Imeneo HWV 41 (1740) : Sorge Nell'alma Mia Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:03
Floridante HWV 14 (1721) : Alma Mia Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:17
Arianna In Creta: Salda Quercia, Inerta Balza Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:02
Tamerlano HWV 18 (1724) : Benché Mi Sprezzi Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:50
Serse HWV 40 (1738) : Se bramate d'amar chi vi sdegna Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:16
Amadigi Di Gaula HWV 11 (1715) : Pena Tiranna Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:17
Arianna In Creta HWV 32 (1734) : Qual Leon Che Fere Irato Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:01
Parnasso In Festa HWV 73 : Non Tardate Fauni Ancora Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:37
Agrippina HWV 6 (1709) : Come Nube, Che Fugge Dal Vento Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 4:12
Radamisto HWV 12a (1720) : Ombra Cara Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 8:00
Orlando HWV 31 (1733) : Verdi Allori Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 5:56
Parnasso In Festa: Lunga Serie D'alti Eroi Max Emanuel Cencic/Diego Fasolis/I Barocchisti 3:30
After his foray into the early Romantic era -- heroic arias written for female mezzo sopranos to perform in male disguise -- Max Emmanuel Cencic returns to core countertenor repertoire with this program of Handel. It compr... more »ises arias taken from a variety of operas and other vocal works and includes t wo of the composer's operatic `greatest hits', the dynamic `Dopo notte' from Ariodante and the poignant `Cara speme' from Giulio Cesare. W hen Cencic performed the role of Sesto in Giulio Cesare on stage in Toulouse in 2006, ResMusica described him as a "true phenomenon". Handel retains a prominent position in Cencic's performance schedule. Among operas by the composer that he has performed are Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, Fernando, Serse, Ottone and Faramondo -- his complete Virgin Classics recording of this work was designated a Diapason `Découverte' in March 2009, also being selected for Gramophone's Editor's Choice in July 2009. The Daily Telegraph wrote of the recording that: "The cast is notable for the flamboyant contributions of the impressive young countertenors Max Emanuel Cencic (in the title role) and Philippe Jaroussky. Strongly recommended to diehard Handel fans."« less
After his foray into the early Romantic era -- heroic arias written for female mezzo sopranos to perform in male disguise -- Max Emmanuel Cencic returns to core countertenor repertoire with this program of Handel. It comprises arias taken from a variety of operas and other vocal works and includes t wo of the composer's operatic `greatest hits', the dynamic `Dopo notte' from Ariodante and the poignant `Cara speme' from Giulio Cesare. W hen Cencic performed the role of Sesto in Giulio Cesare on stage in Toulouse in 2006, ResMusica described him as a "true phenomenon". Handel retains a prominent position in Cencic's performance schedule. Among operas by the composer that he has performed are Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, Fernando, Serse, Ottone and Faramondo -- his complete Virgin Classics recording of this work was designated a Diapason `Découverte' in March 2009, also being selected for Gramophone's Editor's Choice in July 2009. The Daily Telegraph wrote of the recording that: "The cast is notable for the flamboyant contributions of the impressive young countertenors Max Emanuel Cencic (in the title role) and Philippe Jaroussky. Strongly recommended to diehard Handel fans."
CD Reviews
Beauiful!
Zachary Rogg-Meltzer | NYC | 04/15/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"These Mezzo-Soprano opera arias performed by Max Emanuel Cencic sound better than I have ever heard them sound. His voice is perfectly suited to this music, almost like he was born to sing it. 12 tracks including Arianna in Creta (track number 3) is absolutely beautiful, and I have listened to it ten times in the last few days. This whole CD maintains a very sensitive feel to it, and would appeal to the romantic type. I recommend this to anyone who likes their favorite artists to connect to their music. You certainly feel that here."
We are fortunate to be living now...
Julian Kerrell-Vaughan | Hong Kong | 04/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"We have, for so long, looked back with an admixture of unrequited longing and a sharp sense of regret to the age when the male castrato ruled the seventeenth and eighteenth-century operatic stage. Those two words, 'if only...' (perhaps two of the saddest in the English language) may now be laid aside. We are indeed incredibly fortunate in living at a time when we have talents such as Max-Emanuel Cencic to bring a triumphant renaissance to that music once again!
Cencic, like Andreas Scholl and very, very few others, has magnificent beauty and tone throughout his very wide range. There is none of the sibilance and nasal quality that one finds in the leading French exponent of the genre. Here is a very real beauty that stirs the soul.
Added to a phenomenal technique and that fundamental splendour, Cencic, unlike Scholl, it would appear, is capable of the most perilous pyrotechnics, throwing out great handfuls of running demi-semi-quavers with perfect precision and without losing that beauty of tone. In other words he is never obliged to sacrifice beauty to agility.
Returning to the great names of the past - Senesino, Cafarelli and of course Farinelli - one is tempted to posit the question, "Could they...did they...indeed sing better than this?""
Cencic-Handel arias.
Mr. Richard L. Williams | Wales | 06/09/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Simply sensational.easily the best counter tenor ever and irresistable even to those who do not like counter tenors.You will not be able to stop playing it as it's so beautiful."
Not Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings ...
Giordano Bruno | Wherever I am, I am. | 05/06/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'm told that 'classical music' fans are not a majority in Europe or America these days. That's a disconcerting thought. And among classical music fans, fervent opera lovers are less than a majority, even if you count those who attend out of noblesse oblige. Then, judging by the schedules at American opera houses, among the opera lovers the taste for baroque opera is hardly universal. Narrowing the sample one ring tighter, it has to be acknowledged that many avid listeners to baroque opera remain unenthusiastic about male sopranos and altos. So you have to wonder... Why would a handsome trim young 'hunk' like Max Emanuel Cencic commit himself to the years of disciplined practice that it takes to become an artful male mezzo-soprano? One supposes that it's not for celebrity or wealth.
Let's be honest: there is something absurd about opera; the first-time opera-goer shouldn't be denounced too fiercely for finding the experience almost ludicrous -- stuffy, melodramatic, bombastic, unnatural, possibly lurid, definitely overblown. That trite old saw about the "fat lady" really does express what many people feel about opera and about classically trained singers in general.
Max Emanuel Cencic is anything but a 'fat lady', as his photos in this CD package show. Oddly enough, however, at times he sounds like one. His vocal timbre is far from consistent throughout his range; his lowest notes are often strained, and there's something 'strenuous' about his rapid passages and ornaments, which ought to pour forth effortlessly as they do when Philippe Jaroussky sings them; his tuning is only about 97% (!) impeccable; and his voice has a quaver at times that comes awfully close to the 'fat lady's vibrato' of yesteryear. It was that vibrato, believe me, that most offended the ears of 'naive' listeners - pop/folk/jazz/country music lovers. Cencic is very good - very very good! - but he has minor flaws in his technique still, and some of them are the same old flaws that were supposed to be inherent in the pre HIP singers. He's not as virtuosic as Jaroussky, not as expressive as Gerard Lesne, not as mellifluous as Andreas Scholl, to name a few prominent counter-tenors.
I'm being über-picky, homeys. I hope you realize that. Earnest advocates of counter-tenor technique will probably hoot me off the platform for being so picky. Ultimately, this is a wonderful performance, highly satisfying and worth hearing many times. Note that I've rated it at five stars despite my nit-picking.
And the music itself? Twelve commanding arias from lesser-known operas by GF Handel? Come on! How could anybody not swoon with pleasure at such beauty?"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1