Music / solosang

Eternal heaven


Reviews (49)


The times

d. 1. Feb. 2009

By

By

Joe Clay

d. 1. Feb. 2009

"Her glinting soprano, bright-edged yet deliciously rounded and sensual, is used with rare understanding for character ... Gauvin even invades contralto territory with Iris, Hence Away. The highlight is the Queen of Sheba’s Will the Sun Forget to Streak, fabulously sung"o27890989.


RBB Kultur

d. 13. Feb. 2019

By

By

Kai Luehrs-Kaiser

d. 13. Feb. 2019

"Auf ihrer neuen CD singt die in Berlin wohnhafte Sopranistin Simone Kermes Arien von Georg Friedrich Händel ... Spannkraft, Prasseleffekte und Töne von insistierend bohrender Energie sind ihr Kennzeichen. Handwerklich immer obenauf ... Fraglos ein höchst satisfaktionsfähiges, schönes Album von einer absolut ernstzunehmenden Händel-Spezialistin".


The guardian

d. 12. Nov. 2015

By

By

Erica Jeal

d. 12. Nov. 2015

"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".


RBB Kultur

d. 22. Feb. 2023

By

By

Kai Luehrs-Kaiser

d. 22. Feb. 2023

"Die zweite Solo-CD der französisch-italienischen Mezzo-Sopranistin Lea Desandre ist eigentlich eine Duo-CD. Bei einem guten Dutzend der Ausschnitte aus Händel-Oratorien ist der britische Countertenor Iestyn Davies mit dabei - und mischt sich stimmlich mit ihr absolut perfekt. Es dominieren meditative Titel. All dies: durchaus ungewöhnlich, ja ein Blick ins Händel-Paradies. Überirdisch".


MusicWeb international

2014 February

By

By

John Quinn (musikanmelder)

2014 February

"A first class anthology of Handel arias. The singing of Iestyn Davies is a delight from start to finish and he receives ideal support from Robert King and his players".


MusicWeb international

2014 May

By

By

Göran Forsling (f. 1942)

2014 May

"The sheer beauty of Iestyn Davies's voice is immediately apparent in the opening aria ... There is a lot of beautiful singing to follow ... The new Vivat label - this is only their fifth issue - has produced a marvellous disc ... Baroque enthusiasts should place their orders at once".


MusicWeb international

2013 January

By

By

Jonathan Woolf

2013 January

"Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "Christopher Purves ... takes some of Handel's gravest and most dignified music, from oratorios and operas principally, and adds to it some of his most technically demanding, to present a disc of great authority and consummate musical intelligence ... This outstandingly good disc offers a wide range of music, feeling, texture and mood. Singer and accompanying group are perfectly matched in a sympathetic church acoustic".


DR musik

2016 uge 1

By

By

Jens Cornelius

2016 uge 1

"Ugens album: Her er en suveræn sangerinde på absolut hjemmebane i barokarier af Händel ... Julia Lezhneva er i dag 26 år og stadig ganske usædvanlig: Hun har en meget glansfuld stemme med lidt anderledes farver, der gør hende genkendelig, og en virtuos teknik, der passer perfekt til den krævende barokmusik. Hør hendes koloraturer i parløb med oboen".


Presto classical

d. 30. Nov. 2022

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By

Katherine Cooper

d. 30. Nov. 2022

"Editor's choice - November 2022: Don't be fooled by the ultra-serene (and if I'm honest, oddly cultish!) cover-image here: this brilliantly-sung and played programme of sacred and secular Handel includes plenty of vocal fireworks in between the stretches of calm beauty - of which Desandre's 'As with rosy steps' and Davies's 'O Lord whose mercies numberless' stand out. Both singers excel in the excerpts from Semele, with Davies a neurotic, imperious Juno (the first time I've heard a countertenor in this role) and Desandre's bright, athletic mezzo easily encompassing the soprano heroine's stratospheric excursions in 'No, no, I'll take no less'".


MusicWeb international

2023 February

By

By

Göran Forsling (f. 1942)

2023 February

"The programme is made up of arias and duets from a number of Handel's oratorios and other sacred works and also includes an instrumental piece ... What follows after that invigorating introduction is a super-long programme with Handel at his very best - which he almost always is - very contrastive for maximal variability. Slow, beautiful melodies rub shoulders with up-tempo rhythmical display pieces where stunning coloratura flows freely, sometimes with dramatic undertones. The instrumental ensemble Jupiter under Thomas Dunford provide stimulating support with excellent solo contributions ... Both have voices of exceptional quality and technical capacity to boot ... This is a disc not only for Handel freaks and baroque lovers but for anyone with an open mind for whom no borderlines exist".


Politiken

d. 10. Dec. 2015

By

By

Henrik Friis (f. 1978)

d. 10. Dec. 2015

"Den 25-årige russiske sopran Julia Lezhneva har en helt speciel stemme ... Klangen er klar og kølig i toppen, mens der i bunden ligger et tyndt stykke mørkt fløjl rundt om tonen. Hendes stemme er fængende og rigtig anvendelig til barokmusik ... Det er sjældent, man oplever en sanger bryde totalt med den almindelige opfattelse af en operastemme og slippe så godt af sted med det".


Jyllands-posten

d. 3. Dec. 2015

By

By

Jens Povlsen

d. 3. Dec. 2015

"Det er unge Julia Lezhnevas aldrig svigtende balance, hendes formidable stemmestyrke og fintmærkende intonation, der præger ariefortolkningerne på den 25-årige russers nye Handel-album ... Lezhneva kan det hele. Og det er ikke blødsøden tryghed, hun dyrker. Julia Lezhneva tager chancer, og når hun gør det, er hun en æstetisk nydelse med små sprækker af uro".


Kristeligt dagblad

d. 21. Jan. 2016

By

By

Peter Dürrfeld

d. 21. Jan. 2016

"Julia Lezhneva er i besiddelse af en udtryksfuld og forbløffende smidig stemme, og orkestret, der spiller på periodeinstrumenter, giver musikken alt, hvad den kan trække - og lidt til. Tempovalgene kan forekomme lidt outrerede ... Enkelte numre ... kan lyde som Vivaldis vokalmusik, når den er mest virtuos og fandenivoldsk".


Weekendavisen

d. 24. June 2016

By

By

Peter Johannes Erichsen

d. 24. June 2016

"Russiske Julia Lezhneva har med denne himmerigsmundfuld nået den sfære, som Cecilia Bartoli og Magdalena Kozená befinder sig i ... Deres nye medsøster ligger højere i stemmelejet med sine ufatteligt rene klange og klarer så i tilgift helt fænomenale dyk ned i de dybe registre. Hvad den unge kvinde fra Sakhalin skylder verden med den røst lader sig næppe måle. Vi må ønske hende den fulde karriere, så besættende renfærdig hun fremtræder med uantastet råstyrke og glubende sangappetit".


BBC music magazine

2017 January

By

By

Berta Joncus

2017 January

"The disc's programme is contrived to show the psychological depth Handel gave to mythical characters ... Curtis divines Handel's intentions, and adds his own ... Led by Curtis at the keyboard, soprano Christiane Karg and contralto Romina Basso draw inner character out of Handel's score".


Fono Forum

2016 Dezember

By

By

Johannes Schmitz

2016 Dezember

"Man kann die Platte wieder und wieder hören, sie bleibt schön".


Diapason

2017 fevrier

By

By

Ivan A. Alexandre

2017 fevrier


BBC music magazine

2009 July

By

By

Anna Picard

2009 July

"Karina Gauvin's greedy haul of Handel's greatest hits is altogether more conventional, though smartly accompanied by harpsichordist Alexander Weimann and Tempo Rubato".


BBC music magazine

2014 March

By

By

Anna Picard

2014 March

"Davies's phrasing is immaculate, his tone is pure and even. It's a treat to hear Crispian Steel-Perkins, doyen of the natural trumpet ... Elsewhere, there is a lack of energy and engagement".


Fono Forum

2019 Mai

By

By

Johannes Schmitz

2019 Mai

"CDs des Monats: Die Kunst von Simone Kernes wirkt unmittelbar und persönlich. Wie fein die rhetorischen Affekte in ihren Interpretationen auch ausgearbeitet sein mögen - sie klingen spontan und ehrlich. Die Sopranistin besitzt technische Meisterschaft, Individualität und Glaubwürdigkeit, alles gegossen in einen wunderschönen Stimmklang von seelischer Substanz und emotionaler Durchlässigkeit ... "Mio caro Händel" liegt ganz auf dieser Linie ... Unter Konzertmeister Boris Begelman klingt Händel vibratofrei und spannungsreich, nie aber überzogen".


Diapason

2019 avril

By

By

Ivan A. Alexandre

2019 avril


Diapason

2016 octobre

By

By

Jean-Philippe Grosperrin

2016 octobre


BBC music magazine

2016 September

By

By

Anna Picard

2016 September

"Vurdering: BBC music choice - Vurdering: Recording of the month" - "There's a guileless beauty of tone in Clayton's Handel ... He is a stylish but not slavish Handelian ... Led by Matthew Truscott, the string playing is reliably silky, well articulated and quick-witted, with musky obbligato solos from bassoonist Philip Turbett and oboist James Eastway".


BBC music magazine

2018 September

By

By

Berta Joncus

2018 September

"Opera choice: Which singer, active today, has blazed forth in Baroque, Romantic, and contemporary repertoires ... ? It's hard to think of anyone but baritone Christopher Purves, who scores another triumph in this recital of solo Handel arias ... Some of Handel's greatest music was written for bass-baritones, and in Purves finds its ideal interpreter. Few singers can match the colours, plush timbres, and rugged music of Purvey's instrument, and no singer surpasses his dramatic imagination".


BBC music magazine

2013 February

By

By

Christopher Purves

2013 February

"Vurdering: BBC music opera choice" - "One to treasure both for the sensitive and well-sustained singing of Christopher Purves and for the wonderfully wide expressive range of Handel's music ... Purves has an acute ear, serving well his intonation and lively feeling for characterisation ... The pleasure of single-voice recitals can sometimes be tempered by repetitive mannerisms or exaggerated gestures. Purves avoids both, ensuring enjoyment which is further enhanced by excellent support from ... Arcangelo under Jonathan Cohen".


BBC music magazine

2007 Proms

By

By

Kate Bolton

2007 Proms

"No matter how attractive the programming, it is hard to avoid the feeling that the music has been eviscerated. Bostridge is sharply attuned to the subtlety of Handel's word setting, colouring his sound with a rich palette of timbres and effects".


Fono Forum

2007 September

By

By

Matthias Hengelbrock

2007 September

"An sich eine schöne CD, im Direkten Vergleich [mit Padmore] aber klar auf dem zweiten Platz".


Klassisk

2016, nr. 40

By

By

Henrik Engelbrecht

2016, nr. 40

"Ikke mindst tidlig musik ligger godt for hendes ikke overvældende store, men til gengæld ekstremt fleksible stemme ... Man bliver helt fra første skæring slået af Lezhnevas helt eminente kontrol over vejrtrækningen og stensikre koloraturer ... Det er virtuost, og samtidig lyder det så legende let".


Operabladet Ascolta

(2016) 34. årgang nr. 5

By

By

Henrik Marcussen

(2016) 34. årgang nr. 5

"Det er ungdommelig og kraftfuld musik, som det 25-årige russiske stortalent Julia Lezhnova fortolker med en blændende og legende frisk virtuositet ... Lezhnevas stemme mestrer kraftfuldt, levende, krystalklart og med stor præcision at levere kaskader af tryllebindende koloraturer ... En suveræn præstation".


Fono Forum

2016 Januar

By

By

Jürgen Kesting

2016 Januar

"Eine begeisterte empfehlung für die brilliante junge Sängerin und das exzellente Ensemble".


BBC music magazine

2011 Christmas

By

By

Anna Picard

2011 Christmas

"There is much to admire in Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux's recital of arias and duets with Alan Curtis and Ill Complesso Barocco, not least Handel's word-painting. But there is little sense of dramatic context".


BBC music magazine

2007 May

By

By

Nicholas Anderson

2007 May

"This is one of the most alluring recitals of it's kind that has come my way for a very long time ... Padmore reveals the composers enormous affective range in singing that is variously passionate, tender and ardent ... In this ravishing music Padmore is sympathetically partnered by Lucy Crowe with an intuitively responsive oboe obbligato by Katharina Spreckelsen. An outstanding recital".


BBC music magazine

2009 December

By

By

Max Loppert

2009 December

"The singer's emotional commitment to her programme leaves a strong and at times powerfully positive impression".


Fono Forum

2010 Januar

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By

Reinmar Emans

2010 Januar

"Insofern würde ich nicht zögern, dieses Recital denen von Joyce DiDonato und Simone Kermes als qualitativ gleichwertig zur Seite zu stellen".


BBC music magazine

2023 February

By

By

Berta Joncus

2023 February

"Desandre's pure, warm core and skilled application of vocal colours make her lyricism seductive, while her warp-speed passagi are simply astonishing. Countertenor Iestyn Davies delivers the intimate, precise, effortless vocalism for which he's renowned, and when he and Desandre duet, their euphony is sublime ... Lutenist Thomas Dunford's chamber group Jupiter wraps each number in a gossamer-light realisation - continuo is often just plucked strings - and, in obbligato passages, entangles the vocal and instrumental lines in subtle ways".


The gramophone

2016 December

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2016 December

"As ever, [Karg] lives each of the characters intensely: in the blanched, grief-etched tone she brings to Orfeo's lament from Parnasso in festa, in Cupid's seductive Come, Zephyrs, come ... [Basso's] firm, slightly androgynous mezzo and fiery temperament immediately impress ... She and Karg make vivid, well-matched duet partners ... Minor irritants aside, this is an enjoyable, unclichéd programme, above all for Christian Karg's contribution".


The gramophone

2014 March

By

By

David Vickers

2014 March

"The King's Consort's uncharacteristically dry strings are at the forefront of the close sound recorded in the Menuhin Hall - but Davies's quick coloratura is dazzling in the final aria".


International record review

2014 March

By

By

John T. Hughes

2014 March

"Davies's phrasing is to be admired, spanning as it does long lines of breath control ... You should find much to enjoy from Davies and Robert King's players".


The gramophone

2019 August

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2019 August

"Kermes's singing, as so often, provoked mixed feelings. Her diamantine coloratura is brilliantly displayed ... In the slower numbers that predominate here I'm less convinced. While her soft singing is pure and even-toned, and her phrasing always expressive, Kermes is over-fond of a blanched, almost crooning pianissimo ... If you do investigate, be assured that Amici Veneziani are nimble and sensitive accomplices".


The gramophone

2016 July

By

By

Alexandra Coghlan

2016 July

"It's a lovely programme - testimony to the flexibility of Beard's technique ... the tenor John Beard - Handel's longest serving singer ... It's into his shoes that Allan Clayton steps in ... Clayton's tenor has been getting steadily stronger and more muscular over the past few years, and there's more evidence of that here ... It's a very attractive package".


The gramophone

2018 August

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2018 August

"Editor's choice: This superb follow-up [to Vol. 1] makes you wonder anew at the composer's inventive variety ... Purves is surely unique among today's Anglophone singers in fusing an easily produced high baritone, by turns mellifluous and incisive, with a clean, resonant bass register ... Ever alive to texture and subtleties of colour, Arcangelo on their own give a fresh, spirited account of one of the Op 3 Concerti grossi ... [An] informative essay ... sets the seal on a Handelian winner".


The gramophone

2013 January

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2013 January

"Vurdering: Gramophone choice" - "Purves veils his tone to convey bemusement, even pathos. Purves's flair for specific characterisation enlivens every number on the disc ... Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo savour the rich string textures here ... Throughout a recital that pays eloquent tribute to Handel's boundless invention in composing for bass voice".


The gramophone

2007 September

By

By

David Vickers

2007 September

"Another big name joins the throng but Bostridge fails to get a grip on Handel ... One imagines that this will sell like hot cakes, but it is a wasted opportunity".


The gramophone

2015 December

By

By

David Vickers

2015 December

"Julia Lezhneva performs nine arias and a Marian hymn all composed during Handel's extended trip to Italy between late 1706 and early 1710. This conceptual theme has been done several times before, and the clichéd choices of arias are disappointing ... This curate's egg of a disc sometimes misses its mark on multiple levels but at its best there are some special moments that every Handelian will savour".


The gramophone

2011 December

By

By

Richard Wigmore

2011 December

"There is indeed plenty to enjoy, especially when soprano Karina Gauvin is involved ... If this is not quite the Handel recital I was hoping for, it's still worth investigating for Lemieux's viscerally exciting singing and, above all, Gauvin's ideal Handelian mix of grace and profound emotional truth".


International record review

2011 November

By

By

John T. Hughes

2011 November

"Vurdering: IRR outstanding" - "Part of the attraction of that blending of voices is that Gauvin's middle tones have a warmth, almost mezzo-ish, which accords well with Lemieux's rich bloom ... Apart from the seemingly haphazard order ... I have nothing but praise ... The disc is entitled Streams of Pleasure, but for me it is a full, flowing river".


The gramophone

2007 May

By

By

Jonathan Freeman-Attwood

2007 May

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "A thoughtful, original and sympathetic insight into Handel ... Underpinned by Andrew Manze's unobtrusive and warm-hearted English Concert, Mark Padmore uses his extraordinary diction and whispering chamber-like intimacy to remind us that the most exalted tenor arias from the operas and oratories can achieve true potency out of context".


The gramophone

2009 November

By

By

David Vickers

2009 November

"Some beautiful moments, but this is a surprisingly uneven affair".


The gramophone

2023 January

By

By

Lindsay Kemp

2023 January

"Editor's choice: There is no shortage of Handel aria albums around, but not all take as much care in the planning as this one ... Dunford calls it 'a baroque West Side Story'. The beauty of it is that this rich selection of arias and duets encompasses glorious old friends ... alongside lesser-known gems ... Here they burn intensely, the heartbreakingly intimate duets ... Iestyn Davies is of course a Handel interpreter of distinction, and delivers exactly what you would expect of him. Desandre has done less operahouse Handel, however ... This is an album that reaches deep into Handel's genius - looks like there's life in the format yet".