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Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alcina: Sinfonia | |||
| 2. Alcina: Minuet | |||
| 3. Alcina: Musette | |||
| 4. Alcina: Atto 1, Scena I: Recitativo - Oh Dei! quivi non scorgo alcun sentiero! (Bradamante) | |||
| 5. Alcina: Atto 1, Scena I: Aria - O s'apre al riso (Morgana) | |||
| 6. Alcina: Atto 1, Scena II: Coro - Questo e il cielo de' contenti | |||
See all 22 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Alcina: Atto II, Scena I: Arioso - Col celarvi a chi v'ama (Ruggiero) | |||
| 2. Alcina: Atto II, Scena I: Recitativo - Taci, taci, codardo (Melissa) - Arioso - Qual portento mi richiama (Ruggiero) | |||
| 3. Alcina: Atto II, Scena I: Recitativo - Ah, Bradamante! (Ruggiero) | |||
| 4. Alcina: Atto II, Scena I: Aria - Pensa a chi geme d'amor (Melissa) | |||
| 5. Alcina: Atto II, Scena II: Recitativo - Qual adio ingiusto contro me? (Bradamante) | |||
| 6. Alcina: Atto II, Scena II: Aria - Vorrei vendicarmi (Bradamante) | |||
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See all 22 tracks on this disc
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| Disc: 3 | |||
| 1. Sinfonia | |||
| 2. Atto III, Scena I: Recitativo - Voglio amar e disamar (Oronte) | |||
| 3. Atto III, Scena I: Aria - Credete el mio dolore (Morgana) | |||
| 4. Atto III, Scena I: Recitativo - M'inganna, me n'avveggo (Oronte) | |||
| 5. Atto III, Scena I: Aria - Un momento di contento (Oronte) | |||
| 6. Atto III, Scena II: Recitativo - Molestissimo incontro! (Ruggiero) | |||
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See all 22 tracks on this disc
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Alcina
Composed by George Frideric Handel
Performed by Arts Florissants Chorus, Arts Florissants Orchestra
with Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Timothy Robinson, Natalie Dessay, Juanita Lascarro, Laurent Naouri
Conducted by William Christie
Here it is: one of the year's most hotly anticipated opera recordings, made during an acclaimed live production in June 1999 at the Paris Opera, which more than lives up to the promise. Whether Handelian opera is still a novelty or you're already a rabid convert, this emotionally resonant, crisply played, superbly cast interpretation under William Christie and Les Arts Florissants is likely to shake up some of your ideas about the composer.
On the surface, Alcina's Ariosto-based story about a sorceress whose spell is finally broken seems like the typically absurd fare of baroque opera. But as the story unfolds in an incredible succession of some 28 arias, it's clear that these performers are reaching for deeper profundities present in Handel's music. Renée Fleming makes Alcina's huge Act II aria "Ah! mio cor" a central epiphany and turning point of the opera. It defies belief that this is Susan Graham's first baroque opera, so rich is her variety of invention and deep her musicality as Ruggiero, the one to break free of Alcina's spell, while the spun-silk soprano of Nathalie Dessay adds yet another colour to the multitude of female voices that dominate here. --Thomas May