Ensemble Marsyas - Handel: Apollo e Dafne - Classical CD Choice

There was a time when admirers of Handel's operas and oratorios had to be content with some very inauthentic performances of the rarer works - simply because there was not the range of recordings available that there is today. Some of these sets which we once happily listened to in lieu of any alternatives else were conducted at stately tempi with little or no continuo - and certainly no crisp pointing of rhythms. This very welcome set of the composer's Apollo e Dafne is proof of just how far we've come since then, and it's hard to imagine a more committed and sympathetic reading of the work than the one presented here by Whelan and his forces. This is one of the most ambitious of the composer's cantatas, and this new disc may create some friends for the piece.