Handel: Ode for St Cecilia's Day

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This completes the series of recordings exploring the smaller works Handel inserted into his glorious setting of Dryden's Alexander's Feast. Robert King has previously recorded The Choice of... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Release Date: 30th Aug 2004
Catalogue No: CDA67463
Label: Hyperion
Length: 77 minutes

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Handel: Ode for St Cecilia's Day, HWV76

Work length48:49

$16.00

$19.95

James Gilchrist (tenor), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Jonathan Cohen (cello), Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet), Rachel Brown (flute), Lynda Sayce (lute), Matthew Halls (organ)
King's Consort, King's Consort Choir
Robert King

No 01. Overture Part 1. Larghetto, e staccato

Track length1:31

$1.00

$1.25

No 01. Overture Part 2. Allegro

Track length2:00

$1.00

$1.25

No 01. Overture Part 3. Minuet

Track length1:14

$1.00

$1.25

No 02. Recitative. From harmony, from heav'nly harmony

Track length0:26

$1.00

$1.25

No 03. Aria. When Nature underneath a heap

Track length2:53

$1.00

$1.25

No 04. Chorus. From harmony, from heav'nly harmony

Track length3:35

$1.00

$1.25

No 05. Aria. What passion cannot Music raise and quell!

Track length7:20

$1.50

$1.85

No 06. Aria and Chorus. The trumpet's loud clangour

Track length3:39

$1.00

$1.25

VII. March

Track length1:53

$1.00

$1.25

No 08. Aria. The soft complaining flute

Track length5:09

$1.00

$1.25

No 09. Aria. Sharp violins proclaim

Track length3:58

$1.00

$1.25

No 10. Aria. But oh! What art can teach

Track length4:46

$1.00

$1.25

No 11. Aria. Orpheus could lead the savage race

Track length1:49

$1.00

$1.25

No 12. Accompagnato. But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder

Track length0:50

$1.00

$1.25

No 13. Solo and Chorus. As from the pow'r of sacred lays

Track length7:46

$1.50

$1.85

Handel: Cecilia, volgi un sguardo HWV89

Work length28:51

$10.00

$12.50

James Gilchrist (tenor), Carolyn Sampson (soprano)
King's Consort
Robert King

No 1. Recitative. Cecilia, volgi un sguardo

Track length0:32

$1.00

$1.25

No 2. Aria. La Virtute è un vero nume

Track length5:02

$1.00

$1.25

No 3. Recitative. Tu, armonica Cecilia

Track length0:39

$1.00

$1.25

No 4. Aria. Splenda l'alba in oriente

Track length6:08

$1.00

$1.25

No 5. Recitative. Carco sempre di gloria

Track length0:35

$1.00

$1.25

No 6a. Aria. Sei cara, sei bella

Track length3:13

$1.00

$1.25

No 6b. Aria. Un puro ardor

Track length2:44

$1.00

$1.25

No 6c. Aria. Sei cara

Track length3:27

$1.00

$1.25

No 7. Recitative. È ben degna di lode

Track length0:21

$1.00

$1.25

No 8. Duetto. Tra amplessi innocenti

Track length6:10

$1.00

$1.25

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About

St Cecilia first appears in literature in a medieval collection of tales of early Christian martyrs who met gory deaths; at this stage there is little in her story to suggest a connection with music, but by the middle of the fifteenth century she had been accredited with the invention of the organ and was thus adopted as the patron saint of music. Over the succeeding centuries, the annual celebration of her patronage (falling on the supposed date of her martyrdom, 22 November) inspired composers to dazzling new heights of creativity. At the 1739 festival Handels dazzling Ode to St Cecilia (setting the famous text by Dryden) presented enthralled London audiences with chorus, top-notch soloists and a splendid array of obbligato instruments and some of Handels finest music. For this new recording, Carolyn Sampson and James Gilchrist fully rise to the occasion, supported by choir and The Kings Consort in sparkling form. Paired with the seldom-heard setting for soprano and tenor Cecilia, volgi un sguardo (a Dryden setting from 1736 written as a showcase for the skills of Handels two Italian opera stars), this generously filled new recording is a must!

Reviews

2010

This completes the series of recordings exploring the smaller works Handel inserted into his glorious setting of Dryden's Alexander's Feast. Robert King has previously recorded The Choice of Hercules, which was created for the 1751 revival. The tenor cantata Look down, harmonious Saint was intended as the interlude for the original run in 1736, but was rejected in favour of Cecilia, volgi un sguardo.
It's a splendid idea to pair this seldom-heard Italian cantata with Dryden's sublime Ode for StCecilia's Day that Handel created to fulfil the same function three years later.
This is a mouth-watering performance of Handel's colourfully gorgeous ode. 'The trumpets' loud clangour' features Crispian Steele-Perkins on fine form, flautist Rachel Brown enchants in 'The soft complaining flute', and Jonathan Cohen's cello solo in 'What passion cannot Music raise and quell!' is sweetly inspired. The King's Consort and Choir perform with perfect juxtaposition of flamboyance and taste. James Gilchrist sings with authority: he's a Handel tenor of the highest order.
This recording is in a class of its own when it comes to the seemingly effortless, beautiful singing of Carolyn Sampson, now the best British early music soprano by quite some distance.
She's sensitively partnered by organist Matthew Halls in the sublime 'But oh! what art can teach', which has a breathtaking poignancy. Notwithstanding many agreeable past achievements, King has seldom produced a disc of such outstanding conviction.

This is a mouth-watering performance of Handel’s colourfully gorgeous ode … the recording is in a class of its own when it comes to the seemingly effortless, beautiful singing of Carolyn Sampson, now the best British early music soprano by quite some distance … notwithstanding many agreeable past achievements, King has seldom produced a disc of such outstanding conviction

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