Label: harmonia mundi Catalog: 9809028 Format: Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin; RIAS Kammerchor; René Jacobs, conductor; Kenneth Tarver (Belshazzar) Rosemary Joshua (Nitocris); Bejun Mehta (Cyrus); Kristina Hammarström (Daniel); Neal Davies (Gobrias)George Frideric Handel Belshazzar This live recording from the Festival of Aix-en-Provence 2008 reveals one of Handel's most gripping dramatic works. The curtain rises on a prophecy: the fall of Babylon is imminent; the moral and political corruption symbolised by King Belshazzar will soon yield to the forces of the Persian prince Cyrus. From this point on we witness the different stages of the decadence of an empire - an eternally relevant subject whose contemporary resonances are clear for anyone who cares to look and listen. |