Hi Noah,
I'm not all that interested in Baroque opera either, for the same reasons you mention. However, I do enjoy all of Handel's oratorios. Perhaps the English language diminishes the longueurs of the secco recitatives and da capo arias.
If you haven't tried them, you might want to give his two secular oratorios a listen -- Semele and Hercules . They're operas in all but name and have frequently been staged in recent years. Handel wrote them when the public has lost its taste for his Italian operas.
There are many fine recordings of both. For Semele , I enjoy John Nelson's recording on DG, with modern instruments and a starry cast that includes Kathleen Battle, Marilyn Horne, John Aler and Samuel Ramey. I also like the period instrument recording on Chandos with Rosemary Joshua in the title role.
There are also two very fine recordings of Hercules . Both are on the Archiv label, one conducted by John Eliot Gardiner and the other, more complete recording, conducted by Marc Minkowski. Both have an excellent line up of singers.
Note: There are inexpensive recordings of both of these works on Naxos. I own them and wouldn't recommend either of them as an introduction to the works. I found the sonics on both to be poor and their casts underwhelming when compared to the competition.
I am curious about recommendations for a first recording of a baroque opera. I love the more popular operas of Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, etc. and am interested in getting to know some earlier works. I have tried to listen to one or two in the past but was quickly bored by the vast recitatives and seemingly endless de capo arias. I don't care whether or not the performance is period aware, but I do prefer big scale opera voices to like Wunderlich and Ewa Podles, who I know also sang in baroque operas. Any recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks
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