Tír Na HiFi

Jared wrote:

fergus wrote:Magnificent music Jared! Have you seen the Gardiner DVD recorded in Basilico San Marco Jared?

I haven't my friend, but will bear it in mind..

It is an old DVD at this stage Jared and you of all people would probably pick it up cheaply as one of your bargain finds!!!

Jared wrote:I'll shortly be leaving for my Uncle's 80th birthday lunch (he's getting Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and Mozart's 'Great' Mass in C from me... ) so I won't be here for most of the day, but I'm continuing my Vivaldi/ Alessandrini journey before I go:

Enjoy the day Jared. Are you preaching to the converted or are you endeavouring to make a convert with your gift?

Hi Pepe,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post on Handel's Orlando, it is splendid, thanks for that.

Seán wrote:Hi Pepe,

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post on Handel's Orlando, it is splendid, thanks for that.

Thank you Seán, Orlando IS a splendid opera.

And last but not least, Fabio Bonizzoni finishes his admirable cycle of Handel Italian cantatas for the Glossa label with Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (not to be confused with the much later masque Acis & Galatea in English).
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo already has a quite stupendous recording with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le concert d´Astrée for Virgin with some wonderful singers: Sandrine Piau, Sara Mingardo and Laurent Naouri.
Bonizzoni not to be outdone boasts Roberta Invernizzi, Blandine Staskiewicz and Lisandro Abadie.
This time it´s very, very difficult to choose because both recordings are awfully good.

I 'm very much looking forward to picking up that version of Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, Jose. The complete set of Italian cantatas which Fabio Bonizzoni has recorded for Glossa is exceptional and unlikely to be surpassed in the near future.  I sincerely hope his working relationship with Roberta Invernizzi continues for quite some time.  Their recent album of Vivaldi opera arias was an absolute delight.

I also enjoyed your appraisal of your favourite recordings of Orlando, which is also a personal favourite of mine. I own the Hogwood and Christie versions on CD as well as a later version  directed by Christie from Zurich in 2007 and available on an Arthaus DVD.  Both CD versions are excellent and very rewarding listens but I have a slight preference for Christie for the sheer panache of his performance.  The DVD is also very good, featuring a less well known cast than Hogwood's or Christie's earlier version.  Perhaps the best known singer is bass Konstantin Wolff as Zoroastro (also cast by Rene Jacobs in this role in his production of this work last year at La Monnaie).   My pick of the singers would be Martina Jankova (as Angelica) who also recently recorded a very enjoyable CD of Bach cantatas for Supraphon under Vaclav Laks' direction and Marijana Mijanovic (who recorded an excellent version of Giulio Cesare with Marc Minkowski, not to mention the more neglected Rodelinda and  Floridante under Alan Curtis's direction).  The period instrument orchestra of the Zurich Opera House, La Scintilla, play very well for Christie.  I'm hoping, though, that Rene Jacobs will record Orlando for Harmonia Mundi shortly.  There are some very tantalising  excerpts on Youtube from last year's production at La Monnaie with Bejun Mehta in particular on splendid form.

I was listening today to Alan Curtis's superb version of Ariodonte (released in 2011 on Virgin Classics).  What a performance!  I'm a great fan of Curtis's previous Handel recordings (especially his version of Alcina, which is probably the best since Christie's) but this might just be his finest achievement.  Beautiful performances from Joyce DiDonato, Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux.  I was particularly struck by DiDonato's deeply moving "Cherza infida" which must rank as a career highlight for this lady.  I remain very attached to Nicholas McGegan's and Marc Minkowski's versions on Harmonia Mundi and DG Archiv, respectively, but this was a quite superb achievement for Curtis.  Virgin Classics were very foolish to let him go to Naive.

Earlier, on glorious vinyl (yes, Pepe!!), Spem In Alium by Tallis sung by the Tallis Scholars....

Bach: Six Cello Suites performed by Anner Bylsma....





....this is another very good performance and one that I like.