1 CD
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€ 19.95
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Label Challenge Classics |
UPC 0608917297324 |
Catalogue number CC 72973 |
Release date 05 April 2024 |
"The Dutch countertenor Oscar Verhaar brings quite a depth of expression to Handel's biblical freedom arias. Every friction is savored."
Radio Klassik Stephansdom, 18-4-2024Conductor/lutenist Mike Fentross has largely earned his credits as an early music specialist. He is working all over Europe as a conductor, soloist and basso continuo player and he is professor of lute and basso continuo at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. In 2006 he founded the baroque orchestra La Sfera Armoniosa.
Mike Fentross conducted in many festivals and concerthalls like the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. the Festival van Vlaanderen, Festival d’Ambronay, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Paradiso Amsterdam, Monteverdi Festival Cremona, Festival de Musica Portico de Zamora, Festival Musica Antiqua Brugge, Vantaa Early Music Festival, Bayreuth Barock and Muziekcentrum Vredenburg in Utrecht. For two times
he had the honour to conduct in the presence of Queen Beatrix of Holland. In 1988 Mike Fentross graduated at the Royal Conservatory The Hague where he studied with lute pionier Toyohiko Satoh. In 1994 he won the Van Wassenaer Competition in Amsterdam with violinist Helene Schmitt. He played chamber music with musicians as Yo Yo Ma, Ton Koopman, Janine Jansen, Marion Verbruggen, Sonia Prina, Maria Bajo, Wilbert Hazelzet, Bruce Dickey, Lucy van Dael, Andrew Lawrence King, Philippe Jarousski, Eduardo Lopez Banzo, Skip Sempe and Gerard Lesne. Mike has recorded more than 75 cd’s.
He studied conducting with Stefan Pas. As conductor he debuted in 1999 with La Dafne from Marco da Gagliano in a production of the New Opera Academie in Amsterdam. In 2006 he conducted in the presence of Queen Beatrix the modern world premiere from the opera l’Ipermestra from Cavalli in a prestigeous jubilee production from the Utrecht Early Music Festival and in 2008 he conducted a second unearthed Cavalli opera La Rosinda in a production from the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci Potsdam. In 2009 he conducted for the first time in the big hall from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and in the same year he was musical director in the production Granida performed in the presence of Queen Beatrix. About his debut as conductor from the Dutch Chamber Choir in 2010 in the Concertgebouw the press wrote: Conductor Mike Fentross rivalled Caravaggio with the score of the Maria Vespers. His first time conducting the Nederlands Kamerkoor was a resounding success.
Mike doesn’t only conduct Early Music, in 2004 he conducted Pierrot Lunaire from Arnold Schoenberg. The press wrote: There was great enthusiasm for Mike Fentross as conductor of a double bill consisting of Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda and Schoenberg’s Pierrot lunaire. Mike Fentross gave a performance of Pierrot lunaire that ‘appeared to come from another planet’.
In 2012 Mike made his Austrian debut in the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt with great success in a program with coloratura soprano Simone Kermes and in the same year he conducted the pre jubilee concert for the Concertgebouw in a program with solo violinist Lucy van Dael and singers Henk Neven and Andreas Scholl. In 2013 he conducted the Fairy Queen with his orchestra and the Netherlands Chamberchoir.
Since 2013 he is regularly conducting the baroque orchestra and choir of the Royal Conservatory. In 2014 he was invited by Paradiso Orchestra to conduct Beethovens Eroica. In 2016 he conducted the Netherlands Chamber Choir in a Bach, Faure program live broadcast on national radio.
The Dutch countertenor Oscar Verhaar brings quite a depth of expression to Handel's biblical freedom arias. Every friction is savored.
Radio Klassik Stephansdom, 18-4-2024
nothing but praise ...for his slender, melodious, luminous and virtuosic voice, which is also lyrically well directed and outstanding in terms of drama and affetto (...) The orchestra La Sfera Armoniosa, conducted by Mike Fentross, also deserves much praise.
Pizzicato, 11-4-2024
Ten years after his debut album, Dutch countertenor Oscar Verhaar releases his second CD. Accompanied by the baroque ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa, he showcases his agile, clear voice in arias from Georg Friedrich Handel's biblical oratorios.
Conductor Mike Fentross monitors the balance between soloist and ensemble and folds the accompaniment around Verhaar's voice with subtle dynamics.
De Volkskrant, 04-4-2024
Oscar Verhaar's voice appears lightweight, well-led with an effortless approach, bright and clear, quite agile, clear and enjoys coloratura".[...]
This orchestra called "La Sfera Armoniosa" under Mike Fentross accompanies confidently, stylishly, lively and finding the right tone for all singing temperaments.
Klassik Heute, 02-4-2024
Eight arias from very different oratorios, namely Deborah, Samson, Alexander Balus, Belshazzar, Joseph and his Brethren, Saul and Jephta, show us a brilliant singer whose voice always sounds soft and yet assertive, regardless of whether it is an energetic recitative, a demanding aria or an elegiac lament works.
Together with the ensemble La Sfera Armoniosa under the direction of the well-known lutenist Mike Fentross, a large and yet increasingly differentiated, transparent overall sound is created.
klemens-berthold.de, 18-3-2024