Handel: Parnasso in Festa, HWV73

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The musical quality is high… High standards, too, in this performance, directed with a light but firm hand by Matthew Halls… — BBC Music Magazine, October 2008, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Sep 2008
Catalogue No: CDA677012
Label: Hyperion
Length: 2 hours 11 minutes

Handel: Parnasso in Festa, HWV73

Work length2:11:20

$60.50

$82.50

Peter Harvey (bass), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Rebecca Outram (soprano), Diana Moore (mezzo-soprano), Ruth Massey (alto), Lucy Crowe (soprano)
King's Consort, King's Consort Choir
Matthew Halls

Part 1 No 01. Overture. Un poco allegro – Più allegro – Allegro

Track length6:21

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Part 1 No 02. Aria. Verginelle (Clio)

Track length2:55

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Part 1 No 03. Coro. Corriamo pronte ad ubbidir

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Part 1 No 04. Recitative. Germane, figlio amato (Apollo / Clio / Calliope / Orfeo / Clori / Euterpe / Marte)

Track length1:01

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Part 1 No 05. Solo e Coro. Deh! cantate un bell'amor (Apollo)

Track length2:59

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Part 1 No 06. Recitative. Ma prima che s'avanzi (Apollo)

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Part 1 No 07. Aria. Spira al sen' celeste ardore (Orfeo)

Track length4:52

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Part 1 No 08. Aria. Gran Tonante, Giove immenso (Apollo)

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Part 1 No 09. Coro. Già vien da lui il nostro ben

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Part 1 No 10. Recitative. Spettacolo gradito (Clio)

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Part 1 No 11. Aria. Con un vezzo lusinghiero (Clio)

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Part 1 No 12. Recitative. Rimembranza gradita (Apollo)

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Part 1 No 13. Duetto. Sin le grazie nel bel volto (Apollo / Clio)

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Part 1 No 14. Recitative. Ma di sì belle fiamme (Clio)

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Part 1 No 15. Aria. Quanto breve è il godimento (Clio)

Track length5:39

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Part 1 No 16. Recitative. Vada in oblio memoria sì funesta (Apollo)

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Part 1 No 17. Coro. Cantiam a Bacco in sì lieto dì

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Part 1 No 18. Aria. Del nume Lieo (Marte)

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Part 1 No 19. Aria. Sciolga dunque al balla al canto (Apollo)

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Part 1 No 20. Coro e Soli. S'accenda pur di festa il cor (Clio / Calliope / Apollo)

Track length3:12

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Part 1 No 21. Coro. Replicati al ballo al canto

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Part 2 No 01. Soli e Coro. Nel petto sento un certo ardor (Calliope / Euterpe / Clori / Clio)

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Part 2 No 02. Recitative. Qual tetra nube, Orfeo (Apollo)

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Part 2 No 03. Aria. Torni pure un' bel splendore (Apollo)

Track length4:34

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Part 2 No 04. Recitative. Ogn'un mi siegua, e godi (Clio)

Track length0:12

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Part 2 No 05. Aria. Nel spiegar sua voce al canto (Clio)

Track length10:25

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Part 2 No 06. Recitative. E non s'udiran mai (Clori)

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Part 2 No 07. Coro. O quanto bella gloria

Track length3:16

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Part 2 No 08. Aria. Tra sentier di amene selve (Clori)

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Part 2 No 09. Coro. O quanto bella gloria

Track length1:12

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Part 2 No 10. Recitative. Che mai facesti Orfeo? (Calliope)

Track length0:22

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Part 2 No 11. Aria. Già le furie vedo ancor' (Calliope)

Track length1:48

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Part 2 No 12. Accompagnato. Dopo d'aver perduto il caro bene (Orfeo)

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Part 2 No 13. Aria. Ho perso il caro ben' (Orfeo)

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Part 2 No 14. Coro. S'unisce al tuo martir

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Part 2 No 15. Recitative. Figlio, diletto Orfeo (Apollo)

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Part 2 No 16. Duetto. Cangia in gioia il tuo dolor (Apollo / Clio)

Track length6:55

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Part 2 No 17. Recitative. Di Nettuno seguaci (Apollo)

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Part 2 No 18. Coro. Coralli e perle vogliamo offrir

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Part 3 No 01. Sinfonia

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Part 3 No 02. Recitative. Io che degli avi eccelsi (Marte)

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Part 3 No 03. Coro e Solo. Si parli ancor di trionfar (Marte)

Track length2:56

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Part 3 No 04. Recitative. O stirpe gloriosa (Orfeo)

Track length0:13

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Part 3 No 05. Aria. Da sorgente rilucente (Orfeo)

Track length3:08

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Part 3 No 06. Recitative. Dall'opre illustri dei genitor (Calliope)

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Part 3 No 07. Aria. Sempre aspira eccelso core (Calliope)

Track length2:13

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Part 3 No 08. Recitative. Delle dotte germane (Apollo)

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Part 3 No 09. Aria. Non tardate Fauni ancora (Apollo)

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Part 3 No 10. Coro. Accorriam senza dimora

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Part 3 No 11. Recitative. Sia degli eccelsi sposi (Clio)

Track length0:13

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Part 3 No 12. Aria. Circondin lor' vite (Clio)

Track length4:50

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Part 3 No 13. Recitative. Con un' spirito divoto (Euterpe)

Track length0:17

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Part 3 No 14. Aria. Han' mente eroica (Euterpe)

Track length4:00

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Part 3 No 15. Recitative. Di virtù, di valor, pietà, e clemenza (Apollo)

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Part 3 No 16. Solo e Coro. Lunga serie d'alti eroi (Apollo)

Track length3:55

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Hyperion’s Record of the Month sees the long overdue return to the studio of The King’s Consort, under the baton of the group’s newly appointed Artistic Director Matthew Halls. Here the ensemble presents the premiere recording of Handel’s Parnasso in Festa: a unique example in Handel’s enormous creative career of a fully-fledged celebratory serenata (or Festa teatrale). This form was rare in England but had developed in parallel with opera in Italy, where it was popular for commemorating special occasions of international significance. Parnasso in Festa was written for Princess Anne’s marriage to Prince William of Orange.

In Handel’s serenata three of the Muses, their leader Apollo, his son Orpheus, and Mars (god of War) gather at the feast celebrating the nuptials of Peleus and Thetis. The mythological musicians Apollo and Orfeo must have been particularly appealing for Handel here. Unlike many composers, he never composed an opera about Orpheus and Euridice. His only depiction of the mythical musician in his entire output forms the core of the serenata’s middle part. For a composer who later excelled at representing the musical ikons Timotheus and St Cecilia, and who was described by contemporaries as ‘the Orpheus of our age’, the depiction of Orfeo is fascinating. Created two years before Alexander’s Feast, and five years before A Song for St Cecilia’s Day, the emotional centre of Parnasso in Festa is devoted to a study of the power of music.

Reviews

October 2008

The musical quality is high… High standards, too, in this performance, directed with a light but firm hand by Matthew Halls…

2010

Parnasso in Festa was composed to mark the wedding in 1734 of Handel's favourite pupil, Princess Anne, to Prince William of Orange. A preview in the Daily Journal announced that the music was a mixture of 'single Songs, Duetto's, &c. intermix'd with Chorus's, some what in the Style of Oratorio's'. This was spot-on, as most of the numbers were recycled from Athalia, performed in Oxford the previous year but not yet heard in London. The setting is Mount Parnassus, where gods, Muses and assorted hangers-on are gathered to celebrate the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, the future parents of Achilles.
Much of the music is perfectly well suited to its new context. The Muse Clio's 'Verginelle dotte', for instance, is a perfect analogue to Josabeth's deathless 'Blooming virgins' in Athalia.
And even when the sentiments are different – Clio's aria commending the happy pair to the care of the Graces is far removed from Athalia's 'My vengeance awakes me' – the result is not incongruous.
The cast is led by the superb Apollo of Diana Moore, a name new to me, who combines the range of a mezzo with the tone quality of a contralto.
Her semiquaver runs in 'Torni pure', one of the few original numbers, are thrilling. With admirable support from Carolyn Sampson and the rest of the cast, and crisp choral and orchestral contributions under Matthew Halls, this recording should ensure that Parnasso in Festa will at last come into its own.

December 2008

The cast is led by the superb Apollo of Diana Moore… who combines the range of a mezzo with the tone quality of a contralto. With admirable support from Carolyn Sampson and the rest of the cast, and crisp choral and orchestral contributions under Matthew Halls, this recording should ensure that Parnasso in Festa will at last come into its own.

28th September 2008

Ever the recycler, Handel adapted music from his oratorio, Athalia, for this courtly entertainment, ravishingly sung and played here by the Kings Consort, with soprano Carolyn Sampson in particularly fine form.

Handel: Parnasso in Festa, HWV73

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