Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
A superb addition to the Handel discography, 27 Nov 2004
Quite simply, this is probably the most important addition to the Handel discography in many years. The musicianship and pure style that comes across here in arias written for several of Handel's star divas in the 1720s and 30s (Cuzzoni, Bordoni etc), together with impeccable accompaniment and tempi from Christoph Rousset's Les Talens Lyriques, makes this a delight to listen to time and again.In recital discs such as recent offerings from Hunt Lieberson, Renee Fleming and Sarah Connolly, the Handel aria has never seemed so alive, but with Piau's recital we find that, although the arias have been removed from their contexts in various operas, she nevertheless imbues them with due sense of emotion, character and utter believability. Whether singing Cleopatra's sensual and heartfelt plea from Giulio Cesare (se pieta), Angelica's emotional farewell from Orlando (verdi piante) or the 'rage aria' from the end of Act 2 of Scipione (Scoglio d'immota fronte) which she recorded with Rousset in a complete version of the opera sadly no longer available, Piau gives us gem after gem. There are no gimmics here, no complete re-writes of the vocal llines, no mannerisms, but a pure and committed performance from a true Handel diva, all the better as she has sung these roles in live opera performances. With some baroque singers it seems as if you have to listen out of reverence for a lost art - with Piau all you have to do is accept some truly great genuine soprano singing. This volume deserves 10* and should be a best seller.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
THE MOST SUBLIME HAENDEL RECORDING, 4 Dec 2004
I'll try to be concise. This CD is the greatest CD of Haendel arias ever recorded. The only flaw is Piau looks like Maxine Carr. I'm being flipppant. Piau's singing is pure, assured and totally sincere, she carreses every note. She is a virtuoso and worthy of being a prima donna of the sort which an exasperated Mr Haendel dangled out of a window by her ankles. However, you can hear from her voice, Piay loves and has an understanding of the internal emotianal workings of this music. As Diamanda Galas has termed her own work, intravenal song. The genius of a composer such as Mr H and an interpretation of this stature both Piau and Rousset (his pacing and sense of nuance, verve and the subtleties of themusic are genius)communicate something beyond the literal text, and this is when oprea seraia is at it's peak. I could write pages, but I won't, just buy this album. Truly great music is like falling in love; nothing else matters, all around becomes secondary, and the fact that such music can touch such deep part in you nearly 300 years after it was written; well I grew up with punk and alternative, but in another 300 years it will be music composed & performed such as this which will still be so very poignant and transcend the fashoins and forms of it's time. I may sound pretentious, but really, this is a truly great work, if you have any love of Haendel or oprea it's a must have, and if not, then open your eyes and buy it anyway.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
The girl can sing, 16 Oct 2005
I had never heard of Sandrine Piau, nor was I particularly familiar with Handel's many opera seria. However, on the strength of reviews here and elsewhere I decided to buy this wonderful CD, and am I glad that I did. The singing is sheer delight from start to finish, assured, secure, brilliant. And the orchestral accompaniment is equal to the diva's sublime performance. For those like me maybe more familiar with Handel's later (English) output, this feast of early Handel is a delight and a joy - what a genius he was. All the works (obviously) have an Italianate feel and all show off the voice to perfection, in a range of different styles and tempi. I could go on and on, but the simplest advice is just to mortgage your house, sell your granny, do whatever it takes to raise the money to buy this sublime CD; you won't regret it for a minute.
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