funeste!
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
3. Riccardo Primo, rè d'Inghilterra, opera, HWV 23 Il volo cosi fido
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
4. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17 Act II, Scene 8: Che sento
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
5. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17 Act II, Scene 8: Se pieta
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
6. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17 Act III, Scene 3: E pur cosi
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
7. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17 Act III, Scene 3: Piangero
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
8. Giulio Cesare in Egitto, opera, HWV 17 Act III, Scene 6: Da tempeste il legno infranto
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
9. Scipione (Publio Cornelio Scipione), opera, HWV 20 Act II, Scene 8: Scoglio d'immota fronte
   Composed by George Frideric Handel
   Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
   with Lisa Saffer
   Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
   
   
10. Ottone, re di Germania, opera, HWV 15 Act I, Scene 3: E tale Otton?
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
11. Ottone, re di Germania, opera, HWV 15 Act I, Scene 3: False immagine
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
12. Ottone, re di Germania, opera, HWV 15 Act I, Scene 10: Giunge Otton?
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
13. Ottone, re di Germania, opera, HWV 15 Act I, Scene 10: Affanni del pensier
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
14. Tamerlano, opera, HWV 18 Act I, Scene 5: Serva Asteria
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
15. Tamerlano, opera, HWV 18 Act I, Scene 5: Se non mi vuol amar
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
16. Alessandro, opera, HWV 21 Act III, Scene 4: L'Amor che per te sento
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
17. Flavio, Rè di Longobardi, opera, HWV 16 Act I, Scene 13: Chi mai l'intende
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    
18. Flavio, Rè di Longobardi, opera, HWV 16 Act I, Scene 13: Amante stravagante
    Composed by George Frideric Handel
    Performed by Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra
    with Lisa Saffer
    Conducted by Nicholas McGegan
    
    

Handel Arias for Cuzzoni / Saffer · PBO · McGegan,George Frideric Handel,Nicholas McGegan,Lisa Saffer,Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra,Harmonia Mundi,Classical,Classical Music,Italian Baroque Opera,Opera,Opera / Operetta / Oratorio

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Average customer rating: Full of Handelian Esprit

Handel Arias for Cuzzoni / Saffer · PBO · McGegan George Frideric Handel , Nicholas McGegan , Lisa Saffer , and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000007CS Release Date: 1992-12-14

Tracks:

1. Rodelinda - Act II, Scene 3: Spietati
2. Rodelinda - Act I, Scene 7: Ombre, piante, urne funeste!
3. Riccardo I - Act III, 8: Il volo cosi fido
4. Guilio Cesare - Act II, 8: Se pieta di me non senti
5. Guilio Cesare - Act III, 3: Piangero la sorte mia
6. Guilio Cesare - Act III, Scene 6: Da tempeste il legno infranto
7. Scipione - Act II, Scene 8: Scoglio d'immota fronte
8. Ottone - Act I, Scene 3: Falsa immagine
9. Ottone - Act I, Scene 10: Affanni del pensier
10. Tamerlano - Act I, Scene 5: Se non mi vuol amar
11. Alessandro - Act III, Scene 4: L'Amor che per te sento
12. Flavio - Scene I, Act 13: Amante stravagante

Customer Reviews:

Full of Handelian Esprit.......2006-06-18

George Frideric Handel (1685 -1759), Arias for Cuzzoni. Lisa Saffer, soprano; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, conducted from the harpsichord by Nicholas McGegan. Recorded November 1990 at Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, California. Released as Harmonia Mundi HMU 907036; also available on HMX 2907171.74. Total time: 72'19".

Francesca Cuzzoni (d. 1770) was one of two Italian soprano “prima donnas” that Handel kept busy at his opera houses in London during the 1720’s and 1730’s. As one can well imagine, the two of them were not on the best of terms, and it is said that it came to blows on stage, something that was made fun of a little later in Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera”. But despite the shortcomings in her character, Cuzzoni appears to have been a wonderful singer, eliciting from some bright spark the memorable phrase: “Damme, she has a nest of nightingales in her belly.” Handel penned a large number of his finest arias with Cuzzoni in mind, and the most difficult decision facing Lisa Saffer and Nic McGegan when they planned this CD of “Arias for Cuzzoni” must have been, which ones to leave out. In the end they made, I think, a fair choice, with two arias each from “Rodelinda” and “Ottone”, three of Cleopatra’s airs from “Giulio Cesare in Egitto”, and single numbers from “Ricardo Primo”, “Scipione”, “Tamerlano”, “Alessandro” and “Flavio.” A further great decision they made was to include the preceding recitative before each aria, thus creating a little bit of context: Handel’s da capo arias were not really intended for a 72 minute recital by a single singer, and the recitatives provide small breaks and introduce the listener at the same time to the situation and the emotions involved in the following aria.

As with David Thomas on his “Arias for Montagnana”, there have been differences of opinion concerning Lisa Saffer’s performance here; and as there, I think this is probably just a matter of taste: personally, I enjoyed Lisa Saffer’s singing greatly, although I did detect some hardness of timbre in exposed passages. Ms Saffer is technically brilliant, but her voice is relatively small, so that I felt she had to replace emotional intensity with brilliant modulation and ornamentation. I compared the “Giulio Cesare” arias on the disc with Roberta Alexander’s performance with the Concentus Wien under Harnoncourt, recorded a couple of years earlier, and came to the conclusion that Lisa Saffer could not match Ms Alexander’s emotional expressivity. On the other hand, Saffer’s voice seems to be more appropriate to the “early music” style – and the McGegan disc is, from the standpoint of both orchestra and engineering, at least head and shoulders better than the Harnoncourt.

Even those who are not enamoured of Ms Saffer’s voice tend to admit that the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra gives a marvellous performance on this CD. The music is full of Handelian esprit and is captured more or less perfectly, including solos by Stephen Schulz, transverse flute, and Judith Linsenberg, recorder, and not to forget Nic McGegan himself at the harpsichord providing great continuo and sometimes more. It is a measure of the quality of the disc that I have just listened to it three times in a row and found myself loving it more each time.

Average customer rating: Do not miss it! A must-have for Handelians

Handel Arias for Cuzzoni, Durastanti, Senesino & Montagnana / Saffer · Hunt-Lieberson · Minter · Thomas · PBO · McGegan George Frideric Handel , Nicolas McGegan , Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra , Lisa Saffer , Lorraine Hunt , Drew Minter , and David Thomas Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Handel | Handel, George Frideric | ( H ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Vivaldi | Vivaldi, Antonio | ( V ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Baroque (c.1600-1750) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Classical | Box Sets | Stores | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Opera & Vocal | Imports | Stores | Music Bargain Box Sets | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Bargain Box Sets | Opera & Vocal General | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Opera & Vocal General | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music ASIN: B0000007HV Release Date: 1996-07-10

Tracks:

1. Arias For Cuzzoni: Spietati, io vi giurai (Rodelinda II, 3)
2. Arias For Cuzzoni: Ombre, piante, urne funeste! (Rodelinda I, 7)
3. Arias For Cuzzoni: Il volo cosi fido (Riccardo Primo III, 8)
4. Arias For Cuzzoni: Accomp.: Che sento? - Aria: Se pieta (Guilio Cesare II, 8)
5. Arias For Cuzzoni: Recit.: E pur cosi - Aria: Piangero (Guilio Cesare III, 3)
6. Arias For Cuzzoni: Da tempeste il legno infranto (Guilio Cesare III, 6)
7. Arias For Cuzzoni: Scoglio d'immota fronte (Scipione II, 8)
8. Arias For Cuzzoni: Recit.: E tale Otton? - Aria: Falsa immagine (Ottone I, 3)
9. Arias For Cuzzoni: Recit.: Guinge Otton? - Aria: Affanni del pensier (Ottone I, 10)
10. Arias For Cuzzoni: Recit.: Serve Asteria - Aria: Se non mi vuol amar (Tamerlano I, 5)
11. Arias For Cuzzoni: L'Amor che per te sento (Alessandro III, 4)
12. Arias For Cuzzoni: Recit.: Chi mai l'intende - Aria: Amante stravagante (Flavio I, 13)

Tracks:

1. Arias For Durastanti: Recit.: Favorevol la sorte - Aria: Ogni vento (Agrippina II, 20)
2. Arias For Durastanti: Pensieri, voi mi tomentate (Agrippina II, 13)
3. Arias For Durastanti: Ombra cara di mia sposa (Radamisto II, 2)
4. Arias For Durastanti: Recit.: Oh Dio! parte Zenobia - Aria: Qual nave (Radamisto III, 1)
5. Arias For Durastanti: Accopm.: Io d'altro regno - Aria: Dimmi, crudele Amore (Muzio Scevola III, 3)
6. Arias For Durastanti: Recit.: Ben a raggion - Aria: Vieni, o figlio (Ottone II, 4)
7. Arias For Durastanti: Recit.: Vani sono i lamenti - Aria: Svegliatevi nel core (Guilio Cesare I, 4))
8. Arias For Durastanti: Cara speme (Guilio Cesare I, 8)
9. Arias For Durastanti: Recit.: Figlio non e - Aria: L'angue offenso mai riposa (Guilio Cesare II, 6)
10. Arias For Durastanti: L'aure che spira (Guilio Cesare II, 11)
11. Arias For Durastanti: La giustizia (Guilio Cesare III, 5)
12. Arias For Durastanti: Mirami altero in volto (Arianna I, 2)
13. Arias For Durastanti: Qual leon (Arianna II, 6)

Tracks:

1. Arias For Senesino: Va tacito (Guilio Cesare I, 9)
2. Arias For Senesino: Non e si vago e bello (Guilio Cesare I, 7)
3. Arias For Senesino: Vivi, tiranno (Rodelinda III, 4)
4. Arias For Senesino: Recit.: Che piu si tarda omai - Accomp.: Inumano fratel - Aria: Stille amare (Tolomeo III, 6)
5. Arias For Senesino: Recit.: Nube, che il Sole - Aria: Si fugge il duol (Riccardo Primo II, 7)
6. Arias For Senesino: Agitato da fiere tempeste (Riccardo Primo I, 6)
7. Arias For Senesino: Accomp.: Ah! stigie larve - Arioso: Gia latra Cerbero - Accomp.: Ma la furia - Aria: Vaghe pupille (Orlando II, 11)
8. Arias For Senesino: Accomp.: Gia per la man - Arioso: Gia l'ebro mio ciglio (Orlando III, 8)
9. Arias For Senesino: Recit.: T'ubbidiro, crudele - Aria: Fammi combattere (Orlando I, 9)
10. Arias For Senesino: Recit.: E questa la Mercede - Aria: Cielo! (Orlando II, 3)
11. Arias For Senesino: Amor, nel mio penar (Flavio III, 4)

Tracks:

1. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Perche tanto tormento? - Aria: Se un bell'ardire (Ezio I, 6)
2. Arias For Montagnana: Accomp.: Folle e colui - Aria: Nasce al bosco Ezio II, 8)
3. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Che indegno! - Aria: Giisonar (Ezio III, 13)
4. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Addio, principe scrupoloso - Aria: Fra l'ombre e gli orrori (Sosarme I, 5)
5. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Quanto piu Melo - Aria: Sento il cor (Sosarme II, 7)
6. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Tanto s'eseguira - Aria: Tiene Giove (Sosarme II, 9)
7. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: I'll Hear No More - Aria: Pluck Root And Branch (Esther I, 3)
8. Arias For Montagnana: Turn Not, O Queen (Esther II, 6)
9. Arias For Montagnana: How Art Thou Fall'n (Esther III, 6)
10. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Avampo - Aria: Ferito son d'Amore (Acis & Galatea Second Part)
11. Arias For Montagnana: Piangi pur (Tolomeo II, 7)
12. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Mira, e prendi l'esempio - Aria: Lascia Amor (Orlando I, 2)
13. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Impari ognun da Orlando - Accomp.: Accomp.: O voi del mio poter - Aria: Sorge infausta una procella (Orlando III, 6)
14. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Barak, My Son - Aria: Awake The Ardour (Deborah I, 3)
15. Arias For Montagnana: Recit.: Thy Ardours Warm - Aria: Swift Inundation (Deborah II, 2)
16. Arias For Montagnana: Tears, Such As Tender Fathers Shed (Deborah III, 2)
17. Arias For Montagnana: Ah, Canst Thou But Prove Me! (Athalia II, 1)

Customer Reviews:

Do not miss it!.......2004-12-20

As some really interesting McGegan recordings silently disappear, buy it NOW, without hesitation.

The concept is lavish. We see how Handel's pen was controlled by the artists' personality. David Thomas, e.g., flies down to the abyss opened by Handel's music to the possibly plutonian Montagnana -nobody, never could sing it better, "fly deeper". The ladies are lecherously "aviatic" to the opposite direction. Those who miss it miss a universe.

A must-have for Handelians.......2004-08-04

This bargain-priced box set is a must-have for anyone who loves Handel's operas. Whilst Nicholas McGegan has had his critics over some of his Goettingen recordings, it cannot be denied that he has rescued some of Handel's finest arias and operas from the dustbin of History. And here (87 arias later), he has a fine cast of singers all re-living the repertoire of some of the best singers of the 18th century - Lisa Saffer sings arias by Cuzzoni, Drew Minter arias by Senesino, David Thomas arias for Montagnana, and Lorraine Hunt Lieberson arias by Durastanti.

The excellent Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra provide superb accompaniment for each singer, and the sound quality is very good across all four discs. The whole comes with a very informative and exhaustive booklet containing introductory essays for each singer, as well as full libretti.

Highlights include Lisa Saffer's ravishing account of Falsa Imagine (Ottone) which Cuzzoni allegedly refused to sing as it was too plain - until Handel threatened to throw her out of the window..! Lorraine Hunt's re-enaction of Durastanti's Sesto role from Giulio Cesare sees a committed 'L'angue offenso mai riposa'. Drew Minter's coppery and languid countertenor gives delight in little-known arias from Riccardo Primo (Agitato da fiere tempeste) and Tolomeo (Stille Amare). Whilst David Thomas' cavernous bass voice ranges across opera and oratorio roles for Montagnana.

In all this is a superb collection that illustrates what a genius Handel was at characterisation and word-painting. No Handel lover will want to miss it.

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