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Handel’s Radamisto performed by the English Concert at Carnegie Hall was a great rendition of Baroque era music in the new day and age. The opera performed by contemporary musicians utilized the smaller 18th century orchestra as opposed to the much larger modern orchestra. The instruments used in this opera ranged from the harpsichord, to the flutes and trumpets and drums along with the violins, cello and oboe. This meant that modern instruments such as the piano and guitar remained out of the orchestra, and the orchestra remained relatively small in size compared to other modern day orchestras that include far more instruments and musicians. Thus, here the music was played on the instruments corresponding to the Baroque period when Handel wrote this piece. This kind of performances are often known as historically informed performances that revive the usage of musical instruments from yester years and also modifies the role and structure of instruments used in current practice. A good example of such an instrument would be the harpsichord. In this performance of Handel’s Radamisto, by the English Concert, harpsichord played a significant role. Harpsichord, that dramatically disappeared from thee musical scene after the advent of piano and other newer instruments, was brought back to life and utilized to the fullest in this performance. Harry Bicket was at the Harpsichord for this performance, and also conducted the orchestra. And the harpsichord was often a major part of the continuo through the recitals and then in the arias too. The uniqueness of the sound of a harpsichord stems from the fact that it being a string instrument, makes only one sound no matter how you push the keys on the keyboard. This makes it hard for the harpsichord to deliver the same range of sounds as a piano. However the benefits of the harpsichord lies in its unique resonating, tingy sound that blends well with the violins, cello and other string instruments. The harpsichord featured prominently in the continuo section of this opera and often included the harpsichordist filling the upper notes and using improvisation to supplement the momentum of the continuo. Similarly drums were used as well occasionally throughout the opera seria, at instances where the scene required the sounding of a drum as a celebration, or before the start of a war, etc. Thus the use of drums was very aptly adopted into this performance and made the entire experience much more visual. Just how in the earlier days, the drums sounded and then the battle began. The sounding of the drums indicated the start of war, and the audience gets to feel the aura of a battlefield. This makes the performance all the more engaging and capturing. In the age of opera seria, Castrati singers were cast into heroic male roles so that their prodigiously flexible, high and powerful voice could be utilized. This allowed the composers to write increasingly complex music for the castrati and enabled them to explore more complex vocal music. However in the modern age, with the absence of castrati, there is a void left in the opera ensemble. The capabilities of human voice is constrained, and therefore finding the kind of voice most suitable for the parts of the castrati gives rise to the need for a higher pitched voice. This requirement was fulfilled by the countertenor type of singing voice, whose vocal range is higher pitched and more dynamic. In this performance of Handel’s Radamisto, by the English Concert, the male heroic role of Radamisto was played by David Daniels. David Daniels is a well-renowned countertenor opera singer. As the lead role of Radamisto must have historically been played by castrati, so countertenor voice was chosen to replace it in order to provide the maximum flexibility and dynamism in the voice of the lead character and the hero of the play Radamisto. One can also easily tell that this kind of countertenor voice has won over many people, and allows the audience to experience baroque era opera with little or no differences from their original renditions. This genre or singing voice, known as countertenor, has become well appreciated in the music circles and has gained tremendous popularity among fans and this was clearly evident from the resounding applause that David Daniels received every time he finished an aria and exited the stage. In this performance of Handel’s Radamisto, very often we saw that the singers improvised and ornamented their lines in order to suit the emotional demands of the scene or the aria. It often times blended well with the orchestral accompaniment and at other times died down in the tempo or volume emphasizing the accompaniment. This was witnessed particularly in the arias, as the singers went back and forth through their respective arias.