• 1160
• Articles
• 30 Apr 2014

“My breast with tender pity swells” Aria of Princess Iole – “Hercules” (HWV 60) – Georg Friedrich Händel – Libretto Thomas Broughton, from Sophocles and Ovid – First performance 5th January 1745 King’s Theatre – London. Ingela Bohlin Soprano Les Arts Florissants – M.° William Christie Conductor. “For the 1744-1745 season Handel once again moved […]

• 1022
• Articles
• 29 Apr 2014

Ann Hallenberg – “Mirami, altero in volto” Aria of Tauride – “Arianna in Creta” (HWV 32) – Georg Friedrich Händel – Libretto Unknown, after Pietro Pariati, 1721/9 – First performance 26th January 1734, King’s Theatre, London. Cast Arianna – Anna Maria Strada del Pò (Soprano) Teseo – Giovanni Carestini, called “Cusanino” (Alto-castrato) Carilda – Maria […]

• 1045
• Articles
• 29 Apr 2014

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 † 1759) – ”Total eclipse” – Aria & Scene of Samson – “Samson” Oratorio HWV57. Mark Padmore Tenor as Samson M.° Andrew Manze Conductor – The English Concert. Total eclipse! No sun, no moon. All dark amidst the blaze of noon! Oh, glorious light, no chering ray to glad my eyes […]

• 1111
• Articles
• 29 Apr 2014

Dame Joan Sutherland (1926 – 2010) – “With plaintive note” – “Samson” – Georg Friedrich Händel. Harpsichord M.° Richard Bonynge – BBC recording – London 1960.

• 1069
• Articles
• 29 Apr 2014

Georg Friedrich Händel – “Great God, who, yet but darkly known” – Aria of Cyrus – “Belshazzar”. Great God, who, yet but darkly known, Thus far hast deign’d my arms to bring; Support me still, while I pull down Assyria’s proud, injurious king. So shall this hand thy altars raise, This tongue for ever sing […]

• 1178
• Articles
• 29 Apr 2014

Magdalena Kozená- “Da tempeste il legno infranto” Aria of Cleopatra – “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” (HWV 17) – Georg Friedrich Händel. Libretto Nicola Francesco Haym First performance: 20th February 1724, King’s Theatre, London. Cast Cleopatra – Francesca Cuzzoni (Soprano) Sesto – Margherita Durastanti (Soprano) Giulio Cesare – Francesco Bernardi, called “Senesino” (Alto castrato) Tolomeo – […]

• 1266
• Articles
• 28 Apr 2014

From 1710 onwards she was one of the great European personalities of the stage – a fantastic singer and a brilliant actress. And all this in spite of her looks – she was called “The Elephant” by a certain librettists. The only artist to have focused on arias by Margherita was the late Lorraine Hunt […]

• 1155
• Articles
• 28 Apr 2014

Agostino Steffani (1654–1728) was a remarkable man — a natural musician who became a prominent diplomat, politician, and bishop, and an industrious Roman Catholic vicar. Furthermore, although he was born in Castelfranco, in the Veneto, he spent most of his life in Germany— at Munich (1667–1688), Hanover( 1688–1703), Düsseldorf (1703–1709), and again at Hanover. The […]

• 1331
• Articles
• 28 Apr 2014

Edita Gruberova – “Let the Bright Seraphim” – “Samson” Oratorio HWV 57 – George Frederick Händel. Cast Wynton Marsalis – Edita Gruberova – M.° Raymond Leppard & the English Chamber Orchestra. Samson was begun immediately after Handel had finished writing Messiah in 1741. Although almost all of the work was done by October of that […]

• 1338
• Articles
• 28 Apr 2014

Angela Denning – “With Plaintive Notes…” Delilah’s Aria – “Samson” – Georg Friedrich Händel. LIVE at Göttingen Händel Festival. One of the most exciting voices to come out of Australia in recent decades is the Sydney born dramatic soprano Angela Denning. Over the years, Angela’s voice has followed an almost ‘miraculous,’ ever-changing path, continually evolving […]