Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh

Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh

Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh
Our Price: $50.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $34.99 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Listen soundtracks from this album

Compare Prices for Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh

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

Music CD Cover

Edition: Music CD
Format: Box set
CD Release Date: 2000-09-12
Music Label: Archiv Produktion
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Theodora: Ouverture - (grave) - allegro
  2. Theodora: Ouverture - Trio
  3. Theodora: Ouverture - Courante
  4. Theodora: Recitative (Valens): 'Tis Dioclesian's Natal Day
  5. Theodora: Air (Valens): Go, My Faithful Soldier, Go
  6. Theodora: Chorus: And Draw A Blessing Down
  7. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Valens): Vouchsafe, Dread Sir
  8. Theodora: Air (Valens): Racks, Gibbets, Sword, & Fire
  9. Theodora: Chorus: For Ever Thus Stands Fix'd The Doom
  10. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus): Most Cruel Edict
  11. Theodora: Air (Didymus): The Raptur'd Soul
  12. Theodora: Recitative (Septimius): I Know Thy Virtues
  13. Theodora: Air (Septimius): Descend, Kind Pity
  14. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora): Tho' Hard, My Friends
  15. Theodora: Air (Theodora): Fond, Flatt'ring World, Adieu
  16. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): O Bright Example
  17. Theodora: Air (Irene): Bane Of Virtue
  18. Theodora: Chorus: Come, Mighty Father
  19. Theodora: Recitative (Messenger, Irene): Fly, Fly, My Brethren
  20. Theodora: Air (Irene): As With Rosy Steps
  21. Theodora: Chorus: All Pow'r In Heav'n
  22. Theodora: Recitative (Septimius): Mistaken Wretches
  23. Theodora: Air (Seprimius): Dread The Fruits Of Christian Folly
  24. Theodora: Recitative - Accompagnato (Theodora, Septimius)
  25. Theodora: Air (Theodora): Angels, Ever Bright, And Fair
  26. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Irene): Unhappy Happy Crew
  27. Theodora: Air (Didymus): Kind Heav'n, If Virtue By Thy Care
  28. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): O Love! How Great Thy Pow'r
  29. Theodora: Chorus: Go, Gen'rous, Pious Youth
Music CD 2
  1. Theodora: Recitative (Valens): Ye Men Of Antioch
  2. Theodora: Chorus: Queen Of Summer
  3. Theodora: Air (Valens): Wide Spread His Name
  4. Theodora: Recitative (Valens): Return, Septimus
  5. Theodora: Chorus: Venus Laughing From The Skies
  6. Theodora: Symphony
  7. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora): O Thou Bright Sun
  8. Theodora: Air (Theodora): With Darkness Deep As Is My Woe
  9. Theodora: Symphony Of Soft Musick
  10. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora): But Why Art Thou Disquieted
  11. Theodora: Air (Theodora): O That I On Wings Cou'd Rise
  12. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Septimius): Long Have I Known
  13. Theodora: Air (Septimius): Tho' The Honours
  14. Theodora: Recitative: (Didymus, Septimius): O Save Her Then
  15. Theodora: Air (Didymus): Deeds Of Kindness
  16. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): The Clouds Begin To Veil The Hemisphere
  17. Theodora: Air (Irene): Defend Her, Heav'n
  18. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus): Or Lull'd With Grief
  19. Theodora: Air (Didymus): Sweet Rose, And Lily
  20. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora, Didymus): O Save Me, Heav'n
  21. Theodora: Air (Theodora): The Pilgrim's Home
  22. Theodora: Accompagnato - recitative (Didymus, Theodora): Forbid It, Heav'n
  23. Theodora: Duet (Theodora, Didymus): To Thee, Thou Glorious Son Of Worth
  24. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): 'Tis Night
  25. Theodora: Chorus: He Saw The Lovely Youth
  26. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora): O Thou Bright Sun
  27. Theodora: Symphony
  28. Theodora: Recitative (Theodora): But Why Art Thou Disquieted
  29. Theodora: Air (Theodora): O That I On Wings Cou'd Rise
Music CD 3
  1. Theodora: Air (Irene): Lord To Thee
  2. Theodora: Recitative (Irene, Theodora): But See, The Good, The Virtuous Didymus
  3. Theodora: Air (Theodora): When Sunk In Anguish
  4. Theodora: Chorus: Blest Be The Hand
  5. Theodora: Recitative - Accompagnato (Messenger, Irene, Theodora): Undaunted In The Court
  6. Theodora: Duet (Irene, Theodora): Whither, Princess
  7. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): She's Gone
  8. Theodora: Air (Irene): New Scenes Of Joy
  9. Theodora: Recitative (Valens, Didymus, Theodora, Septimius): Is It A Christian Virtue Then
  10. Theodora: Air (Septimius): From Virtue Springs
  11. Theodora: Air (Valens): Cease, Ye Slaves
  12. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Theodora): 'Tis Kind, My Friends
  13. Theodora: Chorus: How Strange Their Ends
  14. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Theodora, Valens): On Me Your Frowns
  15. Theodora: Air (Valens): Ye Ministers Of Justice
  16. Theodora: Recitative (Didymus, Theodora, Septimius): And Must Such Beauty Suffer
  17. Theodora: Air - Duet (Didymus, Theodora): Streams Of Pleasure
  18. Theodora: Recitative (Irene): Ere This Their Doom Is Past
  19. Theodora: Chorus: O Love Divine

Free Music Notes for Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh

Free Music Review: For ever blest with Harmony and Love
Hit: 5 Stars

Ensure that you have a comfortable chair upon which you seat yourself when you first put this recording on - you won't be able to tear yourself away from the recording. This is sublimely, wonderfully, expressively beautiful. It has the perfection in a recording which remains in the memory like a shining jewel, like a confession of love from the beloved, like a pure bell ringing in the sweet air.

In short, this is a recording that all who love beautiful music will relish all their lives.

The cast is outstanding. It is impossible to imagine Septimius being sung more beautifully and sympathetically than by the wonderful Paul Agnew (although the Glynebourne DVD does have the equally superb Croft - what a pity about the semaphoric acting on that DVD, though). Robin Blaze pours out mellifluous and heartbreakingly effective tone in the role of Didymus. Valens, sung by Neal Davies, has NEVER sounded better. Irene, sung by Susan Bickley, is wonderful (I still prefer Lorraine Hunt on the DVD edition, but really, Susan Bickley is deeply moving on this recording).

And the Theodora...? Ah, the Theodora. No better choice in the world could have been made than to choose Susan Gritton. She has the full sweetness of tone that seems to have been made for Handel singing. Once heard, her voice will not be forgotten. It's simply ravishing - a very, very, very fine voice indeed, and used so exquisitely and with such good taste as well as expressiveness! She's a model of how to sing baroque music. Her Theodora is divinely beautiful and incredibly real. I have never heard "Angels ever bright and fair" heard sung so perfectly before...

The conducting by Paul McCreesh is fabulous, with the Gabrieli Consort and Players giving a stirring and beautiful performance.

This, without a doubt, is THE recording of Theodora to possess.

The final duet sung by Theodora and Didymus are as good a testimony to the sheer loveliness of this recording as anything else I could say:

"Thither let our Hearts aspire
Objects pure of pure Desire.
Still encreasing,
Ever pleasing.
Wake the Song, & Tune the Lyre,
Of the blissful holy Choir."

Blissful indeed...
Write your own review
All Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh Free Music Reviews

Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh Poster

"The Jews will not come to it, because it is a Christian story; and the Ladies will not, because it is a virtuous one." Such was Handel's own assessment of the prospects for Theodora. This oratorio always has been highly esteemed by serious Handelians; in the composer's time, as in our own. Many listeners, however, could be forgiven for finding somewhat tiresome the musical account of the oh-so-chaste Princess Theodora of Antioch and her martyrdom at the hands of the Romans. Certainly many modern performances have tended to drone on--in a virtuously Protestant manner--about bidding farewell to worldly things and clinging to faith through tribulation. Of the many marvelous things about this recording, the most remarkable is the vocal acting: Paul McCreesh and his cast have created real characters with real conflicts. Susan Gritton gives us a youthful Theodora who is almost besotted with her own virtue and faith--and genuinely frightened when that faith gets her into danger. Countertenor Robin Blaze portrays Didymus, Theodora's suitor and rescuer, with love-struck impetuousness, as well as confident coloratura. Paul Agnew has always had a beautiful tenor voice, but never before has he captured so well a character's internal conflicts as in the role of the Roman lieutenant Septimius. As the Christian woman Irene and the Roman governor Valens (the libretto's respective compass points of good and evil), mezzo Susan Bickley and bass Neal Davies bring alive what could be stock roles--Bickley delicate and pure yet steadfast, and Davies exuberantly tyrannical. McCreesh's superb chorus and Baroque orchestra, as thrilling here as they were in Solomon, are probably the best interpreters of Handel oratorio who are now active. We still might get a recording of Theodora that's even more beautifully sung than this one, but we're unlikely to get one that's more dramatically engaging. --Matthew Westphal

Classical Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Basic Handel repertoire.
Bach - Magnificat / Handel - Dixit Dominus ImageBach - Magnificat / Handel - Dixit Dominus
Release date: 2007-11-20; Music CD
Best price: $12.06
Price in other shops: $16.98
Handel - Coronation Anthems / Gritton, Blaze, M. George, Choir of King's College Cambridge, AAM, Cleobury ImageHandel - Coronation Anthems / Gritton, Blaze, M. George, Choir of King's College Cambridge, AAM, Cleobury
Release date: 2001-10-09; Music CD
Best price: $8.96
Price in other shops: $16.98
Handel: Le Cantate per il Cardinal Pamphili ImageHandel: Le Cantate per il Cardinal Pamphili
Release date: 2006-09-26; Music CD
Best price: $13.71
Price in other shops: $20.98
Handel - Aci, Galatea e Polifemo ImageHandel - Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
Release date: 2003-06-10; Music CD
Best price: $17.46
Price in other shops: $32.98
Handel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh ImageHandel - Theodora / Gritton, Bickley, Blaze, Agnew, A. Smith, N. Davies, Gabrieli Consort and Players, McCreesh
Release date: 2000-09-12; Music CD
Best price: $34.98
Price in other shops: $50.98
Handel: Messiah (1751 version) ImageHandel: Messiah (1751 version)
Release date: 2006-10-31; Music CD
Best price: $10.77
Price in other shops: $17.99
Handel - Messiah ImageHandel - Messiah
Release date: 2006-10-10; Music CD
Best price: $30.88
Price in other shops: $45.98
Handel: Saul ImageHandel: Saul
Release date: 2004-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $31.48
Price in other shops: $50.98
Handel - Giulio Cesare / Jacobs ImageHandel - Giulio Cesare / Jacobs
Release date: 1992-12-11; Music CD
Best price: $32.90
Price in other shops: $45.98
Handel - Rinaldo / Bartoli, Daniels, AAM, Hogwood ImageHandel - Rinaldo / Bartoli, Daniels, AAM, Hogwood
Release date: 2000-10-10; Music CD
Best price: $37.85
Price in other shops: $50.98
Top Rated Albums
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: $33.25
Price in other shops: $50.98
Handel -Tolomeo / Hallenberg, Gauvin, Bonitatibus, Basso, Spagnoli, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis ImageHandel -Tolomeo / Hallenberg, Gauvin, Bonitatibus, Basso, Spagnoli, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis
Release date: 2008-03-11; Music CD
Best price: $26.11
Price in other shops: $33.98
Handel - Ariodante / von Otter, Dawson, Cangemi, Podles, Croft, Sedov, Coadou, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski ImageHandel - Ariodante / von Otter, Dawson, Cangemi, Podles, Croft, Sedov, Coadou, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski
Release date: 1999-08-10; Music CD
Best price: $37.95
Price in other shops: $50.98
Handel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn ImageHandel - Semele / Joshua, Summers, Croft, Wallace, EOC, Curnyn
Release date: 2008-01-08; Music CD
Best price: $17.98
Handel - Solomon / A. Scholl, Dam-Jensen, Hagley, Bickley, Gritton, Agnew, Harvey, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh ImageHandel - Solomon / A. Scholl, Dam-Jensen, Hagley, Bickley, Gritton, Agnew, Harvey, Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh
Release date: 1999-07-20; Music CD
Best price: $37.17
Price in other shops: $50.98
Samson ImageSamson
Release date: 2003-01-01; Music CD
Best price: $31.45
Price in other shops: $44.98
Handel - Theodora / Peter Sellars ? William Christie ? Upshaw, Hunt, Daniels, Croft ? Glyndebourne Opera ImageHandel - Theodora / Peter Sellars ? William Christie ? Upshaw, Hunt, Daniels, Croft ? Glyndebourne Opera
Release date: 2004-06-29; DVD
Best price: $16.21
Price in other shops: $29.99
Handel - Alexander's Feast / Argenta, Partridge, George, The Sixteen, Christophers ImageHandel - Alexander's Feast / Argenta, Partridge, George, The Sixteen, Christophers
Release date: 2005-03-15; Music CD
Best price: $23.25
Price in other shops: $29.98
Handel - Radamisto ImageHandel - Radamisto
Release date: 2005-11-08; Music CD
Best price: $19.97
Price in other shops: $32.98
Handel: Saul ImageHandel: Saul
Release date: 2004-04-13; Music CD
Best price: $31.98
Price in other shops: $50.98
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