Handel: Oratorio Arias

1	Belshazzar, oratorio, HWV
2	Belshazzar, oratorio, HWV
3	Semele, oratorio, HWV 58:
4	Semele, oratorio, HWV 58:
5	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 6
6	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 6
7	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 6
8	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 6
9	Saul, oratorio, HWV 53: B
10	Saul, oratorio, HWV 53: O
11	Jephtha, oratorio, HWV 70
12	Jephtha, oratorio, HWV 70
13	Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56
Handel: Oratorio Arias
1.	Belshazzar, oratorio, HWV 61: Destructive War 2:28
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
2.	Belshazzar, oratorio, HWV 61: Oh sacred oracles of Truth 5:02
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
3.	Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Despair no more shall wound me 4:53
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
4.	Semele, oratorio, HWV 58: Your tuneful voice 5:47
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor], Ensemble Orchestral de Paris and Federico Marincola
5.	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 68: The raptured soul 8:15
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
6.	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 68: Deeds of kindness 7:16
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
7.	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 68: Kind Heaven 5:40
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
8.	Theodora, oratorio, HWV 68: Sweet rose and lily 2:51
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
9.	Saul, oratorio, HWV 53: Brave Jonathan 3:06
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
10.	Saul, oratorio, HWV 53: O Lord, whose mercies numberless 3:57
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
11.	Jephtha, oratorio, HWV 70: Up the dreadful steep ascending 3:53
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
12.	Jephtha, oratorio, HWV 70: Dull delay 3:20
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
13.	Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: He was despised 10:49
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by David Daniels [countertenor] and Ensemble Orchestral de Paris

Barnes & Noble

Many listeners were introduced to David Daniels when his first Virgin Classics disc, a program of Handel's opera arias, was released in 1998. Since then, the American countertenor has rocketed to stardom, appearing at many of the world's great opera houses, including New York's Metropolitan. All along the way, the music of Handel has played a major role. On this disc, Daniels gives us a survey of the composer's English oratorio arias. Everyone knows The Messiah, of course, and the program concludes with a gorgeous performance of "He Was Despised" that makes one impatient to hear the singer in a complete performance of this ever-popular work. The recital also surveys lesser-known gems, from the assertive virtuosity of "Destructive War" from Belshazzar to the lyrical beauty of "The Raptured Soul" from Theodora. Didymus in Theodora is one of Daniels's favorite roles, in fact, and he includes four arias from the oratorio here, all of them memorable. With warmly affectionate, elegantly played accompaniment from an orchestra of modern instruments, led by the experienced Handelian John Nelson, and with typically crystalline sound quality from Virgin's engineers, this is a disc to treasure. Andrew Farach-Colton

Gramophone

In excellent sound, this disc should prove as popular as Daniels' glorious best-selling Handel Opera Arias. Hugh Canning

International Record Review

Countertenors are America's hot new export item and David Daniels is their youthful doyen, an artist who combines taste and intelligence with imaginative intensity and a seductive radiance of tone.... Ostensibly it's a disc about Daniels's intimate mastery of the Handel style, but his confidence and generosity as an artist turn it into the kind of finely judged tribute to the composer which teaches something more about the music itself.