Handel: Oratorio Jephtha - Quartet & Final Chorus

of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759):
J E P H T H A
The complete recording of the English Oratorio HWV 70,
performed according to the traditions of the time
by
Kirsten Blaise - Soprano
Annelie Sophie Müller - Mezzosoprano
David Allsopp - Altus / Countertenor
Benjamin Hulett - Tenor
Simon Bailey - Bass
Maulbronn Chamber Choir
Ensemble il capriccio (Baroque Orchestra)
Jürgen Budday - Music Director & Conductor
A concert recording from the church of the German
UNESCO World Heritage Site Maulbronn Monastery,
September 29th & 30th, 2012,recorded, released & created
by Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler.
Sound & Recording Engineer: Andreas Otto Grimminger
Mastering: Andreas Otto Grimminger & Josef-Stefan Kindler
Photography: Josef-Stefan Kindler
Artwork & Coverdesign: Josef-Stefan Kindler
VIEW, DOWNLOAD OR PURCHASE THE CD:
www.kuk-art.com...

[@moniquemalaurie9713]

Très belle exécution... Merci pour ce plaisir!

[@hudsonbailey674]

Enchantment --- I'm lifted.

[@BooneCaleb]

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is not sung well by the soloists who sing the main duet in this piece, in my opinion.
These duet singers/soloists fade in and out, and one cannot hear every note that they are singing.
Some notes in the duet are just dropped.
I do not think this is due to the inability of the singers to sing strongly enough to project the notes.
Rather, it is due to lack of good musicianship.
This dropping-of-notes, or fading-in-and-out, is silly, and is just plain bad musicianship, or poor musicianship.
There is a notion nowadays, that, if one sings tentatively, or sparely, or heavily or strongly and then suddenly lightly, then one is being historically accurate, or properly old-fashioned or truly Baroque.
On the theory that the manner of singing Baroque music should be similar to the manner of playing instruments whilst performing Baroque music.
The current trend of Baroque instrumental performance which appears to be advocated by many musicians nowadays, is that of playing stringed instruments in a Baroque performance in a manner which is supposed to be light, without vibrato, and not robust. That is, the style of Baroque string playing which is now regarded as "historically-accurate" or "historically-informed," is a style which does not produce good, strong, consistent, constant, sonorous, vibrant sound, but rather produces a tentative, come-and-go sound, which is the opposite of that sound usually associated with the classical, romantic and modern periods of symphonic music.
In other words, tinny, soft, plucky, lute-y, mandolin-y, wispy, not-all-there, so one has to "chase the sound around the corner" to hear it, as it were.
Apparently, the singers in this recording are trying to sing in a Baroque style which they believe to be consistent with the above now-approved Baroque instrumental style.
I completely disagree with this style, whether for instruments or voices, or both.
If Handel or Bach would ever have heard our modern style, played on modern instruments, they would have loved it.
Handel and Bach would certainly have preferred to perform their music loudly, strongly, with vibrato as appropriate, and with lovely sonority.
Not tentatively, bare-and-spare, and threadbare.
I cannot believe this style would ever have been approved by Handel or Bach or any other Baroque composer.
To so suggest is, in my opinion, silly and idiotic.
It has caused a great waste of money, time and effort, in the unnecessary and embarrassing execution and recording of numerous Baroque performances in this awful style during the last sixty-five years and more.
I have read that the late Karl Richter was confronted with this new style in the 1960s, and he rejected it.
He was absolutely right to do so, and I am shocked to learn that there are those who believe Karl Richter was unwise to reject this silly, unmusical style.
Have a Dovely.
Sincerely yours,
Caleb Boone.