Favorite Baroque Opera

[TheGSMoeller]

Hopefully this doesn't overwhelm GMG with all of the "favorite" or "greatest" threads, but I just had to add one 


I want to know your favorite Opera from the Baroque Period, and why it is your favorite, a long explanation is not needed but at least enough insight as to why it means what it does to you.

And for bonus points, throw in which recording of that opera is your preferred choice. If there are enough posts I'll tally up the totals.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Pretty much anything by Handel. Specifically, though, Agrippina really touches my heart for it's amazing lyricism.



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[Sammy]

Handel's Giulio Cesare - the best arias, singing and direction of all Handel operas:


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[Leon]

Would Castor et Pollux by Rameau count?

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I think this recording is the one in the very fine Harmoni Mundi 30-CD box of music from the Enlightenment. 

I really enjoyed it.

[Sammy]

Would Castor et Pollux by Rameau count?

[asin]B000027P8K[/asin]

It's baroque, it's an opera, it counts!!

[Leon]

It's baroque, it's an opera, it counts!!

I wasn't sure when the cut-off date was for Baroque.  C&P originally came out in 1737 (or thereabouts) and then was revised in the 1750s.

[kishnevi]

Handel: Ariodante,  particularly in the recording with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.  It's a favorite because it touches me more emotionally--seems to explore the minds and hearts of the characters more deeply than most other operas of the period, including most of Handel's own output.

[The new erato]

I think Handels Ariodante as well. Handels best operas are psychological dramas to a degree not usual in  the baroque, though I think it's a close tie with Monteverdis Orfeo - very human and moral and stripped of all excesses. Though I also love the glitziness of Lully and the frenchies.

[TheGSMoeller]

Thank you for those who replied!

Looks as if Handel is a popular choice. I own Alcina and Hercules (which I believe is considered a musical drama rather than opera). I may have to invest into more.

[val]

My favorite is perhaps Purcell "Dido & Aeneas". But I love deeply "Orfeo" and "L'Incoronazione of Popea" of Monteverdi, "La Calisto" of Cavalli, "Atys" of Lully, "Zoroastre" and "Les Boreades" of Rameau and Händel's "Giulio Cesare" and "Ariodante".

[Verena]

Handel for me, especially Giulio Cesare; wonderfully lively arias, but also lyrical moments

[mc ukrneal]

My favorite would be Monteverdi's Orfeo. It was the first baroque opera that showed me what was possible.

[Florestan]

Ex aequo



For their gorgeous melodies, passion and lyricism.

[TheGSMoeller]

Ex aequo

That was my first Orfeo purchase and still my favorite.

[Jo498]

Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Handel: Giulio Cesare, Alcina, Rinaldo (I have a dozen more, but don't know them well enough, I really like Handel, but I often lack the patience for the operas and I am more familiar with the oratorios)
Monteverdi: L'orfeo (again, I have only a vague acquaintance with the other two)

Of Rameau I have the most famous ones (Hippolyte & Aricie and Castor & Pollux) on my shelf, but I have not mustered the patience to listen to them...