Pinnock's version of Belshazzar is masterly, Fergus, but I'd also like to recommend a recent DVD from Aix-en-Provence on the Harmonia Mundi label. The ever-reliable Rene Jacobs conducts the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin in a dramatic, incisive, involving reading. The choral singing from the RIAS Kammerchor is exemplary and the soloists are very good, particularly Bejun Mehta as Cyrus and Rosemary Joshua as Belshazzar's mother, Nitocris. Mehta in particular is turning out to be one of the great Handel counter-tenors of modern times, juxtaposing great purity of tone with an exquisite emotional range. His recital of Handel arias under Jacobs' direction for HM, Ombra Cara, is quite superb, as is his portrayal of Didymus in Handel's great masterpiece, Theodora, which was captured in a fabulous DVD from Salzburg in 2009 that was released on the C Major label. The latter performance also includes one of the finest (and probably the most moving) portrayals of Theodora I have seen/heard by the great Christine Schafer.
Last edited by mcq on Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mcq wrote:Pinnock's version of Belshazzar is masterly, Fergus, but I'd also like to recommend a recent DVD from Aix-en-Provence on the Harmonia Mundi label. The ever-reliable Rene Jacobs conducts the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin in a dramatic, incisive, involving reading. The choral singing from the RIAS Kammerchor is exemplary and the soloists are very good, particularly Bejun Mehta as Cyrus and Rosemary Joshua as Belshazzar's mother, Nitocris. Mehta in particular is turning out to be one of the great Handel counter-tenors of modern times, juxtaposing great purity of tone with an exquisite emotional range. His recital of Handel arias under Jacobs' direction for HM, Ombra Cara, is quite superb, as is his portrayal of Didymus in Handel's great masterpiece, Theodora, which was captured in a fabulous DVD from Salzburg in 2009 that was released on the C Major label. The latter performance also includes one of the finest (and probably the most moving) portrayals of Theodora I have seen/heard by the great Christine Schafer.
Thank you for that Paul; much appreciated.
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