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Home » Composers » German Composers » GF Handel » Handel Operas » Alessandro
Alessandro
By George Frideric Handel (Georg Friedrich Händel)
Recordings
 Handel.
Alessandro. (HWV 21, London 1726). dhm 1C 157-16 9537 3
(4 LPs 1985), reissued by EMI on 3 CDs as 7 47910 8, and
reissued in 1990 by BMG as dhm Editio Classica GD 77110.
Sigiswald Kuijken, La Petite Bande. Alessandro: René Jacobs,
countertenor; Rossane: Sophie Boulin, soprano; Lisaura: Isabelle
Poulenard, soprano; Tassile: Jean Nirouët, countertenor; Clito:
Stephen Varcoe, bass; Leonato: Guy de Mey, tenor; Cleone: Ria
Bollen, contralto. To save a few cents, EMI carefully excised
the English translation from the facsimile libretto copied in
the LP edition. I don't know whether the translation was
restored to the CD reissues.
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JP |
Alessandro is an above-average Handel opera, and this was an above average recording at the time, despite a typically affected performance by René Jacobs. For reasons known only to the marketing department at BMG, the Editio Classica reissue was not released in North America, whereas the Editio Classica reissue of Partenope, originally released seven years earlier than Alessandro, was marketed in North America. Moreover, Partenope was kept in print for more than a decade after Alessandro was allowed to go out of print for the third time. With no better recording of Alessandro on the horizon and Handel operas more popular than ever, reissuing this CD would seem like a foolproof way for BMG to make some easy money with minimal investment.
Related Operas
Steffani. La superba d'Alessandro. (Hanover 1690). Libretto by Ortensio Mauro. "A slightly altered version was given there in 1691 with the title Il zelo di Leonato, but Rolli followed the original version." (Strohm, page 53).
References
Winton Dean. Handel's Operas, 1726-1741 (Boydell Press 2006).
R. Strohm. "Handel and his Italian opera texts." Essays on Handel and the Italian Opera. (Oxford University Press 1985).
Links
Le magazine de l'opera-baroque page on Alessandro