Early Music America Fall 2014 - (Page 18)

recordingreviews Edited by Tom Moore George Frideric Handel Tamerlano Xavier Sabata, Max Emanuel Cenčić, countertenors; John Mark Ainsley, tenor; Karina Gauvin, soprano; Ruxandra Donose, mezzo-soprano; Pavel Kudinov, bass; Il Pomo d'Oro, Riccardo Minasi, director Naïve V5373 www.naive.fr What would opera be without the Eternal Triangle? That Tamerlano, an opera featuring one of the most bloodthirsty tyrants in history, focuses on the love lives of the main characters is proof that the genre best expresses our more tender impulses. Even the gore-soaked 1993 Dado production at the Karlsruhe Händel-Festspiele could not turn Handel's beautiful love triangle into a splatter film. Tamerlano was premiered in 1724, probably in connection with celebrations of the Glorious Revolution, in which a play version portrayed Tamerlane as William of Orange. But any overt political message is missing from the opera, and instead we are served some of the most charming and passionate music of Handel (1685-1759). His genius for melodic invention infuses the formulaic nature of Baroque opera with constant variety, and his rhythmic vigor energizes each aria. This is a lovely recording that truly captures what makes Tamerlano a standout work within Handel's operatic oeuvre. Director Riccardo Minasi finds an excellent balance between forceful performance from Il Pomo d'Oro (an orchestra founded in 2012 and specializing in opera) and vocal lyricism from the singers, neither interpolating too much force nor wallowing in pathos. The soloists present passionate, Italianate performances with great elegance and warmth of timbre. The ornamentation is tasteful and always in keeping with the affect of the aria. Xavier Sabata's supple voice is a commanding pres- 18 Fall 2014 Early Music America ence, profiling the character of Tamerlano with depth and complexity. Max Emanuel Cenčić (Andronico) and Karina Gauvin (Asteria) use dynamic contrast and color impressively. John Mark Ainsley is a smooth and clear Bajazet. Ruxandra Donaso delivers a seamless, skillful Irene with a rich chest register, while Pavel Kudinov provides a solid Leone. -Clara O'Brien/Lance Hulme George Frideric Handel Teseo (highlights) Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, director Philharmonia Baroque Productions www.philharmoniabaroque.com/shop In 1985, the Boston Early Music Festival mounted the first American performances of Handel's Teseo, his third English opera. If the festival had been then the powerhouse organization it is now, that performance would have resulted in a complete studio recording; as it is, music lovers will have to make do (a 1970s recording and a German video being unavailable) with this live highlights recording, led by the same conductor as in 1985, along with some of the same players (now on the opposite coast) and the stage director, Drew Minter, now as a soloist. There is much to admire here. The orchestral playing is energetic and lithe, and there is a star team of soloists. The veteran Dominique Labelle, as Medea, delivers a full measure of dramatic virtuosity; Amanda Forsythe, in the title role, displays her customary agility and also spins an elegant line in "Quanto ch'a." Her duet with oboist Marc Schachman in "Chi ritorna" is exquisite. Soprano Amy Preston as Agilea is pristine, while Drew Minter, still in fine voice, shows off his coloratura in "Voglio stragi." Italian soprano Celine Ricci (Clizia) and British countertenor Robin Blaze (Arcane) prove a remarkably wellmatched pair in "Unito a un paro," while baritone Jeffrey Fields and tenor Jonathan Smucker make the most of their brief appearance. The piece itself is somewhat curious. As might be surmised from the above, all the major roles are for high voices (Arcane, a male role, was however in Handel's performances sung by a woman, Jane Barbier, whom the Earl of Cork remarked "loved to change her sex!"). The plot is exceedingly arcane-after several readings, I still could not get the hang of it-and it seems that the opera was not a great commercial success at first, especially since the manager absconded with the profits after the second performance, leaving the singers and the scenery bills unpaid. There are certainly gorgeous moments: the aria "Le luci" for recorders and countertenor (Robin Blaze) is exquisite, and the Purcellian conclusion is suitably joyful, if somewhat abrupt. But all in all, one is left slightly disappointed by this album. The sumptuous booklet does not altogether compensate for some niggling deficiencies in the recording, much as one is sympathetic to the challenges of live recording. The acoustic is strangely boxy (one would have thought First Congregational Church in Berkeley would sound more spacious), and the perspective on soloists tends to vary quite a bit. There are some strange edits: in particular, one wonders why the end of the aria in track 24 appears again at the start of track 25; surely it would have been possible to make this join work better? And one wonders whether the singers might have been fatigued in places: was the very curious "high Q" at 3:34 in track 22 an intentionally humorous moment, or just one of those things? So, a bit of a curate's egg- good in parts. There are spectacular singing and playing and some typically Handelian inventive genius; but the piece itself, and some minor technical shortcomings in the recording, are not totally top-drawer. But we are grateful that Nicholas McGegan and his enterprising ensemble have given us here much to savor. -Murray Somerville Reinhard Keiser Brockes-Passion Vox Luminis, Les Muffatti; Peter Van Heyghen, director Ramée 1303 www.ramee.org Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739) elicited extravagant praise in his time: "Probably the most original genius that Germany has ever known," "...greatest opera composer in the world." But we hardly know him today; his music faded from fashion soon after his death, and only recently have a few works surfaced from the dusty shelves to show that yes, Keiser had a vivid imagination. "Brockes" refers to Barthold Heinrich Brockes, a Hamburg politician, art collector, and house-concert host who wrote a libretto that retells the Passion in human terms that would be as much at home in an opera house as in a church (a 21st-century equivalent might be the John Adams oratorio, The Gospel According to the Other Mary). Keiser responded as a good opera composer would, with plenty of display arias for the vocal soloists and outbreaks of charged drama that sometimes seem to come out of nowhere-the agonies of Judas, for example. The most striking passages are smaller gestures, like a tiny gem of a Soldiers' Chorus, only 24 seconds in length, or instrumental touches like the bass strings making frightful grinding noises depicting the earth sinking into black darkness. The duet of Mother Mary and Jesus is one of a number of splendid examples of Keiser's use of a solo bassoon as an obbligato; the trading off of voices and simplicity of melody here almost seem to point forward in time to Mozart. The role of Daughter of Zion, entrusted here to the agile soprano of Zsuzsi Tóth, gets the most solo space, and the most dramatic moment belongs to the Evangelist http://www.ramee.org http://www.naive.fr http://www.philharmoniabaroque.com/shop

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Early Music America Fall 2014

Editor’s Note
Baroque Competition
Sound Bytes
Musings: Ave Atque Vale
Musings: Ave Atque Vale
Recording Reviews
Recording Reviews
Aetas Aurea: An Early Music Macbeth
Aetas Aurea: An Early Music Macbeth
Mysterious Titles, Hidden Meaning
Mysterious Titles, Hidden Meaning
Viola da Gamba Dojo
Viola da Gamba Dojo
A Joyful Noise: Highlights of BFX 2014
A Joyful Noise: Highlights of BFX 2014
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
EMA Donations
EMA Donations
Ad Index
Ad Index
In Conclusion: Sam Franko and the Origins of the Early Music Movement
In Conclusion: Sam Franko and the Origins of the Early Music Movement

Early Music America Fall 2014