Handel is featured prominently across these six discs of early to mid-18th-century arias by various composers, dominating the Baroque recording landscape now as much as he ever did the London operatic scene, and obviously deemed by record labels to be the marquee name drawing in the mainstream listener. Well-known Handel arias clear the path for recordings of complex da capo arias by Handel’s less-remembered contemporaries as well, some for the very first time. These arias are challenging for singer and director alike, the main challenges being how to give these intensely dramatic narrative forms room to flourish, how to make them leap off the page in a way that engages a modern audience while still rooting the drama deep in the musical structure, how to make the da capo section an essential piece of psychological re-examination. To do otherwise is to risk reducing the virtuoso vocal ornamentation of the da capo to impressive and pretty noise. The Latin root of ‘to ornament’ means ‘to equip’: thus the ornaments of war are the vitally necessary weapons and soldiers rather than grandiose parades. Ornaments must not be ‘ornamental’: when the stars align, as they do on many of these tracks, the ornaments not only tailor the aria to the strengths of the singer’s voice, but they reveal character and motivation; they tell the story.

中文翻译：

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亨德尔让对手大放异彩

亨德尔在这六张由不同作曲家创作的 18 世纪早期至中期咏叹调唱片中占有突出地位，如今在巴洛克唱片领域的统治地位与他在伦敦歌剧界的地位一样多，并且显然被唱片公司认为是最引人注目的名字在主流听众中。著名的亨德尔咏叹调也为亨德尔鲜为人知的同时代人录制复杂的变调咏叹调扫清了道路，其中一些是第一次。这些咏叹调对歌手和导演都具有挑战性，主要的挑战是如何给这些极具戏剧性的叙事形式蓬勃发展的空间，如何让它们以一种吸引现代观众的方式跳出页面，同时仍将戏剧深深植根于音乐结构，如何制作da capo部分心理复查必不可少的部分。否则，就有可能将da capo的演奏家声乐装饰降低为令人印象深刻且优美的噪音。“装饰”的拉丁词根意思是“装备”：因此，战争装饰品是必不可少的武器和士兵，而不是华丽的游行。装饰不能是“装饰性的”：当星星对齐时，就像在许多这些曲目中所做的那样，这些装饰不仅可以根据歌手声音的强弱来调整咏叹调，而且还可以揭示性格和动机；他们讲故事。