George Frideric Handel is one of the most prolifi c composers in the history of music. His body of work includes 42 operas, 25 oratorios, numerous cantatas and orchestral works and also pieces for piano, various chamber works, and sacred music. Arthaus Musik is now releasing a unique box set, The Handel Festival Collection, comprising the operas Admeto, Tamerlano and Teseo, and an additional documentary titled Barockstar.
Admeto was one of the most successful operas in the fi rst half of the 18th century. Axel Köhler, the celebrated countertenor and director based in Munich, Halle and Berlin, staged Admeto at the Opernhaus Halle in 2006, giving the opera an imaginative, contemporary twist. Following the 2004 performance of Handel’s fifth opera Teseo, the festival audience responded with rapturous applause. Under the musical direction of Wolfgang Katschner, the Lautten Compagney produced a stunning spectacle of baroque music. Inspired by the success of the opera “Giulio Cesare”, George Frideric Handel composed Tamerlano in just three weeks during July 1724. The coproduction on this DVD features the Handel Festival, the Goethe-Theater Bad Lauchstädt, the Theâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris, and the Sadler’s Wells Theatre London with the English Concert conducted by Trevor Pinnock.
It was recorded in 2001 and is the first ever staging of Tamerlano in the Goethe-Theater Bad Lauchstädt. The documentary film Barockstar tells the story of George Frideric Handel’s journey as a composer through Europe in the baroque period. It contains interviews with world stars and specialists in the field of baroque music, as well as descendants of Handel’s friends and patrons.
Sound Format: Tamerlano: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 / Admeto & Teseo: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 / Barockstar: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
Picture Format: 16:9
DVD Format: 6 x DVD 9 / NTSC
Running Time: Admeto: 196 mins / Barockstar: 78 mins (Doc 60 mins + 18 mins Bonus) / Tamerlano: 323 mins (Opera 190 mins + 133 min Bonus) / Teseo: 166 mins
Original Language: Admeto: IT / Barockstar: DE, GB / Tamerlano: IT / Teseo: IT
Subtitles: Admeto: IT, GB, DE, FR, ES / Barockstar: FR, IT / Tamerlano: GB, FR, ES, JP / Teseo: GB, FR, ES, JP, IT
FSK: 12
Region Code: 0
Worldwide available
Artists
Matthias Rexroth (Admeto), Romelia Lichtenstein (Alceste), Mechthild Bach (Antigona), Tim Mead (Trasimede), Raimund Nolte (Ercole), Melanine Hirsch (Orindo), Gerd Vogel (Meraspe), Jaeck Laszczkowski (Teseo), Sharon Rostorf-Zamir (Agilea), Maria Riccarda Wesseling (Medea), Martin Wölfel (Egeo), Miriam Meyer (Clizia), Thomas Diestler (Arcane), Monica Bacelli (Tamerlano), Thomas Randle (Bajazet), Graham Pushee (Andronico), Anna Bonitatibus (Irene), Elisabeth Norberg-Schulz (Asteria), Antonio Abete (Leone)
Handel Festival Orchestra Halle (on Historical Instruments), Lautten Compagney Berlin, Howard Arman (conductor) & Axel Köhler (director), Wolfgang Katschner (conductor) & Axel Köhler (director), Trevor Pinnock (conductor)
