Questions on some Handel Purcell etc. recs

Virgin/EMI seems to have unleashed another batch of twofers with baroque and early music, I'd be interested in comments on the following:

Dowland: Lachrimae / Byrd: Consort Music, Chance, Wilson, Fretwork

Handel: Carmelite Vespers 1707 (never heard of that piece), Parrott

Handel/Scarlatti: Cantatas, Lesne, Piau

Purcell: Songs & Airs, Argenta etc.

Furthermore Gardiner's Israel in Egypt is available as a Philips Duo (with the rather odd coupling of two of the four coronation anthems) and an earlier (presumeably late seventies) recording of the Dixit Dominus on Warners Budget series, those sould be quite good, I suppose?

2001 also has a few really odd things, such as Israel in Egypt, Messiah and the Dvorak Requiem extremely cheap with some (apparently Dutch oder Danish?) 'Akademisk Kor & Orkester', dir.: Morten Topp (no idea who that might be) as well as Judas Maccabaeus, conducted by Thomas Fey (heard good things about his Haydn and have his Beethoven 4 & 6, which is quite interesting, but didn't know about any choral recordings)

thanks for any comments

You haven't heard of the piece because it doesn't exist as such. Parrott has strung together some of Handel's sacred music from his Roman period to create a hypothetical Vespers service. Some of the pieces in the 'Vespers' include the familiar Dixit Dominus (which is rather more forceful and energetic than I'd expect from Parrott). There is fine singing from Jill Feldman and Emma Kirkby, and less-fine from Emily van Evera (aka Mrs. Parrott). Annoyingly, there are no texts provided in ths re-release. That's not a big issue with the familiar Psalm texts

The reason you've not heard of it is probably because it's a recreation (or whatever the correct term is) made by cobbling together a number of works you probably do know already, such as the Dixit Dominus and several solo motets. In every instance you can find a better performance elsewhere. Many of his soloists have hideously unattractive voices (well, to these ears, at least), and I find Parrott's conducting bland most of the time.

Assuming you like the music, this isn't to be missed. The underappreciated Lesne strikes me as by far the most interesting countertenor around (I much prefer him to Daniels and Scholl, for instance), especially interpretatively; Piau is first rate.

These would be my first choice for this repertoire - at least if you want it sung by soprano - if they were still full price (which they were when I bought mine). Excellent in every way, and probably the best thing Argenta's done on records.

The choral and orchestral contributions, and conduccting, are first rate, but the soloists, drawn from the choir, are appalling; they have no business singing solos. But very few recordings of this piece have tolerable soloists, and given the prominence of the choir you may consider that, overall, this doesn't matter much.

and an earlier (presumeably late

Overall this strikes me as being far preferable to Gardiner's remake of the Dixit Dominus on Philips, largely because, like the Israel in Egypt, the remake has abysmal soloists. The sopranos on the reissued Erato recording - Felicity Palmer and (especially) Margaret Marshall - are wonderful. This is one of Gardiner's last pre-HIP recordings; no period instruments here (except perhaps the harpsichord/organ).

I suppose I agree, although I'm not sure anyone conducts the opening movement as well as he does. (His choir is superb here.)

Simon Roberts schrieb:

I have a Purcell Twofer (St. Cecilia etc.) with him and was not too impressed with it, it isn't really bad, but not as good as it should be (rather underpowered most of the time, soloists a mixed bunch), so I am not sure if I should take this cheap twofer as a welcome introduction to the music (which I do not really know yet) or if the performances could actually discourage to explore the music further...

Which cantatas are those, the Italian/Roman Cantatas? (I like Lesne, FWIW)

there is not much of a choice, I guess. So far I have Mackerras' older recording, which has decent soloists, but the choir is not great, what about Gardiners older Erato recording (the newer one is supposed to be better, but many critics/fans are so taken with the choir that they do not seem to pay real attention to the soloists)

You do not happen to know or have heard of the Fey recording of Judas Maccabaeus on the Christophorus label?

Anyway, thank you for the comments so far (I almost thought I wouldn't get any replies, apart from Mr Wood)

Oh, they're not *that* bad; I initially quite liked it when it first came out in the late 1980s and I was new to most of the music.

Yes

No, it's not. Gardiner's far better than this overall (aside from the soloists).

what about Gardiners older Erato

His soloists are a bit better on the older recording, but I think the new one is better otherwise. The Erato one contains more music, though - 'The Ways of Zion do Mourn' is included as a prelude to the work.

I'm pretty sure I haven't (or, if I have, I can't remember anything about it).

Simon Roberts schrieb:

o.k. it is actually so cheap right (10-12 EUR) now that it would be more a waste of time and shelf space than of money, I'll get it and Gardiner's old Dixit Dominus as a supplement. I do believe there is some music which is very hard to wreck, but unfortunately, Handel's seems rather sensitive to good/bad performances.

[Gardiner's Israel in Egypt]

Good. I only warmed to a few numbers of the work (and was told be before it might the fault of this recordings not of the piece), so Gardiner will be an improvement anyway.

For what it's worth, I say go for it. The Carmelite Vesper music is a great introduction to Handel's sacred Roman works (Jill Feldman's singing many here don't care for notwithstanding) packaged in a single unit. Plus, by presenting these works in a liturgical setting, it puts a very appealing (to me) spin on the musical drama.

You can always complement the Parrott recording as I have with other CDs of individual movements. I highly recommend the Minkowski on Archiv

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