Featuring Handel's substantial Neun Deutsche Arien (Nine German Arias), HWV 202-210, this engaging late-'80s Bis recording gives the composer's relatively neglected vocal chamber music the royal treatment. It is masterfully produced by the label's founder, Robert von Bahr, and realized with utmost love and expertise by soprano Christina Högman and I Quattro Temperamenti. The German arias are settings of Barthold Heinrich Brockes, a minor contemporary of Handel who was among the first German writers to produce religiously ...
Read More
Featuring Handel's substantial Neun Deutsche Arien (Nine German Arias), HWV 202-210, this engaging late-'80s Bis recording gives the composer's relatively neglected vocal chamber music the royal treatment. It is masterfully produced by the label's founder, Robert von Bahr, and realized with utmost love and expertise by soprano Christina Högman and I Quattro Temperamenti. The German arias are settings of Barthold Heinrich Brockes, a minor contemporary of Handel who was among the first German writers to produce religiously tinged nature poetry. The texts are reverential, but not sacred in the usual sense, or even centered on religious topics; instead, they use the idea of divine creation almost as a refrain. Handel's settings elevate the insubstantial poems considerably, coming as close in style to the sacred arias of J.S. Bach as any of Handel's works. In realizing them, Högman and I Quattro Temperamenti give each of them a distinctive color and affect, finding the perfect tempo, articulation, and...
Read Less