Featured in Kalman Rubinson's Music in the Round in the July 2005 issue of Stereophile!
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson is one of the finest mezzos of our time. A sensuous and noble singer, the intensity of her interpretations, particularly in Baroque roles, is supreme. Critics worldwide grasp for superlatives to describe her art. A clear consumers' choice, her recording of Bach Cantatas stayed in the Top Ten of Billboard's Classical Chart for five months.
This hybrid SACD captures Lorraine's unanimously acclaimed portrayal of Irene in Handel's oratorio Theodora - "one of the most vocally beautiful and dramatically committed characterizations imaginable" according to The Independent - which she sang at Glyndebourne last summer, supported by the same forces as here, Harry Bicket and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment -- coupled with arias from Serse (Xerxes), including the evergreen "Ombra mai fù," and the cantata La Lucrezia.
The cover art features a photo of Lorraine from that Theodora performance, jogging many memories of her celebrated performance, and the high-definition recording enhances all the vividness and beauty of Lorraine's exceptional voice.
Handel Arias will be supported by an aggressive marketing plan and will undoubtedly become one of the most important classical releases in the United States the year.
Mezzo-Soprano Lorraine Hunt performing Handel's Arias from Theodora, La Lucrezia, Serse featuring the Age of Enlightenment Orchestra conducted by Harry Bicket.
Musicians:
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Harry Bicket, conductor, harpsichord & chamber organ
Stephen Stubbs, lute & Baroque guitar
Phoebe Carrai, cello
Margriet Tindemans , viola da gamba
Selections:
Theodora
1. Act 1 Scene 4 -- Recit: "Ah! Whither should we fly, or fly from whom?"...
2. Aria: "As with rosy steps the morn"
3. Act 1 Scene 3 -- Recit: "O bright example of all goodness!..."
4. Aria: "Bane of virtue, nurse of passions"
5. Act 2 Scene 4 -- "Recit: The clouds begin to veil the hemisphere"
6. Aria: "Defend her Heav'n!"
7. Act 3 Scene 1 -- Aria: "Lord, to Thee each night and day"
8. Act 3 Scene 3 -- Recit: "She's gone, disdaining liberty and life"...
9. Aria: "New scenes of joy"
Cantata "La Lucretia"
10. Recit: "O Numi eterni! O stelle, stelle!"
11. Aria: "Già superbo, del mio affano"
12. Recit: "Ma voi forse nel cielo"
13. Aria: "Il suol che preme, l'aura che spira"
14. Recit: "Ah! che ancor nell'abisso"
15. Aria: "Alla salma infedel porga la pena"
16. Recit: "A voi, a voi, padre, consorte"
17. Arioso: "Già nel seno comincia a compir Furioso Ma se qui non m'è dato"
Serse
18. Act 2 Scene 4 -- Aria: "Se bramate d'amar, chi vi sdegna"...
19. Act 1 Scene 1 -- Recit: "Frondi tenere e belle"
20. Aria: "Ombra mai fù"
