Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn

Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn

Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn
Our Price: $23.92
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album

Compare Prices for Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn

(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

Music CD Cover

Brand: JOSHUA,ROSEMARY
Composer: George Frideric Handel
Conductor: Christian Curnyn
Orchestra: Orchestra of Early Opera Company
Performer: Rosemary Joshua
Performer: Richard Croft
Performer: Stephen Wallace
Performer: Brindley Sherratt
Performer: Gail Pearson
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2008-01-08
Music Label: CHANDOS CHACONNE
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. No.1 Ouverture
  2. Allegro - Adagio -
  3. Gavotte
  4. No.2 Cadmus: 'Behold! Auspicious Flashes Rise!'
  5. No.3 Chorus: 'Lucky Omens Bless Our Rites'
  6. No.4 Cadmus: 'Daughter, Obey'
  7. No.5 Semele: 'Ah Me! What Refuge Now Is Left Me?'
  8. No.6 Semele: 'The Morning Lark To Mine Accords His Note'
  9. No.7 Athamus: 'See, She Blushing Turns Her Eyes'
  10. No.8 Athamus: 'Hymen, Haste, Thy Torch Prepare'
  11. No.9 Ino: 'Alas! She Yields'
  12. No.10 Cadmus: 'Why Does Thou Thus Untimely Grieve'
  13. No.11 Chorus: 'Avert These Omens, All Ye Pow'rs!'
  14. No.12 Cadmus: 'Again Auspicious Flashes Rise'
  15. No.13 Athamus: 'Thy Aid, Pronubial Juno, Athamus Implores'
  16. No.14 Chorus: 'Cease, Cease Your Vows, 'Tis Impious To Proceed'
  17. No.15 Athamus: 'O Athamus, What Torture Hast Thou Borne!'
  18. No.16 Ino: 'Turn, Hopeless Lover, Turn Thy Eyes'
  19. No.17 Athamus: 'She Weeps! The Gentle Maid, In Tender Pity'
  20. No.18 Athamus: 'Your Tuneful Voice My Tale Would Tell'
  21. No.19 Ino: 'Too Well I See'
  22. No.20 Ino: 'You've Undone Me'
  23. Medley: No.21 Cadmus: 'Ah, Wretched Prince, Doom'd To Disastrous Love!'/Cadmus: 'See, See, Jove's Priests And Holy Augurs Come'
  24. No.22 Chorus: 'Hail, Cadmus, Hail! Jove Salues the Theban King!'
  25. No.23 Semele: 'Endless Pleasure, Endless Love'
Music CD 2
  1. No.24 Sinfonia - Presto
  2. No.25 Juno: 'Iris, Impatient Of Thy Stay'
  3. No.26 Iris: 'There, From Mortal Cares Retiring'
  4. No.27 Juno: 'No More -- I'll Hear No More'
  5. No.28 Juno: 'Hence, Iris, Hence Away'
  6. No.30 Semele: 'O Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me?'
  7. No.31 Semele: 'Let Me Not Another Moment'
  8. No.32 Jupiter: 'Lay Your Doubts And Fears Aside'
  9. No.33 Jupiter: 'You Are Mortal, And Require'
  10. No.34 Semele: 'With Fond Desiring'
  11. No.35 Chorus: 'How Engaging, How Endearing'
  12. Medley: No.36 Semele: 'Ah Me!'/Jupiter: 'Why Sighs My Semele?'
  13. No.37 Jupiter: 'I Must With Speed Amuse Her'
  14. No.38 Chorus: 'Now Love That Everlasting Boy Invites'
  15. No.39 Jupiter: 'By My Command'
  16. No.40 Jupiter: 'Where'er You Walk, Cool Gales Shall Fan the Glade'
  17. No. 41 Semele: 'Dear Sister, How Was Your Passage Hither?'
  18. No.42 Ino: 'But Hark! The Heav'nly Sphere Turns Round'
  19. No.43 Ino And Semele: 'Prepare Then, Ye Immortal Choir'
  20. No.44 Chorus: 'Bless the Glad Earth With Heav'nly Lays'
Music CD 3
  1. No.45 [Sinfonia] Larghetto E Piano Per Tutto
  2. No.46 Juno: 'Somnus, Awake'
  3. No.47 Somnus: 'Leave Me, Loathsome Light'
  4. No.48 Iris: 'Dull God, Canst Thou Attend the Water's Fall'
  5. No.49 Somnus: 'More Sweet Is That Name'
  6. No.50 Juno: 'My Will Obey'
  7. No.51 Juno: 'Obey My Will, Thy Rod Resign'
  8. No.52 Semele: 'My Racking Thoughts By No Kind Slumbers Freed'
  9. No.53 Juno: 'Thus Shap'd Like Ino'
  10. No.54 Semele: 'Myself I Shall Adore'
  11. No.55 Juno: 'Be Wise, As You Are Beautiful'
  12. No.56 Semele: 'Thus Let My Thanks Be Paid'
  13. No.57 Juno: 'Rich Odours Fill the Fragrant Air'
  14. No.58 Jupiter: 'Come To My Arms, My Lovely Fair'
  15. No.59 Jupiter: 'O Semele'
  16. No.60 Semele: 'I Ever Am Granting'
  17. No.61 Jupiter: 'Speak, Speak Your Desire'
  18. No.62 Semele: 'You'll Grant What I Require'
  19. No.63 Semele: 'Then Cast Off This Human Shape Which You Wear'
  20. No.64 Jupiter: 'Ah, Take Heed What You Press'
  21. No.65 Semele: 'No, No! I'll Take No Less'
  22. No.66 Jupiter: 'Ah! Whither Is She Gone! Unhappy Fair!'
  23. No.67 Juno: 'Above Measure'
  24. No.68 Semele: 'Ah Me! Too Late I Now Repent'
  25. No.69 Ino: 'Of My Ill-Boding Dream'
  26. No.70 Chorus: 'O Terror And Astonishment!'
  27. No.71 Ino: 'How I Was Hence Remov'd'
  28. No.72 Athamus: 'Despair No More Shall Wound Me'
  29. No.73 Cadmus: 'See From Above the Bellying Clouds Descend'
  30. No.74 Sinfonia
  31. No.75 Apollo: 'Apollo Comes To Relieve Your Care'
  32. No.76 All: 'Happy, Happy Shall We Be'

Free Music Notes for Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn

Free Music Review: Exquisite Recording of an Exquisite Work
Hit: 5 Stars

This is an Oratorio not an opera. It was written to be performed in concert but it would make an excellent operatic production. The story is a good one and the passions it explores are timeless. The music in this piece, even though it was set to English, is well suited to the bel canto style of singing preferred for Italian opera. And that's fine. The definition of the term 'bel canto' stems from the idea of singing beautifully and lyrically in Italian.

The cast in this performance all have voices made to order for bel canto singing. Rosemary Joshua, Richard Croft and Hilary Summers stand head and shoulders above the rest. Summers has a beautiful contralto that soars along the lines of the music as she sings it. Richard Croft delivers some of the best work from a tenor that I've heard since seeing Kresimir Spicer sing the title role of 'Idomeneo'. His voice is rich and strong. It's also beguilingly gentle. And then there's Rosemary Joshua. This lady has a ravishing voice that seems made for bel canto singing. Her tones are clear and crisp. Her coloratura is precise and unforced. All of her linguistic sounds are soft, yet clear. And she has impeccable diction.

The rest of the cast is strong as well. Gail Pearson's tones are crisp and clear. Her voice is delicate but radiantly powerful. Counter-tenor Stephen Wallace sounds much like a natural male soprano. His falsetto (like many) never sounds forced. Brindley Sherratt sings in a rich ringing baritone that's never harsh. All of these singers use musical phrasing that flows easily.

The playing of the Early Opera Orchestra under Conductor Christian Curnyn is extremely mannered. That could be a problem with for some of Handel's scores. Guilio Cesaré (for instance) is pretty boisterous. It's well suited to a 'rock and roll chop'. The score of 'Semele' isn't. It relies on melodic lines and subtle ornamentation. The string passages have a lyrical flow. There's a lot of choral writing but it's tasteful and restrained. This is a mature work and the delicacy of the playing compliments that.

There's an abundance of highlights on this set. Semele's aria and the choral finale that follows is a jewel. 'Hence Iris, Hence Away', from the second act is another one. 'Lay Your Doubts and Fears Aside' is a showcase for the beauty of a tenor voice. The list is a long one. The music making on this set is beautiful.

It gets the highest recommendation.
Write your own review
More free music notes:
1 2

Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn Poster

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 8-JAN-2008

Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Classical Music CDs
Winterscapes ImageWinterscapes
by London Philharmonic
Prophetic Voice; Published: 2000-07; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.74
Price in other shops: $6.99
The Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee ImageThe Queen, the Bear, and the Bumblebee
by Dini Petty
Childrens Group; Published: 2001-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.40
Price in other shops: $20.98
Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr ImageClassical Kids - Beethoven Lives Upstairs Cdr
Release date: 2000-04-05; Music CD
Best price: $25.98
Tchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos)) ImageTchaikovsky (Life and Works (Naxos))
by Malcolm Sinclair, Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos; Published: 2003-11; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $35.99
Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS] ImageJose Carreras - Jose Carreras - Jubileum Concert [VHS]
Sling Shot; Release date: 2000-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.87
Price in other shops: $9.99
Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS] ImageTchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-09-09; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS] ImageRambert Dance Company - Lonely Town Lonley Street / Sergeant's Early Dream [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1997-10-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $24.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Winter Music: Composing the North ImageWinter Music: Composing the North
by John Luther Adams
Wesleyan; Published: 2004-11-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.62
Price in other shops: $25.95
Puccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImagePuccini - La Fanciulla del West / Santi, Domingo, Neblett, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $29.95
Verdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS] ImageVerdi - Falstaff / Giulini, Bruson, Ricciarelli, Nucci, Royal Opera Covent Garden [VHS]
Kultur Video; Release date: 1999-05-25; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Top Rated Albums
Handel - Serse / Rasmussen, Piau, Bayrakdarian, Bardon, Hallenberg, Peirone, Lippi, Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques, Dresden Opera ImageHandel - Serse / Rasmussen, Piau, Bayrakdarian, Bardon, Hallenberg, Peirone, Lippi, Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques, Dresden Opera
Naxos OF America INC; Release date: 2005-11-15; DVD
Best price: $17.88
Price in other shops: $29.99
Handel: Lotario ImageAlan Curtis - Handel: Lotario
Release date: 2011-09-06; Music CD
Best price: $7.67
Price in other shops: $17.49
John Eccles: The Judgement of Paris ImageJohn Eccles: The Judgement of Paris
Release date: 2009-04-28; Music CD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: $18.99
Handel: Streams of pleasure ImageHandel: Streams of pleasure
Release date: 2011-09-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops: $16.99
Handel - Rodelinda / Kermes, Mijanovic, Davislim, Lemieux, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis ImageHandel - Rodelinda / Kermes, Mijanovic, Davislim, Lemieux, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis
Release date: 2005-06-14; Music CD
Best price: $26.60
Price in other shops: $50.98
Handel: Flavio ImageHandel: Flavio
Release date: 2010-10-26; Music CD
Best price: $23.53
Price in other shops: $34.99
Handel: Agrippina ImageHandel: Agrippina
Release date: 2011-10-11; Music CD
Best price: $31.29
Price in other shops: $39.98
Handel - Partenope ImageHandel - Partenope
Release date: 2005-06-21; Music CD
Best price: $24.74
Price in other shops: $34.99
Books | Health and Personal Care | Beauty | Digital Cameras and Photo | Kitchen and Housewares | Tools and Hardware
Copyright © 2005-2007 musicnear.com
Google
 
Web musicnear.com
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles