Harmonia Mundi
2007
As Steals the Morn: Handel Arias & Scenes for Tenor
About This 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
Track List

Alceste, Incidental Music, HWV 45
1.
Semele, Oratorio, Hwv 58
2.
Il Trionfo Del Tempo E Del Disinganno, Oratorio, HWV 46a
3.
Tamerlano, Opera, HWV 18
4.
5.
6.
Samson, Oratorio, HWV 57
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Rodelinda, Regina De' Langobardi, Opera, Hwv 19
12.
13.
Esther, Oratorio, HWV 50a
14.
Jephtha, Oratorio, HWV 70
15.
16.
17.
L'Allegro, Il Penseroso Ed Il Moderato (Pastoral Ode), Oratorio, HWV 55
18.