Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is music that makes you feel glad to be alive - is there any composer better at expressing joy than Handel? This piece is all about the multi-faceted joys to be experienced - of the hunt(CD1, 16), the carnival (CD1, 23), solitude (CD1, 8,9), the theatre (CD2, 2,9) and the beauty of the night (CD2, 24). It is also a wonderful, perhaps unsurpassed, evocation of pre-industrial England. The singing is almost always first rate and Robert King seems to have shaken off the slightly restrained demeanor of some of his earlier Handel recordings and perhaps as a consequence the King's Consort and Choir are inspired. If you are unconvinced listen to the gorgeous duet at the end of part 3, possibly the best Handel ever wrote, and the sheer verve of the tenor air and chorus, 'These delights if though canst give'.

This is really a feast for Handelians, beautifully played and sung. The earlier recording of this oratorio, made by Gardiner in the 80-ties, is not only incomplete but also less impressively executed. It is wonderful to have both sets, but this new one from Robert King brings much more life to this splendid music. It is one of my desert island discs!

A wonderful performance of a beautiful piece. Good taste personified! In a complete and uncut studio recording. Robert King is served by excellent orchestral playing and strong singers. Susan Gritton's singing is wonderful. I can find nothing to fault and everything to commend. Buy it!

Review of Hyperion Label's L' Allegro by Handel



I own both the Gardiner performance (Erato) from the 80's and now this newer performance by King (Hyperion) from the 90's, and the King routs Gardiner. Not only does this newer recording benefit from better sound, but the solo singing is uniformly better, being informed by more recent scholarship. In addition, some of the solos on the Gardiner set are just weak, such as those of the boy soprano, who has almost no voice at all, thus ruining his part completely. On Hyperion's excellent set, in contrast, all of these problems are completely avoided; all the solo parts are taken by adult singers, who do both Milton and Handel grand, making this lovely poetry completely audible. King's orchestra and chorus are also the equal of Gardiner's well-known, excellent ensemble, and they perform the later edition of this delightful music which Handel prepared about a year or two after the initial performances, thus adding almost twice as much as Gardiner performs in his version of Handel's original version. In short, haste thee, and purchase King's period instrument triumph of Handel's L' Allegro and bring out smiles, jollity, and rejoicing all around.