subscribeGeorge Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) Here, for a taste comparison, are two versions of “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s opera Seres (Xerses).
The first selection is from the late mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Handel Arias, Harry Bicket and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
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Selection two is from the counter-tenor Andreas Scholl. Here from the Heroes CD, Sir Roger Norington, also with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
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It is difficult not to become rhapsodic when describing Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Her voice possess a pure emotionality tempered by intelligence. When she died at the age of 52 in 2006 it sparked in me a moment of mortality that I could not shake for days. How was it possible that a presence so vital, visceral, could be lost?
