Handel's Last Prima Donna Vocal & Song Orchestral & Concertos CHANDOS SACD

Handel's Last Prima Donna

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CHSA 0403

Handel's Last Prima Donna

CD UPC: 0095115040324

Release Date: March 2018
Originally recorded in 2016

Composer
George Frideric Handel

Composer
Vincenzo Ciampi

Composer
Thomas Augustine Arne

Composer
John Christopher Smith

Composer
Philip Hayes

Solo soprano
Ruby Hughes

Orchestra
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Conductor
Laurence Cummings

Producer
Rachel Smith

Engineer
Jonathan Cooper

Venue 27, 28 & 30 July 2017
St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead

Genre:
Vocal & Song
Orchestral & Concertos

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Handel's last prima donna: Giulia Frasi in London

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

Susanna: Crystal streams in murmurs flowing

8:14

Air from Act II, Scene 2 of the three-act oratorio Susnna, HWV 66 (1749)

Andante larghetto e mezzo piano

VINCENZO CIAMPI

premiere recording

Emirena: O Dio! Mancar mi sento

8:35

Aria from Act III, Scene 7 of the three-act 'dramma per musica' Adriano in Siria (1750)

Edited by David Vickers

Cantabile - Allegretto

premiere recording

Camilla: Là per l'ombrosa sponda

4:39

Aria from Act II, Scene I of the 'dramma per musica' Il trionfo di Camilla (1750)

Edited by David Vickers

[ ]

THOMAS AUGUSTINE ARNE

Arbaces: Why is death for ever late

2:21

Air from Act III, Scene 1 of the three-act serious opera Artaxerxes (1762)

Sung by Giula Frasi in the 1769 revival

Edited by David Vickers

[Larghetto]

JOHN CHRISTOPHER SMITH

Eve: Oh! do not, Adam, exercise on my thy hatred -

1:02

It comes! it comes! it must be death!

5:45

Accompanied recitative and song from Act III of the three-act oratorio Paradise Lost (1760)

Edited by David Vickers

Largo - Largo

premiere recording

Rebecca: But see, the night with silent pace steals on -

1:32

O balmy Sleep!

4:51

Accompanied recitative and song from Act II of the three-act oratorio Rebecca (1761)

Edited by David Vickers

Larghetto Piano - Larghetto

THOMAS AUGUSTINE ARNE

Eltruda: Gracious Heav'n, O hear me!

6:45

Air from Act II, Scene 2 of the three-act masque Alfred (1740)

Added fro Giulia Frasi in the 1753 revival

Edited by David Vickers

Allegrissimo

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

10.

Sinfonia -

0:56

11.

Theodora: O thou bright Sun! -

0:33

12.

With Darkness deep as is my Woe

4:05

13.

Symphony of soft Musick

1:35

14.

Theodora: But why art thou disquieted

0:31

15.

O that I on Wings cou'd rise

3:18

Sinfonie, accompanied recitatives, and airs from Act II, Scene 2 of the three-act oratorio Theodora, HWV 68 (1750)

Largo - Adagio - [ ] - Largo e staccato - Adagio - Tempo I -

PHILIP HAYES

premiere recording

16.

Parthenope: Soon arrives thy fatal hour

8:02

Air from Act I of the two-act masque Telemachus (1763-66)

Edited by David Vickers

Larghetto e sostenuto

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

17.

Pleasure: There the brisk sparkling nectar drain

2:43

Air from Scene 1 of the one-act oratorio The Choice of Hercules, HWV 69 (1751)

Allegro

18.

Iphis: Ye sacred priests -

0:41

19.

Farewell, ye limpid springs and floods

5:36

Accompanied recitative and air from Act III, Scene 1 of the three-act oratorio Jephtha, HWV 70 (1752)

[ ] - Larghetto - Andante larghetto - Adagio

20.

Queen of Sheba: Will the Sun forget to streak

5:49

Air from Act III of the three-act oratorio Solomon, HWV 67 (1749)

Largo

Total time: 78:25

Solo: Ruby Hughes soprano

Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Margaret Faultless leader

Conductor: Laurence Cummings

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Reviews

"...Ruby Hughes has a direct, clean, and unaffected soprano voice that, judging from descriptions, probably matches Frasi's quite well. The orchestral work under Cummings is exemplary..."

John Dutterer - American Record Guide - July/Aug 2018

***** (Excellent Album)

Jeremie Bigorie – Classica magazine (France) – February 2019

“…this disc is a must-hear for anyone who cares about Handel’s vocal music …”

Raymond Tuttle – Fanfare – September/October 2018

“Giulia Farsi was a leading soprano for Handel’s last oratories and other composers’ works. Her career was not meteoric, but steady over a long time. Using her own excellent skills, Ruby Hughes follows the traces of this singer and sings a sometimes even innovative program with very fine artistry.” *****

Uwe Krusch – Pizzicato.lu – 10 May 2018

“… With her limpid purity of tone, immaculately even coloratura and graceful sense of style, Hughes is in many ways ideal in this repertoire… the OAE provide sensitively coloured accompaniments… The gentle beauty of Hughes’s voice, deployed with unfailing taste, can hardly fail to give pleasure, the music – not least the Queen of Sheba’s valedictory ‘Will the sun forget to streak’ – often touches the sublime, while the non-Handel items will come as delightful discoveries to many.”

Richard Wigmore – Gramophone magazine – May 2018

Performance **** Recording *****

“… this disc is a treat illuminating why Frasi and her music commanded a huge following.”

Berta Joncus - BBC Music magazine - May 2018

“… Perfect casting for Hughes, who possesses a pellucid soprano that caresses the gentler phrases of Handel and his contemporaries. The opening arias, from the oratorio Susanna, showcases her charms to perfection. A later number, from Ciampi’s Camilla, also gives Hughes the opportunity to showcase her technical facility in showier music… Laurence Cummings’ conducting ably supports his soloist, whose voice is treated as part of the music texture rather than dominating it.” ***

Francis Muzzu – Classical Music magazine – April 2018

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