Handel
Within fifteen years, Handel had started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. Musicologist Winton Dean writes that his operas show that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never composed an Italian opera again. Almost blind, and having lived in England for nearly fifty years, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man. His funeral was given full state honours, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining steadfastly popular.[6] One of his four Coronation Anthems, Zadok the Priest (1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown.
Handel
BACH Violin Sonatas 1 & 2
BACH Concerto for Two Violins
HANDEL Violin Sonata No. 4
TARTINI Violin Sonata in G
TARTINI Violin Concerto in D minor
MOZART Violin Sonata No. 21
MOZART Violin Concerto No. 4
short works by BACH, EXAUDET, TARTINI, VERACINI
Studio recordings, 1927-37
Total duration: 2hr 19:10
Joseph Szigeti, violin
Carl Flesch, violin
Nikita Magaloff, piano
Kurt Ruhrseitz, piano
Walter Goehr ∙ Orchestra
Sir Thomas Beecham ∙ London Philharmonic Orchestra
SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto No. 1
ELGAR Cello Concerto
VARIOUS COMPOSERS Short works
Recorded 1926-9
Total duration: 77:11
W. H. Squire, cello
George Thomas Pattman, organ
Hallé Orchestra
Sir Hamilton Harty, conductor
HANDEL Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6
MOZART Symphony No. 35 in D major, K.385, 'Haffner'
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73
Live broadcast recording, 1940
Total duration: 73:54
NBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Bruno Walter
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival Overture
WAGNER Parsifal Act I Transformation Music
WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
MOZART Le
Nozze di Figaro – Overture
MOZART Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
HANDEL Concerto Grosso In B Minor
WEBER Der Freischütz – Overture
Studio recordings, 1923-38
Total duration: 72:28
Bruno Walter, conductor
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Mozart Festival Orchestra
British Symphony Orchestra
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
ELGAR In the South, 'Alassio', Overture
ELGAR Sea Pictures
ELGAR Chanson de Matin
HANDEL (arr. ELGAR) Overture in D
Recorded 1953 and 1954
Total duration: 55:16
Gladys Ripley, contralto
London Symphony Orchestra
conducted by George Weldon
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