Handel: Serse
$80.00
Out of Stock6+ weeks add to cart
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Serse
The English Concert (early music ensemble), William Dazeley, Paula Murrihy, Emily D'Angelo, Lucy Crowe, The English Concert and Harry Bicket
[ Linn Records / 3 CD Box Set ]
Release Date: Friday 9 June 2023
This item is currently out of stock. It may take 6 or more weeks to obtain from when you place your order as this is a specialist product.
Each new Handel release by The English Concert and Harry Bicket is a milestone in the composer's discography, and the latest, Serse - 'a spectacular treat for Handel lovers' (The Times) - is no different. Created to astonish London audiences in 1728, Handel's romantic and at times comic opera Serse is a spectacular drama of love, war, power and civil engineering set in ancient Persia, whose opening aria 'Ombra mai fu' remains an enduring favourite. Serse rules a vast empire, but the human heart is more difficult to command, and sometimes the beauty of a plane tree is the only constant in a dangerous world. The work is complemented by a world-class cast including the 'barnstorming' (The Daily Telegraph) Emily D'Angelo as the lovestruck king and Lucy Crowe as Romilda.
"The superb cast is led by Emily D'Angelo, whose opening aria - beautifully controlled and rich in tone - will not disappoint...this new Serse is surely one of the most charismatic recordings now available." Gramophone Magazine July 2023 Recording of the Month
"[It] bowls along energetically, the orchestral playing especially rewarding…The versatile Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo sings the title role. Her ripe, vibrato-rich voice might not be to all tastes - sample Ann Murray or Anne Sofie von Otter for contrast - but she makes a powerful impact." The Guardian
"d'Angelo has tremendous panache and a firm, arresting mezzo-soprano that records very well...Bicket conducts a performance as vividly alive as the opera must have seemed when it was new." Financial Times
