Amazon.com After years as a successful opera composer in London, fashion changed and Handel turned to oratorios, therefore creating for himself a second career. One of the real masterpieces of this period is Solomon, a love story (the Queen of Sheba and Solomon woo and coo) that has, as its dramatic centerpiece, having little to do with the "plot," the story of the women who claim to be the birth mother of the same child. The work is filled with marvelous, big choruses (some in eight parts), is scored for large orchestra, and has a grandeur that is undeniable. This is a fine performance of it, with a rich voiced mezzo, Ewa Wolak, in the title role (it was composed, oddly enough, for a mezzo; Paul McCreesh, on his recording, uses the remarkable countertenor Andreas Scholl--historically incorrect but superb nonetheless), who sings with assuredness and involvement. Elisabeth Scholl sings the Queen with pure tone and the Second Woman with passion. Tenor Kurt Schoch does well with the difficulties of Zadok the Priest's coloratura; Matthias Vieweg, holding up the bass end of the scale, is somewhat weak. Chorus and Orchestra are excellent, although the chorus seems to be recorded from a great distance. The McCreesh is the preferred performance--it's certainly more dramatic--but this new one is good and less than half the price of the other. --Robert Levine