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Israel in Egypt Oratorio in three parts. Part I-III from 29,90 €

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 06:33:13 +0200

Monumental Oratorio: Handel began work on Israel in Egypt just three days after he completed the oratorio Saul. He completed it in less than a month. He first performed the monumental work in April 1739 in the King's Theatre in Haymarket. He continually revised this work until 1758.

The version recorded here is in the three-part form as it was originally conceived by Handel. With two mixed choirs, which essentially relate most of the plot, and an unusually large orchestra, this large-proportioned oratorio has a special place in Handel's creative output.

In addition to the hand-picked soloists, above all, the Vocalensemble Rastatt and the Barockensemble Les Favorites are outstanding. Under the direction of Holger Speck these musicians portray most impressively the contrast-filled spectrum, ranging from expressive lament to the festive and triumphant jubilation of the Israelites.

Messiah from 24,90 €

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 11:54:09 +0200

Seldom has a CD recording been so eagerly awaited as the “Messiah” with Frieder Bernius. This CD is distinguished both by the special sound and refinement of his ensembles – the Kammerchor and the Barockorchester Stuttgart, which has long enjoyed a outstanding reputation for historically informed performance practice – as well as by the select ensemble of soloists, including Carolyn Sampson, Daniel Taylor, Benjamin Hulett and Peter Harvey. Carus continues its CDs series of works by George Frideric Handel with “Messiah,” his most famous oratorio. Handel composed the three-part work for the English royal family and gave it its first performance with much success in Dublin in 1742. “The sacred oratorio,” as contemporaries called it, combines elements of the English anthem, Italian oratorio, and even German Passion music. Already during Handel’s lifetime “Messiah” was among his most-often performed works and it achieved virtually cult status.

Acis and Galatea 19,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

World premiere recording to mark the commemorative year 2009: Acis and Galatea was one of the most successful of Handel’s works during his lifetime. Following his death it also served as a model for several arrangements by prominent composers, including Mozart. That Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy concerned himself intensively with the work had been known for a long time, however only the parts had survived. Through an accidental discovery a few years ago of a copy of the work the Mendelssohn version of Acis and Galatea is once again accessible. Nicholas McGegan and his FestpielOrchester Göttingen, the North German Radio Choir, and an excellent ensemble of soloists present Handel’s music in the romantic guise of Mendelssohn’s colorful orchestration. An absolute sensation for the Handel and Mendelssohn year 2009.

Alexander's Feast HWV 75, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day HWV 76 29,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

In England during the 17th and 18th centuries 22 November was observed as St. Cecilia’s Day with musical performances to honor this patron saint of church music. In 1736 and 1739, with his Alexander’s Feast and the Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, based on texts by the poet John Dryden, Handel made important contributions to the festivities. Indeed, Handel took Purcell’s Cecilian odes as models, but through the use of recitatives, arias and large choruses he approached the oratorio. Both pieces were quickly recognized by contemporaries as outstanding works and already in 1739 Handel joined them together, whereby the Cecilian Ode served as the third part of Alexander’s Feast. In the years following, this practice was frequently maintained, however, beginning in the late 19th century this meaningful type of performance practice was increasingly forgotten. Carus has again joined the two works together in the present performance with Simone Kermes, the Kölner Kammerchor, and the Collegium Cartusianum, under the direction of Peter Neumann.

Der für die Sünde der Welt gemarterte und sterbende Jesus, after the copy by J. S. Bach 29,90 €

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 06:34:13 +0200

Barthold Heinrich Brockes’ text for the passion oratorio later named after him is among the most influential and well-known Passion librettos of the early 18th century. The present version is the first recording on CD of the work based on the copy made by Johann Sebastian Bach himself. It is distinguished from the more well-known version by a different text underlay for the opening chorus.

Die großen Händel-Oratorien 29,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

“The finest Composition of Musick that ever was heard” – this was only one of the enthusiastic press reviews written after the world premiere of Handel’s Messiah. Handel’s oratorios were, overall, already very popular during his lifetime and were frequently performed. Since 2009, Carus has been issuing a CD series with Handel’s oratorios as well as select vocal works, operas and instrumental compositions. Now a box containing 13 CDs and comprising several large-scale oratorios has been compiled: it includes, in addition to Messiah, Alexander’s Feast, Israel in Egypt, Brockes-Passion, Solomon as well as the relatively unknown gem L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. The artists on this CD collection include the Kölner Kammerchor under Peter Neumann, Kammerchor Stuttgart under Frieder Bernius, Vocalensemble Rastatt under Holger Speck and Winchester Cathedral Choir under Nicolas McGegan.

Georg Friedrich Händel: Teseo Oper in fünf Akten 37,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

Following the triumphant success of Rinaldo, Handel’s third London opera, Teseo (1713), was intended to make the still unusual genre of opera more attractive to the English public. That in fact Handel was able to latch on to the success of Rinaldo was due, likewise, to the many stage effects and a richness of musical ideas. At the same time Teseo is in many respects an exception, since the Italian libretto of Nicola Haym is based on a French model, and therefore retains the structure of five acts which was usual in France. And Handel proved that apparently he too had grappled with the Franch opera tradition. As an exception, one finds forms here which do not fit into the standard patterns of secco recitative and da capo aria. Only for the role of Medea did Handel compose several accompagnato recitatives and arias, which, though on the surface they follow the da capo form, as in the example of “Morirò, ma vendicata” from act 5, with its abrupt changes from dark plaintive tones and wild outbreaks of anger in the A section, depart markedly from the rules of aria composition at that time. Many duets, as well as a chorus point musically to the French tradition. The present CD is based on a live recording of the much-acclaimed performance at the Stuttgart State Opera under the direction of Konrad Junghänel. “And as sensitive and lively as Konrad Junghänel on the podium, must the machinery of Handel theater be driven; one must sing the magnificent arias around Theseus, the democratic hero as brilliantly polished and finely shaded in the softest moods. Note, among the three formidable countertenors, in recent years the tremendously matured Argentine, Franco Fagioli, in the title role, is as outstanding as the beguiling, richly-toned soprano Jutta Böhnert in the role of his steadfast lover Agilea. Only in the exemplary Stuttgart production does everything fit together with the historically substantiated and, at the same time, contemporary baroque opera.” FAZ, 30th Mai 2009 “Konrad Junghänel is a sensualist, who obtains a remarkably fine and buoyant tone from the Stuttgart State Opera Orchestra.” DIE ZEIT, 10th June 2009 “Casting an opera with three equally good countertenor roles, an exemplary success. Franco Fagioli (Teseo), Kai Wessel (Teseo’s father and adversary), and Matthias Rexroth (Arcane): It hardly gets better than this. Medea the magician also comes to the fore; Handel wrote for her the most interesting, richly-varied music: The magnificent dramatic power of Helen Schneiderman makes Medea the central figure. And then the opera orchestra under the early music specialist, Konrad Junghänel: such a crisp, buoyant sound has not been heard here for a long time.” Die Welt

Jephtha Oratorium 37,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

Brilliant work of the later years: Handel’s work on Jephtha in 1751 was repeatedly delayed as a result of his steadily progressing blindness. In fact, this would be his last original composition before he became totally blind in 1752. In the hands of the librettist, Thomas Morell, and in contrast to the tragic story from the Old Testament, the work ends happily, as the offering of Jephtha’s daughter is hindered through the intervention of an angel. With Jephtha Handel created yet another musical masterpiece of baroque oratorio, with its great choruses, emotionally expressive arias and gripping ensembles. As part of the extensive Carus series of Handel recordings to honor the 250th anniversary of his death, in addition t outstanding soloists, with the Kammerchor of the Dresden Frauenkirche and the Dresden Barockorchester, conducted by Matthias Grünert, Carus has once again obtained a stellar ensemble.

Messiah. The Choruses 0,00 €

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:34:40 +0200

Already during his lifetime Handel's "Messiah" became his most frequently performed work, achieving virtually cult status. The many outstanding choruses in this oratorio are among the most beloved, well known pieces in the history of choral music. This new CD contains all of the choruses from the internationally acclaimed CD recording conducted by Frieder Bernius. The special sound and musical refinement displayed by his ensembles - the Stuttgarter Kammerchor and the Barockorchester Stuttgart - which, according to the MDR Figaro (April 2009) breathe "liveliness and new energy" into the work, make it a most musically exciting listening experience.

Nine German Arias 9,90 €

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:54:44 +0200

Praise of the beauty of nature and eternal life are the subjects of the sacred poems by B. H. Brockes which Handel set to music in his "Nine German Arias". In these nine pieces for soprano and a small group of instruments, to be chosen at will, Handel drew in many places on music from his own operas, with the voice part in the German arias adapted to be less virtuosic and more deeply expressive. The "Three German Arias", recorded for the first time on this CD, by Johann Mattheson, which were formerly attributed to Handel, are a real discovery for the repertoire. The soprano Monika Mauch is accompanied in her beautiful interpretation of the arias by the specialist ensemble L'arpa festante.

O praise the Lord 19,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

For the start of the Handel Year 2009: O praise the Lord – Psalms and Anthems is the first of a series of Handel CDs which will be produced by Carus to mark the anniversary of the composer’s death in 2009. Nisi Dominus and Laudate pueri, the two vesper psalms, were composed during Handel’s educational trip to Rome in 1707. In Nisi Dominus Handel continued the tradition of the concertante polychoral motet, which was especially cultivated in Rome at that time. Due to the writing for double choir, despite its short movements, the music unfolds with a great festive majesty of sound. As in many of his works Handel employs material from previous compositions in his anthem I will magnify thee, which was composed in London. Handel thought very highly of this work, for later he used parts of it in his great oratorio “Belshazzar”. The finely differentiated tone colors and the transparency are characteristic of the ensemble Gli Scarlattisti. These qualities make for a very special listening experience.

Oratorio in three acts 37,90 €

Tue, 19 May 2026 06:34:02 +0200

Solomon (1749) is among a series of masterful oratorios which Handel composed beginning in 1749. As with other Handel oratorios, although it does not refer to the political happenings, happenings of his day, this work does have a connection to his times in that Handel pays homage to a wise and religious ruler from antiquity – and in so doing, also to the golden era of England and its king, George II. With its splendidly colorful, finely balanced instrumentation, effective choral writing and virtuoso solos, Solomon displays the complete range and variety of Handel’s expressive capabilities. Following its premiere in 1749, in which the oratorio was drastically shortened, a further performance took place six weeks prior to Handel’s death. The recording presents the complete masterpiece on 3 SACDs, without any deletions, as Handel conceived it. This sets it apart from the myriad of recordings which are either abridged or have altered the sequence of the work. Handel’s Solomon was recorded live in the Dresden Frauenkirche by the Handel scholar Nicholas McGegan, with the Winchester Cathedral Boys Choir, the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen, as well as a highly polished ensemble of soloists, including the outstanding young altus, Tim Mead, who is outstanding on this recording.

Samson Oratorium 37,90 €

Sat, 17 May 2025 06:33:57 +0200

George Frideric Handel composed his oratorio Samson in 1741, immediately following completion of Messiah. The enthusiasm for the work by many of Handel's contemporaries, some of whom valued it more highly than Messiah, survived into the 19th century, when Samson was considered among the most popular works at large choir festivals. The story tells of Samson, the man of superhuman strength, leader of the people of Israel, who let himself be seduced by Dalila and then reveals the secret of his strength: it lies in his long hair. Dalila cuts off his hair when he sleeps so that the Philistines can overpower him. However, with trust in God, the hero regains his strength, topples the temple and in so doing dies in their ruins. After hearing a reading of John Milton's drama Samson Agonistes Handel was enthusiastic about the story and was inspired to great music. It is not only the impressive choruses of the Israelites and the Philistines which make this oratorio one of his great masterpieces. In his recording from the Dresdner Frauenkirche Nicholas McGegan succeeds in conveying his enthusiasm for Handel's Samson to all of the participants, especially the listeners. It would not be surprising if this recording acted to spark a rediscovery of this great work for concert and music hall.

Saul 37,90 €

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:03:39 +0100

Saul is one of Handel’s most dramatic oratorios. As in almost no other of his oratorios, with its exciting drama, this work comes close in style to the opera of his time. Handel avails himself of a broad scale of expressive characterizations in music, which convey in superb manner both the unpredictability of Saul, as well as the virtuousness of David. Initially the choir functions as the central element in a dramatic plot, but also assumes the role of providing commentary, as in a Greek tragedy. The score demands the most colorful orchestra which, up to that time, had been employed by Handel: In addition to normal orchestra forces, trombones, harp, organ, glockenspiel, as well as timpani are used. As part of the Handel series Carus present another recording made in the Dresden Frauenkirche. It features outstanding soloists, the Dresdner Kammerchor and the Dresdner Barockorchester, under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann.