Handel - The Choice of Hercules (Robert King)
Handel - The Choice of Hercules / Maurice Greene – Hearken unto me, ye holy children [2002]
EAC Rip | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers | Hyperion
Catalog Number: CDA67298 | 1cd, 301.54 MB
EAC Rip | FLAC, IMG+CUE, LOG | Covers | Hyperion
Catalog Number: CDA67298 | 1cd, 301.54 MB
Throughout his life Handel was an inveterate recycler both of other people's music and his own; The Choice of Hercules (1751) consists for the most part of music he wrote the year before for Tobias Smollett's Alceste, a play intended for Covent Garden's 1750 season but never performed. Unwilling to see his efforts go to waste, Handel contrived an hour-long "interlude" based on a poem by Joseph Spence and probably adapted by his regular librettist Thomas Morell. The story is a slight slice of classical mythology: Hercules must choose between the temptations of Pleasure or the righteousness of Virtue. The outcome is hardly a surprise, and only in 18th-century theater could Hercules plausibly be portrayed as a castrato, but the story is merely a flimsy excuse for a succession of splendid solo arias and choruses.
With the exception of a small tenor part (here sung by Charles Daniels), the soloists are all in the high register (soprano, mezzo, and countertenor), yet their music is of such variety of color that there's no sense of sameness. The very compactness of the score ensures that there are no dull moments, but especially outstanding are Virtue's stately "Go, assert thy heav'nly race," a dotted-rhythm Purcellian chorus, "So shalt thou gain immortal praise," and Hercules's limpid "Yet can I hear that dulcet lay."
Maurice Greene's 1728 anthem Hearken unto Me, Ye Holy Children is a welcome makeweight, though inevitably perhaps it seems rather foursquare when placed next to Handel's exuberant invention. Robert King and his King's Consort are Handelians par excellence, of course. Susan Gritton, Alice Coote, and Robin Blaze are a secure trio of soloists in the Handel, and bass Peter Harvey joins for the Greene. The result is an important addition to Hyperion's marvelous Handel series. –Mark Walker
Tracklisting:
1. Handel: The Choice Of Hercules, HWV 69: Sinfonia
2. Accompagnato PLEASURE: See Hercules! how smiles yon myrtle plain
3. Air PLEASURE: Come, blooming boy
4. Air PLEASURE: There the brisk sparkling nectar drain
5. Solo & Chorus PLEASURE: While for thy arms that beauty glows
6. Recitative VIRTUE: Away, mistaken wretch, away!
7. Air VIRTUE: This manly youth's exalted mind
8. Recitative VIRTUE: Rise, youth! exalt thyself and me!
9. Air VIRTUE: Go, assert thy heav'nly race
10. Recitative VIRTUE: In peace, in war
11. Solo & Chorus VIRTUE: So shalt thou gain immortal praise
12. Recitative PLEASURE: Hearst thou, what dangers then thou must engage?
13. Solo & Chorus PLEASURE: Turn thee, youth, to joy and love
14. Recitative PLEASURE/HERCULES: Short is my way, fair, easy, smooth and plain
15. Air HERCULES: Yet, can I hear that dulcet lay
16. Air ATTENDANT ON PLEASURE: Enjoy the sweet Elysian grove
17. Recitative HERCULES: Oh! whither, reason, dost thou fly?
18. Trio HERCULES/PLEASURE/VIRTUE: Where Shall I Go?
19. Recitative VIRTUE: Mount, mount the steep ascent
20. Air VIRTUE: Mount, mount the steep ascent
21. Chorus: Arise! mount the steep ascent
22. Recitative HERCULES: The sounds breathe fire celestial
23. Air HERCULES: Lead, goddess, lead the way!
24. Chorus: Virtue will place thee in that blest abode
25. Greene: Hearken Unto Me. Solo (RB): Hearken unto me, ye holy children
26. Chorus: Magnify his name
27. Chorus: And in praising Him you shall say
28. Solo (CD):To be a father to the fatherless
29. Duet (RB, CD): Therefore shall he receive a glorious kingdom
30. Recitative (PH): How is he numb'red
31. Solo (PH): His name shall endure for ever
32. Chorus: Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers
Performer:
George Frederick Handel (1685 - 1759) - The Choice of Hercules
Pleasure - Susan Gritton (soprano)
Virtue - Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano)
Hercules - Robin Blaze (countertenor)
Attendant on Pleasure - Charles Daniels (tenor)
Maurice Greene (1696 - 1755) – Hearken unto me, ye holy children
Robin Blaze (countertenor)
Charles Daniels (tenor)
Peter Harvey (bass)
The King’s Consort
Choir of the King’s Consort
Conductor - Robert King
Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 1 from 15. November 2010
EAC extraction logfile from 20. December 2011, 23:05
Robert King - The King's Consort / Handel - The Choice Of Hercules; M.Greene – Hearken unto me
Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-218L Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 192 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -T "DATE=%y" -T "GENRE=%m" -8 -V %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 1:18.67 | 0 | 5916
2 | 1:18.67 | 2:42.08 | 5917 | 18074
3 | 4:01.00 | 2:19.20 | 18075 | 28519
4 | 6:20.20 | 2:36.20 | 28520 | 40239
5 | 8:56.40 | 2:36.07 | 40240 | 51946
6 | 11:32.47 | 0:30.08 | 51947 | 54204
7 | 12:02.55 | 5:31.65 | 54205 | 79094
8 | 17:34.45 | 0:17.15 | 79095 | 80384
9 | 17:51.60 | 2:52.42 | 80385 | 93326
10 | 20:44.27 | 0:18.43 | 93327 | 94719
11 | 21:02.70 | 1:46.45 | 94720 | 102714
12 | 22:49.40 | 0:27.32 | 102715 | 104771
13 | 23:16.72 | 2:32.20 | 104772 | 116191
14 | 25:49.17 | 0:39.58 | 116192 | 119174
15 | 26:29.00 | 4:19.40 | 119175 | 138639
16 | 30:48.40 | 2:18.22 | 138640 | 149011
17 | 33:06.62 | 0:15.30 | 149012 | 150166
18 | 33:22.17 | 1:47.58 | 150167 | 158249
19 | 35:10.00 | 0:40.32 | 158250 | 161281
20 | 35:50.32 | 1:02.40 | 161282 | 165971
21 | 36:52.72 | 2:08.03 | 165972 | 175574
22 | 39:01.00 | 0:15.02 | 175575 | 176701
23 | 39:16.02 | 4:49.10 | 176702 | 198386
24 | 44:05.12 | 4:34.65 | 198387 | 219001
25 | 48:40.02 | 3:02.45 | 219002 | 232696
26 | 51:42.47 | 1:32.33 | 232697 | 239629
27 | 53:15.05 | 2:45.27 | 239630 | 252031
28 | 56:00.32 | 1:43.65 | 252032 | 259821
29 | 57:44.22 | 1:42.15 | 259822 | 267486
30 | 59:26.37 | 0:34.03 | 267487 | 270039
31 | 60:00.40 | 2:18.15 | 270040 | 280404
32 | 62:18.55 | 3:11.70 | 280405 | 294799
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\Handel - The Choice Of Hercules; M.Greene – Hearken unto me.wav
Peak level 99.4 %
Extraction speed 0.0 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 762DBF05
Copy CRC 762DBF05
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
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Track 30 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 5) [9140F887], AccurateRip returned [39BF52DB]
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Track 32 cannot be verified as accurate (confidence 5) [86E8AA0D], AccurateRip returned [525F36CA]
No tracks could be verified as accurate
You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
End of status report
==== Log checksum 8102DACCEBECC4C17089156F848EE37EAC11C951EACF23DAE1DE8C87EAB9EBDB ====
EAC extraction logfile from 20. December 2011, 23:05
Robert King - The King's Consort / Handel - The Choice Of Hercules; M.Greene – Hearken unto me
Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-218L Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 192 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -T "DATE=%y" -T "GENRE=%m" -8 -V %s
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 1:18.67 | 0 | 5916
2 | 1:18.67 | 2:42.08 | 5917 | 18074
3 | 4:01.00 | 2:19.20 | 18075 | 28519
4 | 6:20.20 | 2:36.20 | 28520 | 40239
5 | 8:56.40 | 2:36.07 | 40240 | 51946
6 | 11:32.47 | 0:30.08 | 51947 | 54204
7 | 12:02.55 | 5:31.65 | 54205 | 79094
8 | 17:34.45 | 0:17.15 | 79095 | 80384
9 | 17:51.60 | 2:52.42 | 80385 | 93326
10 | 20:44.27 | 0:18.43 | 93327 | 94719
11 | 21:02.70 | 1:46.45 | 94720 | 102714
12 | 22:49.40 | 0:27.32 | 102715 | 104771
13 | 23:16.72 | 2:32.20 | 104772 | 116191
14 | 25:49.17 | 0:39.58 | 116192 | 119174
15 | 26:29.00 | 4:19.40 | 119175 | 138639
16 | 30:48.40 | 2:18.22 | 138640 | 149011
17 | 33:06.62 | 0:15.30 | 149012 | 150166
18 | 33:22.17 | 1:47.58 | 150167 | 158249
19 | 35:10.00 | 0:40.32 | 158250 | 161281
20 | 35:50.32 | 1:02.40 | 161282 | 165971
21 | 36:52.72 | 2:08.03 | 165972 | 175574
22 | 39:01.00 | 0:15.02 | 175575 | 176701
23 | 39:16.02 | 4:49.10 | 176702 | 198386
24 | 44:05.12 | 4:34.65 | 198387 | 219001
25 | 48:40.02 | 3:02.45 | 219002 | 232696
26 | 51:42.47 | 1:32.33 | 232697 | 239629
27 | 53:15.05 | 2:45.27 | 239630 | 252031
28 | 56:00.32 | 1:43.65 | 252032 | 259821
29 | 57:44.22 | 1:42.15 | 259822 | 267486
30 | 59:26.37 | 0:34.03 | 267487 | 270039
31 | 60:00.40 | 2:18.15 | 270040 | 280404
32 | 62:18.55 | 3:11.70 | 280405 | 294799
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\Handel - The Choice Of Hercules; M.Greene – Hearken unto me.wav
Peak level 99.4 %
Extraction speed 0.0 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC 762DBF05
Copy CRC 762DBF05
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
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You may have a different pressing from the one(s) in the database
End of status report
==== Log checksum 8102DACCEBECC4C17089156F848EE37EAC11C951EACF23DAE1DE8C87EAB9EBDB ====