- Audio CD (Dec 15 2001)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: Import
- Label: Bis
- ASIN: B00005LOUH
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Handel made the headlines in March 2001, when London's Royal Academy of Music publicized the rediscovery in its own collection--under the musical world's collective nose, as it were--of a previously unknown work by the composer. The Times got so carried away as to call the piece "the new Messiah." Gloria consists of seven movements scored for solo soprano with two violin parts and basso continuo, lasting about 16 minutes, most likely written before the composer was 22 years old. This does not a mighty masterwork make, however pretty the writing or flashy the coloratura. Some of the writing is quite attractive--the jaunty opening movement, the appropriately gentle "Et in terra pax," and the lilting "Gratias agimus" are a few examples. As for the coloratura, each of the fast movements has some; the final movement is full of it--and just listening to Emma Kirkby whiz through those roulades can leave a listener breathless. The Divine Miss Em is in very fine form here, with clear tone, impressive accuracy in leaps and runs, and phrasing as eloquent and musical as any singer's. The Gloria may not be first-rung, or even second-rung, Handel--it lacks a certain spark that even similar works like Saeviat tellus and the Salve Regina have--but it's hard to imagine anyone else making a better case for it.
The world premiere recording of the Gloria was made just several weeks before the release date. In order to hit that deadline, Bis filled out the CD with a 1986 recording of Handel's lively setting of the Psalm Dixit Dominus, also written while the young Handel was in Italy. Any recording featuring the young Anne Sofie von Otter is worth hearing, and soprano Hillevi Martinpelto is a worthy colleague. Perhaps the Stockholm Bach Choir sounds a bit woollier than ideal, and some of conductor Anders Öhrwall's tempos are a tad too moderate for this exuberant Roman music. But this Swedish Dixit Dominus is quite creditable, if not as exciting as those by Andrew Parrott and Marc Minkowski. But then, you're probably not buying this CD for the Dixit Dominus. --Matthew Westphal
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still we have new works...,
By "kiwimuzo" (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Händel: Gloria; Dixit Dominus (Audio CD)
It's wonderful that we still occasionally see works by long-dead masters being discovered during our lifetime. This newly-discovered Handelian 'Gloria' may not set the world on fire, but it's still a fine work, and Emma Kirkby does her usual stylistic interpretation with aplomb. At times her vocal production seems a little too "forward in the head" but I guess that's a beautiful thing to some. I bought the disk because I've always been a huge fan of 'Dixit Dominus', written by Handel when he was only 22, and a very appealing work indeed. While this is not the greatest rendition I have heard, it is still well-worth the purchase price. Some of the solo singing is just exquisite, and the ensemble lines are tight and vigorous. Just a wee complaint: 'De Torrente in Via' is marked Adagio, but this seems to clip along at a fair pace, which somewhat robs the glorious soprano duet suspensions of their power. However, this is a minor gripe, and this recording often gets played in my house.
5.0 out of 5 stars
If heaven doesn't sound like this, they got it wrong.,
By
This review is from: Händel: Gloria; Dixit Dominus (Audio CD)
The words of a tyro and a pro: I'm the tyro. I (sort of) sing tenor in church and for a local Gilbert and Sullivan-based light opera company. My daughter is the pro. She's a student of grand opera, has been singing publicly since age five.We heard the "Gloria" whilst running errands and we actually stopped to listen to it. I'm a Beethoven type of guy ("you feel it viscerally or you don't feel it at all") but my daughter digs way deep into technique, and declared Ms. Kirkby a rare talent who can make it sound easy. Make what sound easy? Well, Mr. Handel treats his audiences well by brutalizing his singers. Ms. Kirkby sounds like she's having fun (And should something called "Gloria" be anything else?) I'll leave to those better qualified the technical reasons why you should buy this disk. I'll just make the subjective promise that it'll knock your socks off. Cheers
4.0 out of 5 stars
A benchmark account of Handel's 'Gloria',
By Simon Barrow (Exeter, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Händel: Gloria; Dixit Dominus (Audio CD)
Emma Kirby's radiant performance on the premiere recording of Handel's rediscovered 'Gloria' is well worth the entrance price. The Royal Academy's Baroque Orchestra also give a strong performance, albeit one lacking the richer tones of John Eliot Gardiner's period ensemble on the Philips (462 597-2) recording which appeared a couple of months later. By Handel's standards this a fairly straight setting of a traditional text, but all the expected flourishes, trills, sustains and extended runs are there to add the colour we would expect. The outcome is a splendid combination of required simplicity and appropriate elaboration.Gardiner's 'Dixit Dominus' is superior to the well-known archive one on this recording, which comes across a little flat. It would have been good if the Academy could have produced a third Handel work to supplement the 'Gloria' - perhaps a Motet like 'Saeviat tellus inter rigores' or the Psalm 'Nisi Dominus'. Gardiner tags on the Vivaldi 'Gloria' instead. But it is something of a curious afterthought, and given the choice of the two I would definitely plump for this CD if it is the Handel you are after. A couple of other recordings have become available since this release and the Philips one. The Gottingen Handel Festival Edition is a live recording from their 3 June 2001 gala performance with Dominique Labelle, soprano, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and conductor Nicholas McGegan. And the Baroque Academy of Montreal offer another period instrument rendition on Atma Classique (ACD2 2215), accompanied by the Bach and Vivaldi settings. However, Emma Kirby remains the benchmark.
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