If you do not fall in love with mrs. Horne through the Recital disc, your heart must be made of either wood or stone. It's fabulissimo! From the viewpoint of today some might find some of the ornamentation slightly over the top and maybe not all of it 110% stylistically impeccable. But boy, oh boy, who cares, when listening to such a display of vocal firework! But the recital also contains tender and expressive singing of the highest order as is for example demonstrated in the aria "Cara sposa" from Rinaldo. As David points out, Marilyn. Horne really did a pioneering effort on behalf of the trouser-roles of both the baroque- and 19th-century belcanto era (for the latter listen for example to her great impersonation of Arsace in Rossini's Semiramide). Through the magisterial, majestic and thoroughly convincing manner in which she mastered these parts, both (pyro)technically and dramatically, she by the way affectionately earned herself the nickname "General Horne"!
Jennifer Larmore's Cara Sposa on a mixed recital disc of Handel and Mozart was probably the first thing that really turned me on to Handel beyond Messiah and the instrumental stuff like Water Music. I ordered the Horne disc and look forward to hearing her sing it. I have other Horne recordings so it didn't take much to get me to order the Recital disc.
Great talk. I probably don't really need more Handel aria discs but ordered the Horne, Cencic and DiDonata discs and have the other 3 which are great. Handel operas are a lot for one sitting in today's world, but the majority of them are neatly divided into one 55 to 70 minute act per disc and there's no law that says you can't take them one act at a time over a few days or weeks. I got initially hooked via aria discs and then had to hear the full operas and oratorios.
As Mae West famously said: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful"! No one lesser than Adrian Boult, who wasn't as stuffy, as David sometimes likes to portray him, found it too hard to stomach to concentrate through a whole Wagner opera in one sitting. When at Bayreuth he would f.ex. see Acts 1 and 3 of the Walküre one evening, granting himself a rest during Act 2. Act 2 he would then enjoy the following evening with his faculties for concentration, rested and restored!
@@EnriqueHernandez-zk7qc A man, who used to be bored to death by Handel's operas, asks for a critical overview of Vivaldi operas?! Somewhat a contradiction in terms!
Lovely talk Dave. I really like the fact that Horne’s disc is simply called “Recital”, would that we could have more of that convincing modesty today :) I was thinking last night, as is my wont, re the 1950s, and it struck me that rather than the dreaded avant garde, what stands out is a certain kind of renewed antiquarianism which is still around now. Again, it’s all beautiful music, but there’s definitely something interesting in terms of social class and consumption going on there after the shock of the war.
Thanks for this supplement to your Handel Opera review. When it comes to overlong opera seria my solution is to skip all of the secco recitatives--impossible before the invention of the compact disc, but easy enough now. If you know the plot to a Handel opera you don't really need to get the "dialogue" anyway. The arias are thing. Marilyn Horne may well be the greatest Handel singer of all time; too bad she wasn't available for more Handel opera recordings.
Dave, you are so funny. I love waking up and starting my day with your videos. Continue more opera reviews please.
So great to see that Bicket's Rodelinda made the list. It is truly marvelous 😍👌
There's a wonderful Handel disk with Janet Baker and Raymond Leppard with excerpts from a number of operas and also a short cantata.
If you do not fall in love with mrs. Horne through the Recital disc, your heart must be made of either wood or stone. It's fabulissimo!
From the viewpoint of today some might find some of the ornamentation slightly over the top and maybe not all of it 110% stylistically impeccable. But boy, oh boy, who cares, when listening to such a display of vocal firework! But the recital also contains tender and expressive singing of the highest order as is for example demonstrated in the aria "Cara sposa" from Rinaldo.
As David points out, Marilyn. Horne really did a pioneering effort on behalf of the trouser-roles of both the baroque- and 19th-century belcanto era (for the latter listen for example to her great impersonation of Arsace in Rossini's Semiramide).
Through the magisterial, majestic and thoroughly convincing manner in which she mastered these parts, both (pyro)technically and dramatically, she by the way affectionately earned herself the nickname "General Horne"!
Jennifer Larmore's Cara Sposa on a mixed recital disc of Handel and Mozart was probably the first thing that really turned me on to Handel beyond Messiah and the instrumental stuff like Water Music. I ordered the Horne disc and look forward to hearing her sing it. I have other Horne recordings so it didn't take much to get me to order the Recital disc.
Great talk. I probably don't really need more Handel aria discs but ordered the Horne, Cencic and DiDonata discs and have the other 3 which are great. Handel operas are a lot for one sitting in today's world, but the majority of them are neatly divided into one 55 to 70 minute act per disc and there's no law that says you can't take them one act at a time over a few days or weeks. I got initially hooked via aria discs and then had to hear the full operas and oratorios.
As Mae West famously said: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful"!
No one lesser than Adrian Boult, who wasn't as stuffy, as David sometimes likes to portray him, found it too hard to stomach to concentrate through a whole Wagner opera in one sitting. When at Bayreuth he would f.ex. see Acts 1 and 3 of the Walküre one evening, granting himself a rest during Act 2. Act 2 he would then enjoy the following evening with his faculties for concentration, rested and restored!
@@EnriqueHernandez-zk7qc A man, who used to be bored to death by Handel's operas, asks for a critical overview of Vivaldi operas?! Somewhat a contradiction in terms!
@@EnriqueHernandez-zk7qc I was just teasing! 😉
Lovely talk Dave. I really like the fact that Horne’s disc is simply called “Recital”, would that we could have more of that convincing modesty today :)
I was thinking last night, as is my wont, re the 1950s, and it struck me that rather than the dreaded avant garde, what stands out is a certain kind of renewed antiquarianism which is still around now. Again, it’s all beautiful music, but there’s definitely something interesting in terms of social class and consumption going on there after the shock of the war.
Thanks for this supplement to your Handel Opera review. When it comes to overlong opera seria my solution is to skip all of the secco recitatives--impossible before the invention of the compact disc, but easy enough now. If you know the plot to a Handel opera you don't really need to get the "dialogue" anyway. The arias are thing. Marilyn Horne may well be the greatest Handel singer of all time; too bad she wasn't available for more Handel opera recordings.
Thanks!
Thank you very much!
Although, LOVE James Bowman in general.
Chaqun à son hoot ;)
I can’t tell from Googling, so I ask here just out of curiosity: does that Marilyn Horne disc feature Martin Katz on the piano?
No. It's all orchestral stuff.