Handel Tolomeo

For the 1727 season – the waning days of opera's popularity in London – transplanted German composer George Frederick Handel wrote no less than three operas for the English capital's stage. Tolomeo, rè d'Egitto was the last and least enthusiastically received of them. Unsuccessfully revived in 1730 and then again in 1733, Tolomeo was unperformed for the next 200 years, and even now, it remains one of Handel's least performed and recorded operas. Prior to this Archiv set, only a 1995 Vox recording of the work with Richard Auldon Clark leading the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra had been released in the digital era.

This exciting studio recording is the second project resulting from the collaboration between Marie-Nicole Lemieux Karina Gauvin and conductor and harpsichordist Alan Curtis' award winning Complesso Barocco. Giulio Cesare is one of Handel's most renowned operas and the role of Giulio Cesare is considered to be one of the most beautiful roles in the baroque opera. The full vocal cast is stunning and Alan Curtis shows once again why he is considered one of the world's leading Handel specialists.

When this set appeared it pushed all the other recorded versions of Giulio Cesare aside, and now, examining it again and even finding some things to argue with, it maintains that supreme position. The opera is given complete and all the roles are sung in their original octaves (no bass-baritone Caesar, for instance). René Jacobs' tempos are ideal for each dramatic situation, and if the recitatives have a formality that slows them down somewhat, well, we are dealing with Caesar, Cleopatra, and very grand historic deeds. Both orchestra and singers embellish their written lines, and from this vantage point, those embellishments seem very tame–but they're still welcome, highly musical, and apt.

Giulio Cesare proved by far the most popular of Handel’s operas, both originally and in modern revivals. Its straightforward plot and all-star original cast drew from Handel exceptional depth and subtlety in musical characterisation and lavish orchestral colours; Cleopatra’s seductive stage orchestra – harp, theorbo and viola da gamba with muted accompaniment from the pit – is unique. René Jacobs set the standard in 1991 (on Harmonia Mundi). By comparison, this is milder, more pensive. Bowman is superbly flexible – he seems to become ever more fluent over the years – yet less powerful and imperious than Jennifer Larmore, the earlier.

The set has various virtues in its favor. Richter conducts an orchestra of modern instruments somewhat stolidly, but always with lyrical polish and sumptuous tone, and one can enjoy its lush richness, however anachronistic it may be. Nor are his tempos stereotypically sluggish; many of the sprightlier moments bounce along energetically. The soprano role of Cleopatra is sung by a young Tatiana Troyanos, who later became a celebrated mezzo-soprano (and eventually undertook the title role in stage productions, making her perhaps the first singer in history to undertake the roles of both Cleopatra and Caesar). It’s interesting to hear her in her earlier soprano incarnation. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau makes a valiant baritone effort at Caesar’s alto arias and, while he avoids the woolly grumbling some bass-baritones make of the part, seems less than emotionally committed. His second aria, “L’empio diro, tu sei,” for example, sounds polite and cautious rather than raging and indignant.

"Giulio Cesare" is the most famous and popular of Handel's many operas. In fact, for a long time it was the only one surviving in the repertoire, and brilliant productions of it in the 1960s were responsible for inciting interest in other Handel operas. Giulio Cesare contains perhaps a greater variety of beautiful arias and choruses than any other Handel opera, and has one of the best plots. This 1989 recording stars contralto Martine Dupuy, very famous in France but little known in the Western hemisphere. She made a sterling reputation in Baroque opera as well as the opere serie of Rossini, in which she has been adjudged incomparable.

It is a studio production with all the benefits of excellent acoustics, perfect balance, no disturbing noises from stage movements or audience reactions and the option to re-record momentary lapses. And there is another advantage: these studio sessions were based on a staged production at the Thesaloniki Concert Hall in March 2008! I suppose this is a misprint. If it is, this is the only error in this wholly delightful production.

The Royal Handel of the title of this Alpha release does not refer to music for the king specifically but to the Royal Academy of Music. Founded in 1719, this opera organization gave Handel his first major post in Britain when he was appointed the music director. He traveled back to Italy, returning to London with the singers and instrumentalists who would bring his music to life over the next two decades. He had rivals whom he eclipsed, Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, and they are represented on the program; it's striking how Handelian their music sounds in this context, even if the Handel arias have greater breadth.

'Recording an album entirely devoted to Händel is an unmissable opportunity for any singer who loves Baroque music, but especially for a countertenor. In fact the sheer choice of arias, each more wonderful than the one before, is staggering, but does mean that every singer can find the numbers best suited to his or her voice and personality. Although it’s only in the last few years that I’ve been able to play the big Händel roles on stage – Sesto in Giulio Cesare, for example, or Ruggiero in Alcina – for this recital I wanted to choose a selection of arias from less well-known operas. I’ve been performing some of them for many years now and I felt ready to record them with my ensemble, Artaserse, a group of players who have gained further maturity from the experience of performing around the world over the years.