Album

British tenor Mark Padmore brings together a collection of English and Italian arias from Handel oratorios and operas. Padmore, who performs works of many eras in a wide range of styles, has primarily settled into the kind of repertoire Peter Pears comfortably inhabited, but with a stronger emphasis on Baroque opera and oratorio. Padmore's voice resembles Pears' in some ways; it's a light instrument, and is capable of great agility. It has some of Pears' limitations, particularly a tendency toward tonal blandness and lack of variety in its colors, as well as a slight edge when pushed. Most importantly, though, Padmore does not have Pears' reedy quality or breathiness—his voice is pure and more mellow than Pears'. Except for some lack of full support in its very lowest reaches, this repertoire vocally suits him well. He is capable of summoning up a high sense of drama, as he does so well in "Tu, spietato," from Tamerlano, but perhaps because his voice is not particularly colorful, he is less effective in the more subtle matters of phrasing, where a well-placed inflection can illuminate a character. His ornamentation in the da capo arias is consistently effective and gracefully executed. Padmore is most at ease and effective in the more lyrical arias, and in "Thus when the sun from's wat'ry bed," from Samson; "Waft her, angels," from Jephtha; and "Tune your harps," from Esther, he is genuinely magical. The concluding duet from L'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, with soprano Lucy Crowe is ravishingly limpid. Andrew Manze leads the English Concert in brisk and fluent accompaniments, and Harmonia Mundi's sound is exemplary throughout.

© Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

CD 1
George Frideric Handel Composer Alceste, incidental music, HWV45 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
1	Act 4. Enjoy the sweet Elysian grove, song	5:37			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Semele, HWV58 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
2	Act 2. Scene 3. Where'er you walk, air	5:17			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, HWV46a Work Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
3	Part 1. Unre voi, aria	3:32			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Tamerlano, HWV18 (opera)...Act 1 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
4	6.Sc.1, Aria: Forte e lieto a morte	6:08			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Tamerlano, HWV18 (opera)...Act 3 Work 9:59 Mark Padmore Tenor, Lucy Crowe Soprano, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director, Robin Blaze Countertenor
5	20.Sc.10, Recitativo: Oh per me lieto	3:53			$0.99
6	22.Sc.10, Arioso: Figlia mia, non pianger	6:06			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Samson, HWV57...Act 1 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
7	12.Sc.2, Air: Total eclipse! No sun, no moon	4:38			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Samson, HWV57...Act 2 Work 3:50 Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
8	Act 2. Scene 2. Did love constrain thee?, recitative	0:32			$0.99
9	10.Sc.1, Air: Your charms to ruin led the way	3:18			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Samson, HWV57...Act 3 Work 6:12 Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
10	Act 3. Scene 1. Let but that spirit, recitative / Then shall I make, accompagnato	0:40			$0.99
11	6.Sc.1, Air: Thus when the sun from's wat'ry bed	5:32			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi, HWV19 (opera) Work 8:38 Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
12	Act 3. Scene 6. Fatto inferno, accompagnato	3:23			$0.99
13	Act 3. Scene 6. Pastorello d'un povero armento, aria	5:15			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Esther, HWV50a...Scene 2 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, Katharina Spreckelsen Oboe, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
14	2.Aria: Tune your harps to cheerful strains	4:19			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer Jephtha, HWV70 Work 12:14 Mark Padmore Tenor, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
15	Act 2. Scene 2. Heav'n smiles once more, recitative	0:32			$0.99
16	Act 2. Scene 2. His mighty arm	5:59			$0.99
17	Act 3. Scene 1. Waft her, angels, air	5:43			$0.99
George Frideric Handel Composer L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (Pastoral Ode), HWV55...Part 3 Work Mark Padmore Tenor, Lucy Crowe Soprano, English Concert Chamber Ensemble, Andrew Manze Director
18	39.Duet: As steals the morn upon the night	6:36			$0.99