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List Price : $59.98 Price : $84.99
List Price : $59.98 Price : $84.99
Handel - Theodora / Hunt, Minter, Lane, J. Thomas, D. Thomas; McGegan Reviews
Handel - Theodora / Hunt, Minter, Lane, J. Thomas, D. Thomas; McGegan Reviews
| 15 of 18 people found the following review helpful  Beautiful melodies; great singing; crisp conducting., By A Customer This review is from: Handel - Theodora / Hunt, Minter, Lane, J. Thomas, D. Thomas; McGegan (Audio CD) One of Handel's great operas, "Theodora" would work either in concert or in performance. There are many beautiful melodies and the strong conducting keeps things moving along. Lorraine Hunt is one of the great Handel singers of our time and is in lovely voice as Theodora; she performed Irene (the mezzo role) at Glyndebourne several years ago and won rave reviews from the English press. Drew Minter and Jennifer Lane are also very good but Hunt is the star. This would be a great addition to the CD collection of anyone who admires Handel's work. 6 of 6 people found the following review helpful  Fine Recording Of A Magnifcent Work, By This review is from: Handel - Theodora / Hunt, Minter, Lane, J. Thomas, D. Thomas; McGegan (Audio CD) First of all, it's too bad that Harmonia Mundi has "retired" it's McGegan recordings with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson since she was one of the best Handel performers of our era.That being said, I've recently been listening to this recording again and find it on equal with the McCreesh and Christie - in it's own right. First of all there's Hunt as Theodora. Her voice is full bodied and takes command of the performance. While McCreesh and Christie have cast lighter voices as Theodora with excellent results, hearing a voice such as Hunt's sing the role is actually more satisfying in the end, her phrasing and attention to detail is without peer. Drew Minter attained fame during the re-emergence of the countertenor. Since that time the countertenor vocal technique has advanced and we now get larger, fuller and more vibrant voices singing these roles such as Daniels, Scholl, Taylor, Asawa, and Zazzo. That doesn't mean that Minter should be relegated to the past... Read more 13 of 21 people found the following review helpful  The best Theodora? An alternate opinion, By Marian R. Van Til (Lewiston, NY United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Handel - Theodora / Hunt, Minter, Lane, J. Thomas, D. Thomas; McGegan (Audio CD) While Nicholas McGegan has obviously done much excellent work, I'm afraid I can't agree with the reviewer who said that McGegan's rendition of *Theodora* is the best available. In fact, I'd rate it No. 3, with the new (last year) recording by Neumann at No. 2, and putting McCreesh and the Gabrielli Consort in first place. (And Harnoncourt at No. 4.) It's revealing to listen to the same selected arias/choruses from each of these three recordings one after another. McGegan's recording sounds like it was done in somebody's living room, with the soloists standing about six feet away from you: there's very little presence to the sound. While that helps articulate the texture (the harpsichord is audible far more than in other performances), the dryness and "closeness" of the sound I find unappealing. On the other hand, Neumann's performance, in terms of recorded sound, is muffled in comparison. The McCreesh recording has a depth -- that "presence" I was looking for in the McGegan... Read more |
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