What opera have you purchased recently?

[Clayton]

Giulio Cesare, HWV 17 by George Frideric Handel
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Karina Gauvin, Romina Basso, Emöke Barath, Filippo Mineccia
Il Complesso Barocco
Alan Curtis

Attachment 3076

With the progress of the current round of "favourite opera" poll, I could resist no longer.

Ah! I see now.

4 hours of listening and I haven't finished act 2 yet.

I keep pressing replay after each aria (duet twice).

Spine tinglingly beautiful.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Ah! I see now.

4 hours of listening and I haven't finished act 2 yet.

I keep pressing replay after each aria (duet twice).

Spine tinglingly beautiful.

Handel is just a treasure trove of stunning arias. So many more to look forward to.

[Clayton]

Three shades of grey...

Handel is just a treasure trove of stunning arias. So many more to look forward to.

I have my eye patch, my shovel and a stuffed parrot on my shoulder.

Handel: Tolomeo, Re di Egitto HWV25
Ann Hallenberg (Tolomeo), Karina Gauvin (Seleuce), Anna Bonitatibus (Elisa), Romina Basso (Alessandro), Pietro Spagnoli (Araspe)
Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis



Handel: Rodelinda
Simone Kermes (Rodelinda), Marijana Mijanovic (Bertarido), Sonia Prina (Eduige), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Unolfo), Steve Davislim (Grimoaldo), Vito Priante (Garibaldo)
Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis

[Dark_Angel]

Handel: Rodelinda
Simone Kermes (Rodelinda), Marijana Mijanovic (Bertarido), Sonia Prina (Eduige), Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Unolfo), Steve Davislim (Grimoaldo), Vito Priante (Garibaldo)
Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis

Before you spend too much on these individual Handel Italian operas conducted by Alan Curtis the budget priced Virgin boxset must be purchased

[Amfortas]

Please tell Handel to stop writing operas. I can't keep up!

[Dark_Angel]

Please tell Handel to stop writing operas. I can't keep up!

Expensive undertaking with 40+ italian operas, many english oratorios and early italian cantata programs.....that is just the vocal works not to mention orchestral, chamber and keyboard compositions

[Soave_Fanciulla]

My favourite handel operas:













And one that isn't strictly an opera:

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Nat, Giulio Cesare is not among your favorites?
Anyway, I also profoundly love all that you have quoted, except that I've never heard Solomon.
But for me, Giulio Cesare is still king, followed closely by Hercules and Ariodante.
I also love Rodelinda, Rinaldo, Orlando, Tamerlano, Theodora, Serse, Teseo, and Giove in Argo (a pastiche). I care a bit less for Alcina, Acis and Galatea, Admeto, and Partenope. I loved the staged version of the Messiah.
That's all I know. I need to explore others (but I'm in a bel canto phase, will be moving to Donizetti next, I guess, after having finished the Rossini project; the other Handel operas will have to wait).

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Before you spend too much on these individual Handel Italian operas conducted by Alan Curtis the budget priced Virgin boxset must be purchased

This is out of stock on Amazon but available from good marketplace vendors such as importcds, classical music superstore, and moviemars, actually all three cheaper than Amazon (but still, the cheapest one, $61.18; a bit less when shipped from the UK but it will take much longer). Before I commit, please tell me more about the quality of these recordings and the quality of the operas themselves. Other than Admeto, I don't know any of the other five.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Nat, Giulio Cesare is not among your favorites?

It's my absolute favourite, but here I am trying to encourage Clayton to spend money on things he doesn't yet have.

Now you reminded me of Acis and Galatea, which Clayton NEEDS as well.



And Luiz, Solomon is utterly utterly gorgeous. I'd place it near Giulio Cesare.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

And Luiz, Solomon is utterly utterly gorgeous. I'd place it near Giulio Cesare.

OK, you always give very good advice so I'll buy it.

[Hoffmann]

How is Thomas Johannes Mayer's performance? I've seen him sing Wotan a couple of times and wasn't particularly impressed on either occasion.

[Hoffmann]

Ok, I've got the Rameau DVDs "wish-listed" for after getting a DVD player set up.

The good news, I suppose, is that focusing on Rameau's smaller output is way cheaper than building a Handel collection. Right now, I've only got Rinaldo and Xerxes/Serse. I guess I'm behind the curve on Handel.

So many operas, so little time...

[Soave_Fanciulla]

How is Thomas Johannes Mayer's performance? I've seen him sing Wotan a couple of times and wasn't particularly impressed on either occasion.

I'll let you know when I watch it. It's in the queue...

[Soave_Fanciulla]

Ok, I've got the Rameau DVDs "wish-listed" for after getting a DVD player set up.

The good news, I suppose, is that focusing on Rameau's smaller output is way cheaper than building a Handel collection. Right now, I've only got Rinaldo and Xerxes/Serse. I guess I'm behind the curve on Handel.

So many operas, so little time...

I think production-wise Rameau's output is better served than Handel's, so a wise choice.