Product DescriptionMaking his Archiv opera debut, celebrated Handelian and Grammy award winner René Jacobs, the most exciting opera conductor of the day (Münchner Merkur), leads his dynamic, exquisitely honed B Rock Baroque Orchestra Ghent and an outstanding cast in one of the composer s most spectacular and ravishingly beautiful creations recorded at Concertgebouw Brugge in summer 2013.
In a recording career spanning four decades, Jacobs has surveyed a phenomenal amount of repertoire, operatic and instrumental: from Monteverdi to Mozart, from Bach to Pergolesi, with Händel, Gluck, Telemann and many more in-between, every new recording being hailed as an event by the press.
Following game-changing recordings of Handel s Giulio Cesare (1991), Rinaldo (2003) and Agrippina (2011), celebrated early and baroque music elder statesman René Jacobs makes an eagerly expected return to Handel on disc.
The title role, written for the legendary castrato Senesino, is sung by its finest modern exponent, Bejun Mehta, one of the most commanding, exhilarating countertenors of the modern era (New York Times).
This is a major new release under the Archiv imprint. Featuring a world-class cast of singers headed by countertenor Bejun Mehta, it ties in with a major revival of the critically acclaimed 2012 stage production by Pierre Audi in Amsterdam and a European concert tour in June. The opera is new to DG s catalogue and is the first studio recording of a complete opera for the label since 2011.