Pablo Heras-Casado / Concerto Köln EL MAESTRO FARINELLI

 Quickly becoming known as one of the most exciting conductors of his generation, Pablo Heras-Casado is set to make his album debut, El Maestro Farinelli, on the recently re-launched label, Archiv Produktion for Deutsche Grammophon. Available May 27, 2014, this new album marks Heras-Casado’s return to his core repertoire and musical heritage, performing instrumental and vocal music associated with Farinelli, the legendary 18th-century castrato singer who served as impresario and court musician to the kings of Spain.

With El Maestro Farinelli, Archiv Produktion offered Heras-Casado the opportunity to choose what music to conduct from the Farinelli period, focusing on neglected operas where many orchestral scores had been destroyed in a palace fire in the 19-century and ultimately those that survived had to be transcribed by hand. This album features a rare world premiere of eight recordings with some arias sung by noted countertenor Bejun Mehta as well as including the works of Baroque composers like Hasse, Porpora and Jomelli, which Farinelli presented during his time as concert master in Madrid and Aranjuez.

Enjoying a diverse conducting career thus far, Pablo Heras-Casado has encompassed the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, historically-informed performance, cutting-edge contemporary scores, and has already developed a special rapport with a number of soloists, orchestras and opera houses.

Bejun Mehta / Freiburger Barockorchester / René Jacobs OMBRA CARA Arias of GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

I recall hearing a CD (Delos) starring a boy soprano named Bejun Mehta almost 20 years ago. He was amazing. Along with the usual Messiah excerpts he sang Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock; though not perfect, it was remarkable. Since then he has become a world-renowned countertenor, on par with Andreas Scholl and David Daniels. This is, inexplicably, his first recital CD. It's superb.

Mehta differs from other countertenors insofar as his dynamic range is concerned. Furthermore, his phrasing is natural and musical; he can express feelings from rage to ecstasy to yearning by coloring his tone, leaning into a note or phrase. His coloratura is natural and unaspirated; his bottom register takes on a very dark hue without becoming baritonal or chesty. His embellishments are both tasteful and virtuosic--a rare combo--and he has real trills.
The opening number, "Sento la gioia" from Amadigi, tells most of the story: great energy, absolutely impeccable rhythm and diction, a softness in the 'B' section, surprising embellishments in da capo. And I cannot say enough about Jacobs and his Freiburg Baroque Orchestra--the spicy oboes and jubilant trumpets are perfect partners to Mehta's singing.
Later in the CD program the Mad Scene from Orlando shows more specific dramatic abilities; this manic-depressive scene takes Orlando through frightening hallucinations, introspection, and rage, in both accompanied recitatives and ariosos. "Stille amare", one of Handel's greatest moments, shows us Tolomeo as he believes he has taken poison. In fact, it's just a sleeping draught, and his voice trails off at the end in a most un-Baroque fashion. And poor Ottone in Agrippina loves the wily Poppea so much that his lament, "Voi che usite il mio tormento", is truly touching, and is sung with a knock-out legato. The final number is the duet "Per le porte del tormento" from Sosarme, sung with soprano Rosemary Joshua. This is one of the composer's most beautiful episodes and it's performed perfectly, with fine ornamentation in the da capo.
As suggested, Jacobs and his musicians are magnificent--in addition to their accompaniments/collaborations with Mehta, they play the overture to Rodrigo, which highlights bassoons and oboes and a violin solo. (Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com)

Bejun Mehta / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / René Jacobs CHE PURO CIEL The Rise Of Classical Opera

 Bejun Mehta possess a large operatic repertoire which comprises, among many others, most of the Händel protagonists for his Fach, including Orlando, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, Andronico, Bertarido, Rinaldo and Guido, Farnace (Mozart Mitridate), Oberon (Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Masha (Peter Eötvös Three Sisters). In October 2008, Bejun Mehta added to his repertoire the role of Orfeo (Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice) under René Jacobs to cheering crowds at Theater an der Wien, where in the same season he also appeared in Claus Guth’s staging of Handel’s Messiah.

In concert, Bejun Mehta regularly appears with recital partner Julius Drake and performs with major orchestras and ensembles, including the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra, the Akademie für Alte Musik, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Talens Lyriques, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, under such conductors as René Jacobs, Ivor Bolton, Marc Minkowski, Sir Charles Mackerras, Harry Bicket, Christophe Rousset, and Zubin Mehta.

In the famous Preface to Alceste (1767), Christoph Willibald Gluck and his librettist Ranieri de' Calzabigi posited a new direction for opera. They spoke of moving beyond Baroque forms, of striving for a new naturalism in opera. They wanted, in Calzabigi's lovely phrase, to liberate the language of the heart. Taken from the height of this Reform period, the arias on this disc reveal composers exploring and experimenting, at struggle and at play, as they create the new forms that bring to opera the noble simplicity of the Classical era.