Handel: Poros | Gunther Leib, Franz Stumpf, ...

Handel: Poros | Gunther Leib, Franz Stumpf, ... | A Little Known Magnificent Recording

classical music:

Handel: Poros

	Handel: Poros Gunther Leib, Franz Stumpf, ... Berlin Classics, 1999 average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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A great Handel opera

First of all let me say that I don't think Handel (or for that matter Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart or Beethoven) ever wrote any music that isnt't worth at least five stars. I have heard music of these five composers, whom I put in a class by themselves, performed by rank amateurs in high schools and colleges, and it is still great. And that I think is a measure of the greatness of these five composers. Their music is so absolutely great that even the rawest amateur cannot do it harm. Having said all that I have added to my collection a number of works by Handel that are not generally known even to people interested in his works. All of them are great. Some are better than great, and I think Poros is one of those. Here is dynamic music brilliantly performed by an all German cast and issued by Berlin Classics very reasonably. I admit unabashedly that I am very price conscious. You might even say cheap. But there is more. While not knowing a word of the German language except for words like danke and gut morgen, I find the sung German language particularly in baroque music to be absolutely beautiful. I can and do listen for hours to works by Bach (both Johann Sebastian, CPE and other of their kin), Handel and Telemann, without understanding a word of what is being sung. The words themselves carry their own beauty. I have read somewhere in these Amazon pages a review by Robert Levine of a Handel work written by the composer in English but performed in German, by this group as I recall. Basically Mr. Levine's review boiled down to one word was "Yuck". I think very highly of Mr. Levine and depend heavily on his reviews. Here is only a difference in taste. He is a purist. I am not knowledgable enough in music to be so. I love the sung German language, and I prefer to hear any Handel work sung in German even though it may have been written in English. Which brings us finally back to Poros. It is thrilling music by one of the greatest composeers of them all. The voices are excellent, and in the Handel-Festspielorchester Halle under the direction of Horst-Tanu Margraf, you have an absolutely terrific performance of Handel's music. You can also find on the Berlin Classics label with other German orchestras and singers Semele, Salomo and Radimisto. They are uniformly excellent performance of truly exciting music. Anyone who loves Handel's operas and oratorios should add them to his or her collection.

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A Little Known Magnificent Recording

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