Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato / Gritton,

Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato / Gritton, McFadden, L. Anderson, Agnew, N. Davies; King
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Handel's oratorios may be loaded with wonderful music, but their librettos have tended to draw some sniping. It's true that some of them can be rather banal, but others are very impressive--the biblical texts Charles Jennens assembled for Messiah and Israel in Egypt, for example, and John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast. One particularly inspired idea Handel's colleagues had was to take excerpts from John Milton's poems "L'Allegro" (about the joys of sophisticated hedonism) and "Il Penseroso" (about the joys of contemplative solitude) and interweave them to make a sort of musical debate. At Handel's request, Jennens wrote a concluding section titled "Il Moderato," which unites the two opposing temperaments under the guidance of "Sweet Temp'rance." The result is one of Handel's most colorful scores, with such treats as a robust aria with hunting horns, a laughter chorus, a gentle duet for soprano and cello, and arias and choruses with featured parts for trumpets, organ, and even the tinkling bells of a carillon. Not to mention "Sweet bird," one of the very greatest "birdsong" arias, in which a flute imitates a bird and a soprano imitates the flute. How odd, then, that this is only the second recording of L'Allegro in 20Â years. Luckily, it's a good one. Conductor Robert King and his orchestra and choir do their work well, certainly, but it's the soloists who make this performance special. Lorna Anderson does a lovely "Sweet bird" with a particularly good trill; soprano Susan Gritton sounds sweeter and more eloquent than ever; and the fabulous tenor Paul Agnew uses an amazing range of tone colors, from angelic purity to intimidating harshness. All in all, this L'Allegro is good enough to silence any grumbling about what took Hyperion so long to record it. --Matthew Westphal
Country USA
Brand Hyperion
Manufacturer HYPERION
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber CDA67283/4
Model CDA67283/4
ReleaseDate 1999-10-01
UnitCount 2
Format Import
UPCs 034571172835
EANs 0034571172835

Country	USA
Brand	Hyperion
Manufacturer	HYPERION
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	CDA67283/4
Model	CDA67283/4
ReleaseDate	1999-10-01
UnitCount	2
Format	Import
UPCs	034571172835
EANs	0034571172835

Handel: L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato / Gritton, McFadden, L. Anderson, Agnew, N. Davies; King

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