Christopher Purves, Arcangelo & Jonathan Cohen - Handel's Finest Arias For Base Voice, Vol. 2 (2018) [CD Rip]

This second volume of Handel bass (or, if you prefer, base) arias from English singer Christopher Purves took six years to appear after the first volume, his debut on Hyperion. But it has risen onto sales charts, suggesting that the earlier recording registered with listeners strongly enough to leave them wanting more. Pop fans may remember Purves as part of the harmony group Harvey & the Wallbangers. He has sung many kinds of classical music outside the Baroque repertory, but he has a real knack for these Handel arias, in Italian and English, and his fit with the historical-performance ensemble Arcangelo is hand in glove. Handel didn't write many virtuoso bass arias of the type that sopranos have explored so profitably in recent years, but with the exception of Esther, the works here are all but unknown and give the soloist plenty of challenges both technically and interpretively. Sample the little secular solo cantata Nell'africane selve, HWV 136a, a product of Handel's Italian youth, with a pair of vividly contrasting arias (one agitated; the other more mellow) animating an unusually strong text by an unidentified poet, metaphorically describing an African lion. These pieces are oriented toward the strengths of Arcangelo and its director, Jonathan Cohen, who also deliver a delicate concerto grosso as an entr'acte. An unusually satisfying Handel vocal release, with strong performances of music only specialists will know well. ~ James Manheim