| Site review by Polly Nomial September 23, 2006
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Performance: Sonics (MC): |
A gorgeous disc of singing, playing & conducting of highlights of some of the greatest oratorio's ever written. The music included on this 70 minute disc is [title (work)]:
"These labours past" (Jeptha)
"Oh peerless maid" & "Our limpid streams" (Joshua)
"Great victor, at your feet I bow" (Belshazzer)
"When thou art nigh" & "To my chaste Susanna's praise" (Susanna)
"To thee, thou glorious son of worth" & "Streams of pleasure ever flowing" (Theodora)
"Welcome as the dawn of the day" & "Ev'ry joy wisdom knows" (Solomon)
"Kind Health descends" (Eternal Source of Light Devine or Ode for the birthday of Queen Anne)
"O fairest of ten thousand fair" & "At persecution I can laugh" (Saul)
"Where do thy ardours raise met" & "Smiling freedom, lovely guest" (Deborah)
"Hail wedded love" (Alexander Balus)
"Let's imitate her notes above" (Alexander's Feast or The Power of Musick)
"Who calls my parting soul" (Esther)
As can be seen from the list above, this is a fairly good cross-section of Handel's great works and, in duet form at least, has remarkably little competition (Handel: Saul - Jacobs is the most obvious here). The most(?) famous duet that Handel wrote for this combination of voices (soprano & counter-tenor) that is missing is "He shall feed his flock" from Messiah, which is a shame as there is certainly room on the disc to include this duet.
Throughout, in both celebratory and sorrowful music, Carolyn Sampson & Robin Blaze sing with aching and tender beauty. Added to which, Nicholas Kraemer coaxes marvellous sounds from, what is arguably Britain's top period instrument ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Comparing them to their counterparts (Rosemary Joshua, Lawrence Zazzo, Concerto Koln, Rene Jacobs) in the short but wonderful duets from Saul, then we see a more reflective interpretation here which works just as well as the more upbeat take from Jacobs' team; the presentation is more concert-hall than the theatrical approach of the Harmonia Mundi recording but as this essentially a concert, rather reflecting a staging I don't have a problem with this. The useful notes place each duet in the narrative of the respective oratorio and texts (in English only) are provided as well.
The sound provided by BIS is the usual model of clarity and unaltered dynamic levels that I have come to expect and enjoy. The two voices are clearly placed and there is good imaging of the orchestra too, which sounds just as it would "in the flesh".
Very enjoyable & most relaxing after a hectic day or week - this really is music that transports one into a calmer place.
(Purchased)
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Copyright © 2006 John Broggio and SA-CD.net
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| Review by Southern SACD Fan September 11, 2007 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics (S): |
If you have ever had to sit through three hours of St Matthews Passion, the title “Great Oratorio Duets” might seem like a contradiction. Like all musical styles oratorio is a mixed bag. Let me say at this point that this disk represents one of the high points of recorded oratorio.
This BIS hybrid SACD has 18 tracks of duets selected from Handel’s English oratorios. In Handel’s day the counter-tenor was the star of the show and people largely paid to see the counter-tenor with the rest of the cast as a lesser attraction. How times have changed, sopranos are often the main attraction now.
Carolyn Sampson as soprano and Robin Blaze as counter-tenor are both well acclaimed, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has now been going for over 20 years and Nicholas Kraemer as conductor also has strong credentials in recording and live performance. So all the ingredients are good but does it work? In this case – YES! As you can see by my award of 5 stars to both categories, the quality of the singing and instrumental playing is excellent without being too showy and the acoustic on the SACD layers is gorgeous.
The subject selection means that you can listen to large parts of the disk at a time without needing to skip tracks. The booklet is well written and will be needed at times even though the diction is clear and the singing is in English. Track 5 “When Thou Art Nigh” ends with a repeated refrain “… and bondage will smile”, which did not sound at all right! Reading the written text simply shows this meant the 2 young lovers in this duet had missed each other when they were apart. Perhaps another example of how times have changed.
If you think you don’t like opera or oratorio, this might just be the disk to change your mind.
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