Lucy Crowe (Bellezza), Anna Stephany (Piacere), Hilary Summers (Disinganno) & Andrew Staples (Tempo)
Early Opera Company, Christian Curnyn
CD - 2 discs
$24.50
Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days.
Wigmore Hall Live kicks off New Year with an early music release. Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno was the composer’s first opera to feature the celebrated aria Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa (Avoid the thorn, pluck the rose). Recorded for Wigmore Hall Live in January 2010 by the Early Opera Company, one of Britain’s leading early music ensembles, the group features contralto Hilary Summers in the traditional countertenor role of enlightenment, her voice specifically chosen for its depth and fullness of tone.
Director and harpsichordist Christian Curnyn was determined to recreate as faithful a sound as possible to what audiences at the time would have heard, not only instrumentally but notably in relation to tempi: “Everything in Handel comes back to the heartbeat rate, fifty per minute. Recently people have tended to go either very fast or make things very dragged out, but in my view that spoils it. Baroque music is all based on dance, which means a natural rhythm. Of course you should push the boundaries, but it should feel as though you’re pushing against a natural membrane. There’s an inner pulse in Handel which you can’t ignore.”
Christian Curnyn founded the Early Opera Company in 1994 since when they have performed in New York, at most of the major UK festivals and at the BBC Proms. Their many recordings appear on the Chandos label the latest of which, Handel’s Flavio, has just been issued.
April 2011
*****
“[Crowe is] breathtaking in pyrotechnic displays of virtuosity as she dismisses the threatening ravages of Time. She's ideally matched duetting with Anna Stephany as Piacere (Pleasure), and accompanied by some of the best Baroque oboe-playing I've heard. Hilary Summers as Enlightenment is a remarkable contralto. An outstanding achievement.”
May 2011
“throughout the concert the string-playing is immaculate...Anna Stephany reins her voice in with admirable discipline and there is a nice atmosphere of chamber music-making between her vocal lines and solos by organist Mark Williams...Crowe's animated coloratura is executed with precision and refinement, her embellishments strik[ing] the ideal balance between unpredictability and fitting the harmony naturally.”
March 2011
“it is Crowe who takes the vocal laurels here and would be my main reason for recommending the set. Each of her arias is a highlight”
6th March 2011
***
“Curnyn and his lithe ensemble make the most of the often sensual instrumental colouring.”
The Independent on Sunday
6th February 2011
“Vivaciously detailed yet anchored to an even heartbeat, Christian Curnyn's performance with the EOC shows just how rich the sound of a small orchestra can be. If Lucy Crowe's Bellezza has the finest aria ("Tu del Ciel ministro..."), Anna Stephany's elegant Piacere, Hilary Summer's coppery Disinganno and Andrew Staples' bluff Tempo lend stylish support”
16th January 2011
“Curnyn's choice of tempi and his measured use of embellishment allow Handel's glorious score to speak for itself...Lucy Crowe is in thrilling form as Beauty; Andrew Staples delights as Tempo; rich-toned Hilary Summers is authoritative as Disinganno and Anna Stephany, as Piacere, brings a special warmth to the signature aria "Lascia la spina".”
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