Alexander Balus (Handel)
from Handel: Alexander Balus (CDA67241/2)
1 [Grave] – Allegro [2'51]
2 Flush'd with conquest, fir'd by Mithra (Asiates) [3'11]
3 Thus far, ye glorious partners of the war (Alexander/Jonathan) [1'28]
4 Great Author of this harmony (Jonathan) [3'17]
5 Flourish of trumpets [0'11]
6 And thus let happy Egypt's king (Ptolomee) [0'24]
7 Thrice happy the monarch, whom nations content (Ptolomee) [3'43]
8 Congratulation to our father's friend (Cleopatra) [0'25]
9 Hark! hark! he strikes the golden lyre (Cleopatra) [5'56]
10 Be it my chief ambition there to rise (Alexander) [0'14]
11 Fair virtue shall charm me (Alexander) [2'24]
12 Ye happy nations round (Asiates) [3'01]
13 My Jonathan (Alexander) [0'35]
14 Oh, what resistless charms are giv'n (Alexander) [4'13]
15 Subtle love, with fancy viewing (Cleopatra) [4'55]
16 Aspasia, I know not what to call (Cleopatra) [0'45]
17 How happy should we mortals prove (Cleopatra) [2'26]
18 Check not the pleasing accents of thy tongue (Aspasia) [0'25]
19 So shall the sweet attractive smile (Aspasia) [2'40]
20 How blissful state! (Cleopatra/Aspasia) [0'26]
21 O what pleasures, past expressing (Cleopatra/Aspasia) [3'00]
22 Why hangs this heavy gloom upon the brow (Jonathan/Alexander) [1'00]
23 Heroes may boast their mighty deed (Alexander) [4'52]
24 Ye sons of Judah, with high festival (Jonathan) [0'31]
25 Great God, from whom all blessings spring (Jonathan/Israelites) [4'28]
26 Kind hope, thou universal friend (Alexander) [6'04]
27 Long, long and happy live the king! (Jonathan/Alexander) [0'40]
28 O Mithra, with thy brightest beams (Alexander) [4'17]
29 Stay, my dread sovereign (Sycophant courtier/Alexander/Jonathan) [1'39]
30 Mighty love now calls to arm (Alexander) [2'36]
31 Hateful man! thy sland'rous tongue (Jonathan) [4'20]
32 O calumny, on virtue waiting (Israelites) [4'21]
33 Ah! whence these dire forebodings of the mind? (Cleopatra) [0'39]
34 Tossed from thought to thought I rove (Cleopatra) [6'29]
35 Give to the winds, fair princess, these vain doubts (Aspasia) [0'22]
36 Love, glory, ambition, whate'er can inspire (Aspasia) [2'50]
37 Thus far my wishes thrive (Ptolomee) [0'54]
38 Virtue, thou ideal name (Ptolomee) [3'43]
39 Ye happy people, with loud accents speak (Jonathan) [0'37]
40 Triumph Hymen in the pair [2'40]
41 Glad time, at length, hath reach'd the happy point (Alexander/Cleopatra) [0'48]
42 Hail wedded love, mysterious law! (Alexander/Cleopatra) [3'39]
43 Hymen, fair Urania's son (Asiates) [2'27]
44 Sinfonia [1'15]
45 'Tis true, instinctive nature seldom points (Cleopatra) [0'29]
46 Here amid the shady woods (Cleopatra/Ruffians) [4'17]
47 Ah! was it not my Cleopatra's voice? (Alexander) [0'41]
48 Pow'rful guardians of all nature (Alexander) [2'53]
49 Treach'ry, O king, unheard of treachery (Jonathan/Alexander/Aspasia) [1'23]
50 Fury, with red sparkling eyes (Alexander) [6'24]
51 Gods! can there be a more afflicting sight (Aspasia) [0'24]
52 Strange reverse of human fate (Aspasia) [2'50]
53 May he return with laurel'd victory (Jonathan) [0'26]
54 To God who made the radiant sun (Jonathan) [3'13]
55 Sun, moon, and stars, and all ye Host of Heav'n (Israelites) [2'51]
56 Yes he was false, my daughter, false to you (Jonathan/Cleopatra) [1'19]
57 Ungrateful child, by ev'ry sacred pow'r (Ptolomee) [0'26]
58 O sword, and thou, all-daring hand (Ptolomee) [2'50]
59 Shall Cleopatra ever smile again? (Cleopatra) [0'43]
60 Ungrateful tidings to the royal ear (Messenger) [1'23]
61 O take me from this hateful light (Cleopatra) [5'17]
62 Forgive, O queen, the messenger of ill! (Second messenger/Cleopatra) [1'23]
63 Calm thou my soul (Cleopatra) [0'47]
64 Convey me to some peaceful shore (Cleopatra) [2'41]
65 Mysterious are thy ways, O Providence! (Jonathan) [1'20]
66 Ye servants of th' eternal King (Jonathan/Israelites) [3'20]
155 minutes 1 seconds 66 tracks
‘All Handelians will want this set’ (Gramophone)
‘King and his musicians approach the piece with vitality and affection and, in so doing, carried me along from start to finish’ (BBC Music Magazine)
‘An outstanding recording … an enthralling experience’ (Choir & Organ)