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Handel’s ninth major opera for London, Alessandro was written as a showcase for the “Rival Queens”, the two famous Italian sopranos – Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni – whose supposed enmity, both personal and professional, not only generated good publicity for Handel’s latest opera but also added extra dramatic frisson to the two divas’ jealous clashes on stage.
Still something of a rarity even in this heyday of the Handel revival, Alessandro has only ever been recorded twice before over the past 30 years, and never previously with such a starry trio of singers in the three lead roles.
Marking the start of an exciting new partnership with the sensational Croatian counter-tenor Max Emanuel Cencic (and his company Parnassus Arts) that will involve both solo and ensemble recordings, this new recording stars Cenèiæ himself as Alexander the Great (a role originally sung by the legendary castrato Senesino), with acclaimed French Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin as the Scythian princess Lisaura, and the sensational young Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva – making her debut appearance as Decca’s latest exciting solo signing – in the role of Roxana, the Persian princess who finally wins the conqueror’s heart.
Recorded at the Megaron concert hall in Athens, this new recording of Handel’s classical epic features the period instruments of Armonia Atenea conducted by George Petrou, the brilliant young Baroque specialist whose previous recordings of Handel operas (Oreste, Arianna in Creta, Tamerlano, Giulio Cesare and the pasticcio Alessandro Severo) have won numerous international awards.
Handel: Alessandro, HWV21
Overture
"E tanto ancor s'indugia a superare questo vil muro?"
"Spegni, oh supremo Regnator de' Numi, dell'orrida civil guerra la face! - Si festeggi il bel giorno di mia tranquillità!"
Duetto: "In generoso onor, bella, ti cede il cor'"
"Cara, la tua beltà in me sol regnerà'"
"Amico arrida il Ciel al nostro amor fedel"
Max Cencic introduces his new opera recording on Decca Classics - Handel's inimitable Alessandro
Max Cencic talks to Katherine Cooper of Presto Classical about the role of Alessandro
Christmas 2012
*****
“These discs should come with an asbestos slipcase, so incendiary is the performance they convey...Cencic is imperious hot-bloodedness personified...perhaps best of all is Karina Gauvin's utterly disarming Lisaura, her coloratura dazzling, her bright soprano full of personality...Just as thrilling is the visceral playing...Pert and incisive, the overture crackles with energy...A revelation.”
December 2012
“Petrou offers panache and fizzy unpredictablity...[Cencic] is clearly not going to play second fiddle to his rival queens...This is an essential purchase just for the infectiously joyful performance of Rossane's 'Brilla nell'alma'...Armonia Atenea's playing is refreshingly free from formulaic complacency.”
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