Handel: Alexander's Feast

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Handel's 1736 setting of Dryden's ode is heard here with two interpolations made in the first performance - a concerto for harp and one for organ. Harry Christophers's feeling for sonority is... — BBC Music Magazine, June 2005, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 31st Jan 2005
Catalogue No: COR16028
Label: Coro
Length: 1 hour 55 minutes

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Handel: Alexander's Feast

Work length1:55:23

$37.50

$52.50

Ian Partridge, Andrew Lawrence-King, Nancy Argenta, Michael George, Paul Nicholson, Stephen Stubbs, Erin Headley
The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Overture

Track length6:20

$1.00

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Recitative: "'Twas at the Royal Feast"

Track length0:58

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Aria, Duet & Chorus: "Happy Pair"

Track length4:45

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Recitative: "Timotheus Plac'd on High"

Track length0:26

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Harp Concerto Op.4, No.6 in B Flat: I - Allegro: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length6:24

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Harp Concerto Op.4, No.6 in B Flat: II - Larghetto: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length4:15

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Harp Concerto Op.4, No.6 in B Flat: III - Allegro Moderato: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length2:42

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Recitative: "The Song Began from Jove"

Track length1:00

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Chorus: "The List'ning Crowd"

Track length2:08

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Aria: "With Ravish'd Ears"

Track length3:35

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Recitative: "The Praise of Bacchus"

Track length0:36

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Aria / Chorus: "Bacchus, Ever Fair and Young"

Track length5:08

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"Sooth'd with the Sound"

Track length0:45

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"He Chose a Mournful Muse"

Track length1:24

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Aria: "He Sung Darius, Great and Good"

Track length2:48

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Recitative: "With Downcast Looks"

Track length0:54

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Chorus: "Behold Darius, Great and Good"

Track length2:12

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Recitative: "The Mighty Master Smil'd"

Track length0:30

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Arioso: "Softly Sweet, in Lydian Measures"

Track length3:35

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Aria: "War, He Sung, is Toil and Trouble"

Track length4:37

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Chorus: "The Many Rend the Skies"

Track length3:58

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Aria: "The Prince, Unable to Conceal His Pain"

Track length6:26

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Chorus: "The Many Rend the Skies"

Track length4:03

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Recitative / Chorus: "Now Strike the Golden Lyre Again"

Track length2:38

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Aria: "Revenge, Timotheus Cries"

Track length7:51

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$2.10

Recitative: "Give the Vengeance Due"

Track length1:24

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Aria: "The Princes Applaud with a Furious Joy"

Track length2:22

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Aria / Chorus: "Thais Led the Way"

Track length5:12

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Recitative: "Thus Long Ago"

Track length2:20

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Grand Chorus: "At Last Divine Cecilia Came"

Track length2:28

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Recitative: "Let Old Timotheus Yield the Prize"

Track length0:22

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Chorus: "Let Old Timotheus Yield the Prize"

Track length3:28

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Organ Concerto Op.4, No.1 in G Minor: I - Larghetto e staccato

Track length4:48

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Organ Concerto Op.4, No.1 in G Minor: II. Allegro: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length4:49

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Organ Concerto Op.4, No.1 in G Minor: III. Adagio: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length1:13

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Organ Concerto Op.4, No.1 in G Minor: IV. Andante: Handel: Alexander's Feast

Track length3:59

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$1.40

Chorus: "Your Voices Tune"

Track length3:00

$1.00

$1.40

About
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At the first performance of Alexander's Feast in 1736, Handel incorporated two delightful concertos, one for harp and the other for organ, and these are included on this recording.

Reviews

June 2005

Handel's 1736 setting of Dryden's ode is heard here with two interpolations made in the first performance - a concerto for harp and one for organ. Harry Christophers's feeling for sonority is much in evidence, and the vocal soloists are excellent.

2010

Alexander's Feast, an ode to St Cecilia by the longdead John Dryden, was set by Handel in 1736 and revised many times. Subtitled 'The Power of Musick', it describes a banquet held by Alexander the Great after his victory over the Persians. The singing and playing of Timotheus inspire Alexander to drunkenness, pity, love and revenge, one after the other. What has this to do with the patron saint of music, you might well ask? The answer comes in a commentary towards the end, when Dryden contrasts Timotheus's pagan skills with the invention of the organ and the celestial connections of 'Divine Cecilia', who 'enlarg'd the former narrow bounds'.
The music is superb, and it's given a superb performance here. The Sixteen (actually 18, with two extra sopranos and an all-male alto line) are a little lightweight in the grander choruses but they sing with precision and unforced tone. Over a swiftly moving ground bass, 'The many rend the skies' goes with a swing; their finest moment, though, is their hushed contemplation of the Persian king lying dead on the field of battle.
The lion's share of the solos goes to Nancy Argenta, whose fresh tones, admirably suited to 'War, he sung, is toil and trouble', are cunningly and effectively veiled for 'He chose a mournful muse', an accompanied recitative in the manner of 'Thy rebuke hath broken his heart'. Ian Partridge is superb in his subtle handling of the words, as he is with his wonderful breath control in 'Happy pair'. Michael George is perfect in 'Revenge, Timotheus cries': hissing snakes, flashing sparkles and all.
The orchestration is a constant delight. In some of the solo numbers Handel uses only violins and continuo; elsewhere he introduces a solo cello, a trumpet obbligato, recorders and horns. Best of all is the creepy middle section of 'Revenge, Timotheus cries', where he conjures up the 'ghastly band' of the Grecian dead with Neapolitan sixth cadences played by the violas and bassoons in octaves. All these opportunities are seized with relish by the Symphony of Harmony and Invention.
In an unsuitable church acoustic, Harry Christophers sets unfailingly suitable tempi. And to add to our delight he includes the concerti detailed above that are integral to the piece.

Offer,Handel: Alexander's Feast

2 CDs

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