Ivor Bolton, Bavarian State Opera Orchestra - Händel: Xerxes (2005)
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:51:53 | 940 MB
Genre: Classical, Opera | Label: Farao Classics | Catalog: B108010
EAC | FLAC (image+.cue, log) | Covers Included | 02:51:53 | 940 MB
Genre: Classical, Opera | Label: Farao Classics | Catalog: B108010
The aria Ombra mai fu at the start of Act I of Handel's opera seria Serse (Xerxes) is likely to be its best-known asset. Serse was written in 1733-38, at the end of Handel's career as an opera composer: he concentrated on oratorio after 1741. It is a great achievement. Not least because it uses the music, and the marriage of words and music, to evoke in the audience pathos, sympathy, delight, and as much tempered ridicule as tempered tenderness.