Customer Reviews

Handel: Opera Arias & Cantatas

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD occupies a special place in my heart, because it was the first collection of Handel's vocal works that truly convinced me that his opera music was worthwhile. There might be a few quibbles here and there, starting with the slightly resonant acoustic of the recording, but on the whole this is tremendous recital, sung with conviction and style. A wonderful introduction to some of the greatest and most beautiful music ever written.

In an age of a composer's "resurection"' Handel is no doubt one of the favourites on record and on stage as well. Suprisingly,however, there are only a handful of recordings with Handel soprano arias,whereas there are many recordings of the alto arias, sung magnificently by countertenors.
Here at last we have a journy through Handel's vocal pieces, supebly sung and played. Maria Bayo have performed sevral Handel roles on stage, and here she gives us hughlights of them. The 2 cd's of Kirkby, devoted to handel, are very disappointing, and consists mostly on rarities. Bayo sings the most famous with beautiful voice and with a great sense of style and taste. Skip Sempe conducts his group tastefully, and the recording sound is superb. Undoubtly, the Handel soprano recital of the millenium! May we have a sequell of it.

Solo escuchando esta música descubres que la voz es el mejor instrumento musical, y Maria Bayo es, sin duda, una de las mejores voces que existen en la actualidad, no solo por su timbre y calidad, sino por como sabe acompañar la música que interpreta.
Este disco es irrepetible.

First of all, Ted Libbey states that Maria Bayo is not a specialist in Baroque Music, well, whatever that means, Maria Bayo actually has sung a lot of Baroque music and was especially brilliant as La Calisto in Cavalli's gorgeous opera. Please try the marvelous Harmonia Mundi recording and hear for yourself. But Maria Bayo has also sung Giulio Cesare and other baroque operas with Rene Jacobs. This recital is actually very good, and Bayo is on top form. If you enjoy this, do please go on into the complete Giulio Cesare (Harmonia Mundi) and Alcina (ERATO) recordings.

This is a very enjoyable CD, Handel's music is lovely
and Bayo has a fantastic voice.
My favourite track on this CD is "vadoro pupille"
It is such a beautiful aria! the rinaldo and alcina
arias are also a delight.
I only wish that Maria Bayo had sang only opera arias
for this CD because I don't care for the cantatas.
I prefer the arias that were chosen for the renee fleming handel CD, but I bought this CD because I can't
stand fleming's voice.

La soprano navarra MARIA BAYO esta impresionante desde el punto de vista vocal: la voz es bella, las coloraturas estan bien emitidas, las variaciones de los da capo bien planteadas... Solo se le puede criticar su regular diccion, no siempre comprensible. CAPRICCIO STRAVAGANTE se muestra como un conjunto de primera categoria, al mando de un SKIP SEMPE que se suma a la fiesta dirigiendo con sumo acierto. Para terminar de redondear el producto, la seleccion de arias y cantatas es variada y deja lucirse a la Bayo, y ademas, el libreto contiene interesante informacion en varios idiomas. Un disco para no perderse. Quizas el mejor disco de una soprano cantando Haendel que haya en el mercado.

George Frideric Handel is known to most American audiences as the composer of Messiah and a few other oratorios in English. One of the reasons for the popularity of Messiah is that it's in English and can be sung by an amateur chorus, while Bach's Passions require German and professional singers. Indeed, many of us sang Messiah, or selections from it - especially the Hallelujah Chorus - in school or church. In many cities every Christmas a Messiah sing-along is organized with scores available for those who don't already own one.

But oratorio in English was a late development in Handel's long career. Born Georg Friedrich Händel in the German city of Halle, he lived for several years in Italy (Giorgio Federico Hendel), absorbing the Italian opera style as well as learning the language, and finally moved to England at the age of 29 when his employer the Elector of Hanover became George I of England. In England, he composed Italian operas for many years and only in his forties, when the English public got tired of hearing singing in a strange language by even stranger men (the castrati who played the heroic roles like Julius Caesar, today played by sopranos), turned to oratorio and the English language.

On this recording, the Spanish soprano Maria Bayo sings selections from Handel's operas and also from the cantatas he also wrote in Italian and even one in Spanish. Her strong, ringing tone is well supported by the original instrument ensemble Capriccio Stravagante conducted by Skip Sempé. It is a very satisfying mix of styles and a dramatic exposition of Handel's virtuosity. Most enjoyable.

Handel: Opera Arias & Cantatas is a recording under the direction Skip Sempé who leads the Capirccio Stavagante and stars María Bayo (soprano) on this Naive France recording from 1999. Javier Monreal has written a short and well-written essay about George Friedric Handel. The booklet contains many fine photographs of María Bayo. Recommended. 4/5.

I too have to disagree strongly with Ted Libbey's comments about Maria Bayo "clearly not being a baroque specialist". Hers is certainly not the colourless, vibrato-less type of voice which has sometimes been associated with baroque opera, and I am only very thankful for that. She uses her voice in a very expressive way, which is what is needed to bring characters to life in such a succession of brilliantly written arias, but always very elegantly. I was particularly happy to find some of the Cleopatra arias on this CD, as I heard her sing the role, opposite Larmore's Giulio Cesare and under the direction of Rene Jacobs in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to great acclaim (... and I should add that the Amsterdam public cannot be suspected of not being knowledgeable about baroque music!) Add to the program excerpts from the two other masterworks by Handel "Rinaldo" and "Alcina", and you get the most enjoyable and beautifully sung collection of soprano arias by Haendel available on one CD.

I too have to disagree strongly with Ted Libbey's comments about Maria Bayo "clearly not being a baroque specialist". Hers is certainly not the colourless, vibrato-less type of voice which has sometimes been associated with baroque opera, and I am only very thankful for that. She uses her voice in a very expressive way, which is what is needed to bring characters to life in such a succession of brilliantly written arias, but always very elegantly. I was particularly happy to find some of the Cleopatra arias on this CD, as I heard her sing the role, opposite Larmore's Giulio Cesare and under the direction of Rene Jacobs in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw to great acclaim (... and I should add that the Amsterdam public cannot be suspected of not being knowledgeable about baroque music!) Add to the program excerpts from the two other masterworks by Handel "Rinaldo" and "Alcina", and you get the most enjoyable and beautifully sung collection of soprano arias by Haendel available on one CD.