Product Description

This is Magdalena Koz ená s first collaboration with the
acclaimed Venice Baroque Orchestra and Andrea Marcon
a superlative grouping and a must-have album for every
Handel fan. Following her best-selling album Lamento,
Magdalena Koz ená returns to her musical home ground, the
world of dramatic Baroque singing, with her first Handel arias
album. Once again Koz ená has combined both well-known
and lesser-known works to create a personal anthology of
the most dramatic moments of love, hatred, hope, and
desperation. The program includes arias from Rinaldo, Giulio
Cesare, Alcina, and Joshua, among others. Handel s complex
characters and passionate writing are the perfect vehicles for
Koz ená s unique talent for delivering even the most
elaborate emotions through the sheer beauty of her singing.
The voice that goes straight to the heart (The Sunday
Times) takes listeners on an emotional odyssey.

Track Listing

1. Alcina: Ah! mio cor!
2. Hercules: Were shall I fly?
3. Agrippina: Pensieri, voi mi tormentate!
4. Giulio Cesare in Egitto: Cara speme, questo core tu cominci
5. Joshua: Oh! had I Jubal s lyre
6. Ariodante: Scherza infida in grembo al drudo
7. Theodora: With darkness deep
8. Amadigi di Gaula: "Desterò dall empia dite"
9. Orlando: Ah stigie larve! Vaghe pupille, non piangete, no
10. Ariodante: Dopo notte, atra e funesta
11. Rinaldo: Lascia ch'io pianga

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70039 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

I loved it!
I guess that I am among those listeners who didn't mind the exagerated acting or diction exhibited in this fabulous recording! Perhaps I was so spellbound by the beauty of the music and Miss Kozena's fantastic voice that I didn't even noticed some of those exagerations. I simply loved this recording!

Super Handel
Handel is one of the most virile of all composers. If he were alive today, he'd probably be composing heavy metal. Ms Kozena's voice and style suit Handel perfectly. This CD now occupies a prime place in my rather large Handel collection. I love it.

Handel Exagerated
There are beautiful arias on this disc, but they are spoiled by exageratedly slow tempi ("Scherza infida," for instance), exagerated "acting," and exagerated diction. I most of the Italian arias, Miss Kozena rolls her "Rs" in exagerated fashion ("Io trrradito in morrrte in brrraccio"), exagerates her "Ps." Her "acting" in the "Hercules" aria distorts the vocal line (this is also apparent in the "Agrippina," and "Orlando" arias), and causes her to make weird noises in the lower register - it almost seems she has no low notes. That said, Miss Kozena impresses in the rapid divisions and her commitment to the text is never in doubt. If the listener likes or doesn't mind the above, the album may delight.