Arne: Artaxerxes

Roy Goodman: The Parley of Instruments

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Cat No: CDD22073

Release Date: 01 November 2009

Label: Hyperion Records Ltd

Packaging Type: Brilliant Case (Jewel Case size, Holds 2 CDs)

No of Units: 2

Barcode: 034571120737

Genres: Classical Baroque

Release Date: 01 January 1996

Label: Hyperion Records Ltd

Packaging Type: Fat Double (a 2.5cm thick jewel case, fits several CDs)

No of Units: 2

Barcode: 034571170510

Genres: Classical Baroque

Description
Thomas Arne was one of the great survivors of eighteenth-century theatrical life: in his early twenties he put on an unauthorized production of Acis and Galatea that prodded Handel into taking English seriously as a language for theatrical works. It should therefore come as no surprise that in the three years from 1759 he has three smash hits of his own, each an original masterpiece that effectively created a new genre.
Artaxerxes, the second of these, was the first attempt to set a full-blown opera seria libretto in English.
The story of the rebellious captain of the guard's attempts to usurp the Persian throne in the fifth century BC had captured the attention of several composers, but Arne's opera particularly successful because it was an excellent vehicle for great singing. Mandane's spectacular aria 'The Soldier, tir'd of War's Alarms' remained a show-piece for sopranos through much of the nineteenth century and has never entirely dropped out of the repertory.
When Haydn saw Artaxerxes in 1791 he was delighted with it and reportedly said he 'had no idea we had such an opera in the English language'.

Description
Thomas Arne was one of the great survivors of eighteenth-century theatrical life: in his early twenties he put on an unauthorized production of Acis and Galatea that prodded Handel into taking English seriously as a language for theatrical works. It should therefore come as no surprise that in the three years from 1759 he has three smash hits of his own, each an original masterpiece that effectively created a new genre.
Artaxerxes, the second of these, was the first attempt to set a full-blown opera seria libretto in English.
The story of the rebellious captain of the guard's attempts to usurp the Persian throne in the fifth century BC had captured the attention of several composers, but Arne's opera particularly successful because it was an excellent vehicle for great singing. Mandane's spectacular aria 'The Soldier, tir'd of War's Alarms' remained a show-piece for sopranos through much of the nineteenth century and has never entirely dropped out of the repertory.
When Haydn saw Artaxerxes in 1791 he was delighted with it and reportedly said he 'had no idea we had such an opera in the English language'.
Tracklisting
Tracklisting