Julia Lezhneva: Handel
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GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Julia Lezhneva: Handel
Julia Lezhneva (soprano) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
[ Decca / CD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 25 November 2015
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Handel's ninth major opera for London, Alessandro was written as a showcase for the "Rival Queens", the two famous Italian sopranos - Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni - whose supposed enmity, both personal and professional, not only generated good publicity for Handel's latest opera but also added extra dramatic frisson to the two divas' jealous clashes on stage.
Still something of a rarity even in this heyday of the Handel revival, Alessandro has only ever been recorded twice before over the past 30 years, and never previously with such a starry trio of singers in the three lead roles.
Marking the start of an exciting new partnership with the sensational Croatian counter-tenor Max Emanuel Cencic (and his company Parnassus Arts) that will involve both solo and ensemble recordings, this new recording stars Cenèiæ himself as Alexander the Great (a role originally sung by the legendary castrato Senesino), with acclaimed French Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin as the Scythian princess Lisaura, and the sensational young Russian soprano Julia Lezhneva - making her debut appearance as Decca's latest exciting solo signing - in the role of Roxana, the Persian princess who finally wins the conqueror's heart.
Recorded at the Megaron concert hall in Athens, this new recording of Handel's classical epic features the period instruments of Armonia Atenea conducted by George Petrou, the brilliant young Baroque specialist whose previous recordings of Handel operas (Oreste, Arianna in Creta, Tamerlano, Giulio Cesare and the pasticcio Alessandro Severo) have won numerous international awards.
"Lezhneva's bell-like soprano is one of the most exciting emerging voices around, and she doesn't disappoint in this recital of early Handel. Surely no instrumentalist's fingers can move faster than Lezhneva's vocal cords; she is able to somersault with the violin, hold her tone straight like the oboe, and then out-trill both of them. So there is lots to admire here - but also lots to love." (The Guardian)
"Her long-held notes in "Per dar pregio all'amor mio" are unwavering, while the fluttering coloratura passages separating them are positively birdlike; and the clarity and power of her intonation in "Disserratevi, o porte d'Averno" is quite outstanding. Lezhneva proves equally adept at secular and sacred demands" (The Independent)
