Description

FARAO Classics: Handel — Ariodante — Murray, Rodgers, Bolton, Bayerische Staatsoper (3 CD)

Brand new! Factory packaged! As pictured! Buy with confidence!

Product Details:

Product Type: Audio CD (3-disc set)
Brand / Label: FARAO Classics
Composer: George Frideric Handel
Work: Ariodante, HWV 33 (dramma per musica in three acts)
Cast: Ann Murray (Ariodante), Joan Rodgers (Ginevra), Julie Kaufmann (Dalinda), Christopher Robson (Polinesso), Paul Nilon (Lurcanio), Umberto Chiummo (Il Rè di Scozia), James Anderson (Odoardo)
Choir: Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper (chorus master: Eduard Asimont)
Orchestra: Bayerisches Staatsorchester (Bayerische Staatsoper)
Conductor: Ivor Bolton
Recording: Live, Munich Nationaltheater, January 2000
Release Year: 2000
UPC: 4025438080307
Catalogue Number: B 108 030
Genre: Classical / Opera

Product Features

Format: 3 CDs
Recording type: DDD, Stereo
Complete recording (Gesamtaufnahme)
Sung in: Italian
Recorded live
Made in Germany
Condition: Brand New, Factory Sealed

Overview

Ariodante is Handel at the height of his operatic powers — the 1735 score he wrote for his first season at Covent Garden, full of some of his most beautiful arias and one genuinely devastating dramatic turn. This FARAO set captures a complete live performance from the Bavarian State Opera in January 2000, conducted by the Handel specialist Ivor Bolton.

The story is one of love, slander, and near-tragedy. The knight Ariodante is to marry the princess Ginevra, but the scheming Polinesso engineers a deception that convinces Ariodante she has been unfaithful. His despair powers the opera's most famous music — the great aria "Scherza infida" — before the plot is unmasked and the lovers reunited. It's a drama that gives its singers room for real emotional range.

Ann Murray sings the title role (originally written for a castrato, now sung by a mezzo), with Joan Rodgers as Ginevra and Christopher Robson as the villainous Polinesso. Ivor Bolton, long associated with Handel in Munich, draws lively, stylish playing from the Bavarian State Orchestra. As a live recording, it has the dramatic immediacy of a real evening in the theatre.

A rewarding set for Handel opera collectors, lovers of Baroque vocal music, and admirers of Ann Murray and Ivor Bolton's Munich Handel performances.

Interesting Facts

Ariodante premiered in January 1735 at the new Covent Garden theatre, at the start of Handel's first season there.
The libretto derives from an episode in Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso, the same source Shakespeare drew on for the Hero–Claudio plot of Much Ado About Nothing.
The title role's great Act II aria "Scherza infida" is one of Handel's most admired laments.
The opera includes substantial dance music, written for the French ballerina Marie Sallé and her company, who performed in the original run.
Ivor Bolton served as music director at the Bavarian State Opera and built a strong reputation for his Handel and Mozart interpretations there.
The title role was composed for the castrato Giovanni Carestini and is today usually sung by a mezzo-soprano, as here by Ann Murray.

Track Listing

This is a complete 3-CD recording of the opera; the disc-by-disc track contents and timings aren't legible in the photos provided. Send a clear image of the track list and I'll add the full tracklist with timings.