Che Puro Ciel: The Rise of Classical Opera Bejun Mehta

• 1 Orfeo ed Euridice - Aria Che puro ciel! 06:06
• 2 Orfeo ed Euridice - Coro Vieni a' regni del riposo 01:46
• 3 Ascanio in Alba - Recitativo Perché tacer degg'io? 04:33
• 4 Ascanio in Alba - Aria Cara, lontano ancora 05:01
• 5 Antigona - Aria Ah, se lo vedi piangere 03:18
• 6 Il Trionfo di Clelia - Aria Dei di Roma, ah perdonate! 04:32
• 7 Artaserse - Recitativo accompagnato No, che non ha la sorte 01:58
• 8 Artaserse - Aria Vo solcando un mar crudele 06:45
• 9 Ifigenia in Tauride - Dormi Oreste! 07:48
• 10 Ezio - Aria Pensa a serbarmi, o cara 05:08
• 11 Ascanio in Alba - Aria Ah di sì nobil alma 03:43
• 12 Antigona - Aria Ah, sì, da te dipende 05:00
• 13 Ezio - Aria Se il fulmine sospendi 03:27
• 14 Mitridate - Recitativo accompagnato Vadasi... 01:23
• 15 Mitridate - Aria Già dagli occhi il velo è tolto 09:20
• Total Runtime 01:09:48

Info for Che Puro Ciel: The Rise of Classical Opera

Arias & scenes from l’Orféo et Euridice, Ascanio in Alba, Antigona et Ifigenia in Tauride (Traetta), Il trionfo di Clelia (Hasse), Artaserse (Bach), Ezio (Gluck), Mitridate (Mozart)

In the famous Preface to Alceste (1767), Christoph Willibald Gluck and his librettist Ranieri de' Calzabigi posited a new direction for opera. They spoke of moving beyond Baroque forms, of striving for a new naturalism in opera. They wanted, in Calzabigi's lovely phrase, to liberate the language of the heart. Taken from the height of this Reform period, the arias on this disc reveal composers exploring and experimenting, at struggle and at play, as they create the new forms that bring to opera the noble simplicity of the Classical era. Bejun Mehta returns to the Wigmore Hall and Covent Garden in 2014 [Mitridate].

„Bejun Mehta’s disc towers above the other Handel ‘medley’ recordings currently fashionable among opera stars. Musicality and a brilliant intelligence emanate from every track. Mehta and René Jacobs, by contrast, achieve a perfect meeting of musical minds...This is not just another aria collection, but a celebration of genius, in composition and performance alike.” (BBC Music Magazine)

'AMERICAN Bejun Mehta is a phenomenon among today's countertenors...he explores a universe of colour and emotion, and demonstrates the sheer effortlessness of his delivery (never once do you sense that slight unnatural unease so common among average countertenors) with the supremely stylish backing of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra under René Jacobs. Welsh soprano Rosemary Joshua also features.' (Kenneth Walton, The Scotsman)

Bejun Mehta, countertenor
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
René Jacobs, conductor
RIAS Kammerchor (on track 2, 9)

No biography found.

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