COMPOSERS: Bach,Handel,Purcell,Vivaldi & Weldon
LABELS: Carlton
ALBUM TITLE: Collection: Great Baroque Arias
WORKS: Arias by Bach, Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi & Weldon
PERFORMER: Soloists; The King’s Consort/ Robert King (organ, hpschd)
CATALOGUE NO: 30366 00422 1988
With just one track apiece by Bach and Vivaldi as compared to eleven by English composers (including nine by Handel), this disc offers a narrowly Anglocentric view of the Baroque aria. The Italians are barely acknowledged, the French completely overlooked; even Handel’s exquisitely sensuous Italian operas are disdained in favour of doughtier – and oft-compiled – airs from his English oratorios. Performances are rather low-key, but the chief disappointment here is the predictable and unadventurous choice of repertoire. Graham Lock
Bach, Handel, Purcell, Vivaldi & Weldon
With just one track apiece by Bach and Vivaldi as compared to eleven by English composers (including nine by Handel), this disc offers a narrowly Anglocentric view of the Baroque aria. The Italians are barely acknowledged, the French completely overlooked; even Handel’s exquisitely sensuous Italian operas are disdained in favour of doughtier – and oft-compiled – airs from his English oratorios. Performances are rather low-key, but the chief disappointment here is the predictable and unadventurous choice of repertoire. Graham Lock
Our rating
3
Published: January 20, 2012 at 2:39 pm