PART ONE: Accompagnato - Hence, loathed Melancholy
Accompagnato - Hence, vain deluding Joys
Air - Come, thou goddess fair and free
Air - Come rather, goddess, sage and holy
Air - Haste thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Air - Come and trip it as you go
Accompagnato - Come, pensive nun, devout and pure
Air - Come, but keep thy wonted state
Accompagnato - There, held in holy passion still
Recitative - Hence, loathed Melancholy!
Air - Mirth, admit me of thy crew
Accompagnato - First and chief, on golden wing
Air - Sweet bird, that shun'st the noise of Folly
Recitative - If I give thee honour due
Air - Mirth, admit me of thy crew
Air - Oft on a plat of rising ground
Air - Far from all resort of mirth
Recitative - If I give thee honour due
Air - Let me wander not unseen
Air - Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures
Accompagnato - Mountains, on whose barren breast
Air - Or let the merry bells ring round
Track Listings (25) - Disc #2
PART TWO: Accompagnato - Hence, vain deluding Joys
Air - Sometimes let gorgeous tragedy
Air - But O, sad virgin, that thy pow'r
Air - Thus, Night, oft see me in thy pale career
Chorus - Populous cities please me [us] then
Air - There let Hymen oft appear
Accompagnato - Me, when the sun begins to fling
Air - Hide me from Day's garish eye
Air - I'll to the well-trod stage anon
Air - And ever against eating cares
Air - Orpheus' self may heave his head
Air - These delights if thou canst give
Recitative - But let my due feet never fail
Chorus - There let the pealing organ blow
Air - May at last my weary age
Fugue - Organo ad libitum il soggetto della fuga seguente
Chorus - These pleasures, Melancholy, give
PART THREE: Accompagnato - Hence! boast not, ye profane
Air - Come, with native lustre shine
Accompagnato - Sweet Temp'rance in thy right hand bear
Air - Come, with gentle hand restrain
Recitative - No more short life they then will spend
Air - Each action will derive new grace
Duet - As steals the morn upon the night
Chorus - Thy pleasures, Moderation, give
Handel's oratorios may be loaded with wonderful music, but their librettos have tended to draw some sniping. It's true that some of them can be rather banal, but others are very impressive--the biblical texts Charles Jenn... more »ens assembled for Messiah and Israel in Egypt, for example, and John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast. One particularly inspired idea Handel's colleagues had was to take excerpts from John Milton's poems "L'Allegro" (about the joys of sophisticated hedonism) and "Il Penseroso" (about the joys of contemplative solitude) and interweave them to make a sort of musical debate. At Handel's request, Jennens wrote a concluding section titled "Il Moderato," which unites the two opposing temperaments under the guidance of "Sweet Temp'rance." The result is one of Handel's most colorful scores, with such treats as a robust aria with hunting horns, a laughter chorus, a gentle duet for soprano and cello, and arias and choruses with featured parts for trumpets, organ, and even the tinkling bells of a carillon. Not to mention "Sweet bird," one of the very greatest "birdsong" arias, in which a flute imitates a bird and a soprano imitates the flute. How odd, then, that this is only the second recording of L'Allegro in 20 years. Luckily, it's a good one. Conductor Robert King and his orchestra and choir do their work well, certainly, but it's the soloists who make this performance special. Lorna Anderson does a lovely "Sweet bird" with a particularly good trill; soprano Susan Gritton sounds sweeter and more eloquent than ever; and the fabulous tenor Paul Agnew uses an amazing range of tone colors, from angelic purity to intimidating harshness. All in all, this L'Allegro is good enough to silence any grumbling about what took Hyperion so long to record it. --Matthew Westphal« less
Handel's oratorios may be loaded with wonderful music, but their librettos have tended to draw some sniping. It's true that some of them can be rather banal, but others are very impressive--the biblical texts Charles Jennens assembled for Messiah and Israel in Egypt, for example, and John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast. One particularly inspired idea Handel's colleagues had was to take excerpts from John Milton's poems "L'Allegro" (about the joys of sophisticated hedonism) and "Il Penseroso" (about the joys of contemplative solitude) and interweave them to make a sort of musical debate. At Handel's request, Jennens wrote a concluding section titled "Il Moderato," which unites the two opposing temperaments under the guidance of "Sweet Temp'rance." The result is one of Handel's most colorful scores, with such treats as a robust aria with hunting horns, a laughter chorus, a gentle duet for soprano and cello, and arias and choruses with featured parts for trumpets, organ, and even the tinkling bells of a carillon. Not to mention "Sweet bird," one of the very greatest "birdsong" arias, in which a flute imitates a bird and a soprano imitates the flute. How odd, then, that this is only the second recording of L'Allegro in 20 years. Luckily, it's a good one. Conductor Robert King and his orchestra and choir do their work well, certainly, but it's the soloists who make this performance special. Lorna Anderson does a lovely "Sweet bird" with a particularly good trill; soprano Susan Gritton sounds sweeter and more eloquent than ever; and the fabulous tenor Paul Agnew uses an amazing range of tone colors, from angelic purity to intimidating harshness. All in all, this L'Allegro is good enough to silence any grumbling about what took Hyperion so long to record it. --Matthew Westphal
CD Reviews
Rush to buy L'Allegro
David Cloke | London | 04/23/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is music that makes you feel glad to be alive - is there any composer better at expressing joy than Handel? This piece is all about the multi-faceted joys to be experienced - of the hunt(CD1, 16), the carnival (CD1, 23), solitude (CD1, 8,9), the theatre (CD2, 2,9) and the beauty of the night (CD2, 24). It is also a wonderful, perhaps unsurpassed, evocation of pre-industrial England. The singing is almost always first rate and Robert King seems to have shaken off the slightly restrained demeanor of some of his earlier Handel recordings and perhaps as a consequence the King's Consort and Choir are inspired. If you are unconvinced listen to the gorgeous duet at the end of part 3, possibly the best Handel ever wrote, and the sheer verve of the tenor air and chorus, 'These delights if though canst give'."
Sheer delight!
Izolda | North Haven, CT United States | 03/15/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is really a feast for Handelians, beautifully played and sung. The earlier recording of this oratorio, made by Gardiner in the 80-ties, is not only incomplete but also less impressively executed. It is wonderful to have both sets, but this new one from Robert King brings much more life to this splendid music. It is one of my desert island discs!"
Beauty, grace and joy
KC | London, England | 02/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A wonderful performance of a beautiful piece. Good taste personified! In a complete and uncut studio recording. Robert King is served by excellent orchestral playing and strong singers. Susan Gritton's singing is wonderful. I can find nothing to fault and everything to commend. Buy it!
"
King Triumphs in Handel's Pastoral Ode, L' Allegro
Paul S. Rottenberg | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 11/03/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
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Review of Hyperion Label's L' Allegro by Handel
I own both the Gardiner performance (Erato) from the 80's and now this newer performance by King (Hyperion) from the 90's, and the King routs Gardiner. Not only does this newer recording benefit from better sound, but the solo singing is uniformly better, being informed by more recent scholarship. In addition, some of the solos on the Gardiner set are just weak, such as those of the boy soprano, who has almost no voice at all, thus ruining his part completely. On Hyperion's excellent set, in contrast, all of these problems are completely avoided; all the solo parts are taken by adult singers, who do both Milton and Handel grand, making this lovely poetry completely audible. King's orchestra and chorus are also the equal of Gardiner's well-known, excellent ensemble, and they perform the later edition of this delightful music which Handel prepared about a year or two after the initial performances, thus adding almost twice as much as Gardiner performs in his version of Handel's original version. In short, haste thee, and purchase King's period instrument triumph of Handel's L' Allegro and bring out smiles, jollity, and rejoicing all around.
Track Listings (23) - Disc #1