Customer Reviews

Handel: Poro

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
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Europa Galante expresa verdaderamente el sentido más puro del barroco en una interpretación maravillosa y colmada de estilo. Las cuerdas con un sonido seco y los staccato en colocaciones exactas, dan una idea clara de los deseos de Handel respetando las formas imperantes en la época. Los cantantes en una interpretación excelente gestan una ópera de extremada delicadeza y cuidadas formas estéticas. Destacable es la interpretación de Poro en los tres actos (Barditelli) y de Cleofide y Erisenna (Bertini y Fink, siendo algo más débiles (pero manteniendo el estilo) las de Alessandro y Timagenes. En resumen una ópera adorable que todo amante de Handel debería tener

If you have not yet discovered Handel, your life is not complete. This rarely performed opera is a miracle. Every note is genius. You might have to listen to it several times to initially understand the music. Once you truly hear the music, you will "see the light." Every aria, recitative, overture-- is beautiful brilliant music, equalled only in magnificance by Beethoven and Mozart. There is a reason that Beethoven said "...Handel is the greatest composer that ever lived." The music of other baroque composers, including Porpora, Vivaldi, Rameau, Charpentier, Scarlatti, Conti, Jomelli, Keiser, and dare I say even JS Bach-- pales in comparison to the music of the great Handel. Get your hands on this performance of Poro-- and transport yourself to another planet.

We must be very grateful to Fabio Biondi and OPUS111 for recording this virtually unknown Handel opera. As usual, there is much fine music to hear, and the performance is predictably excellent, with wonderful singers including Gloria Banditelli and the great alto Gerard Lesne. Deffinitely worth trying!

Es difícil superar la interpretación y grabación de esta obra. La calidad en el balance de los solistas es tal, que no se puede notar diferencia entre el protagonista y el personaje de rol pequeño que sólo tiene recitativos, pues todos contribuyen con el argumento: Gloria Banditelli (el enamorado Poro), Rossana Bertini (la fiel Cleofide), Bernarda Fink (la amiga Erissena), El gran Gérard Lesne (el leal Gandarte), Sandro Naglia (El magnánimo Alessandro Il Grande) y Roberto Abbondanza (El traidor, después arrepentido Timagene). Todos ellos adornan esta hermosa obra de Haendel, sin personajes falsos, sino todos muy humanos. El Coro Final corona esta gran interpretación. Vaya para el Opus 111, Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante y los solistas mi más grande aplauso.

This is the one to have, if you are a Handel or Baroque Opera fan. If you can find it, B-U-Y i_t !!!Opera,

I have listened to early music for several years now. I am myself a musician and I play the baroque cello and gamba proffesionally. I love the passionate attitude to baroque music that musicians such as Marc Minkowski, Reinhard Goebel and Giovanni Antonini presents in their recordings. After hearing many of the cds with Fabio Biondi I have seriously understood that he is not even close to their class of musicianship. There is though one big exception which is the Bach recording with Ian Bostridge. But I am convinced that the amazing music-making on that cd is more because of really good musicians and the outstanding Ian Bostridge, than Fabio Biondi himself. I think that most of his other recordings are pure crap. Compare his playing in Italian music with Enrico Onofri (Il Giardino) or his playing in french music with for example Monica Huggett or Francois Fernandez and you will soon get some perspectives. First of all, his tasteless use of the vibrato. And the fact that he hardly takes advantage of the fantastic abilities of the gut strings. Their dynamic possibilities and sonority. It's a shame how he treats the music of Castello and Vivaldi: slow tempos and hardly no dance character. Not especially convincing in my opinion. I bought this opera mostly because of the singers. Rosanna Bertini and Gerard Lesne are some of my absolute favourite singers. But already in the overture I felt dissapointed. The overall character of the opera feels somehow musically desperate. Where is the natural feeling that is typical for the brilliant productions with Marc Minkowski? For me, this is the final proof of the fact that Fabio Biondi should't conduct operas. And maybe he should pick up the modern violin instead! I think that would suit him a lot better...