Handel: Ariodante

Raymond Leppard's recording … has remained for me the benchmark against which other recordings are measured … Janet Baker sings brilliantly as Ariodante. She flies through the coloratura with ease and presents a complete portrayal of the title character … Edith Mathis is a strong Ginevra, beautifully sung. We easily believe that she has the strength to resist Polinesso but is vulnerable enough to despair at the unjust accusations leveled against her … And with Samuel Ramey in his prime we have an excellent King of Scotland.

This recording is an excellent place to start in acquiring an appreciation of Handel's operas, with the outstanding mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt in the title role and leading a fine cast that includes soprano Juliana Gondek, mezzo Jennifer Lane, and bass Nicolas Cavallier. The plot–an only slightly convoluted tale of true love put to the test by scheming villainy–stands up better than many stories set by the likes of Verdi and Bellini, and Handel had longer than usual to write the music, a fact which shows in the opera's low clunker-to-gold ratio. There is not a weak voice in the cast, and McGegan leads the singers and the Freiburger Barockorchester with idiomatic flair; alternative scenes are provided for those who just can't get enough.

The scope and grandeur of Handel's operatic output – the musical variety and inventiveness, the depth of psychological insight, as well as the sheer volume of works – continue to astonish as new operas are brought to light and more familiar works are given productions and recordings that do justice to the material. Ariodante, written in 1735, is nowhere nearly as frequently performed as the more famous operas like Giulio Cesare, but neither is it entirely obscure, and there have been several very fine modern recordings. This version with Alan Curtis leading Il Complesso Barocco can be recommended without reservation to anyone coming to the opera for the first time or for anyone who's already a fan.

Für Opernproduktionen mit einer grandiosen szenischen Umsetzung ist das der Härtetest: Funktionieren sie auch ohne Optik? Teilt sich ihre Magie auch ohne die bilderwelt, den Erfindungsreichtum des Regisseurs und die Präsenz der Sänger mit?
Kein Problem im Falle des Münchner 'Ariodante'. Der CD-Mitschnitt, quasi der "Soundtrack" aus der Aufführungsserie im Januar 2000, ist ein Glücksfall fürs Händel-Repertoire. Zumal auch die Tontechniker die Live-Atmosphäre eingefangen und eine nahezu perfekte Balance zwischen Bühne und Graben hergestellt haben. …

Lynne Dawson is the star of this show. In Act 2, where Ginevra finds herself inexplicably rejected and condemned by everyone, Dawson brings real depth of tone and feeling to her E minor lament, 'Il mio crudel martoro'; in the final act she shines in the desolate miniature 'Io ti bacio' and brings much fire to the outburst 'Sì, morro'. But she never transgresses the canons of Baroque style. Von Otter, too, has much marvellous music – the aria 'Scherza infida' is one of Handel's greatest expressions of grief – and she sings it beautifully, but she isn't really at one with his idiom and seems to lack a natural feeling for the amplitude of Handel's lines. Yet there's much to enjoy here too, the beauty of the actual sound, the immaculate control, the many telling and musicianly touches of phrasing.

Sarah Connolly is an exemplary Handel singer. Her recital is dominated by two roles she's performed at ENO, with arias from Alcina and Ariodante. 'Scherza infida' is an addictive mixture of vocal elegance and poignant desolation, and 'Mi lusingha' is sung with a beautiful simplicity that lacks for nothing in drama or passion. In contrast, the extravagant coloratura in 'Dopo notte' and the robust 'Sta nell'Ircana' capture the virtuoso thrills of heroic joy. In Dejanira's 'Where shall I fly?', she reminds us that taste and subtlety have an important place even in Handel's tormented and emotionally unstable creation. She avoids contrived intensity and allows the quality of the vocal writing to speak for itself.

Terpsicore (HWV)(8b) is a prologue in the form of an opéra-ballet by George Frideric Handel. Handel composed it in 1734 for a revision of his opera Il pastor fido which had first been presented in 1712. The revision of Il pastor fido with Terpsicore as the prologue was first performed on 9 November 1734 at Covent Garden theatre in London, opening Handel's first season in that newly built theatre. Terpsicore mixes dance along with solo and choral singing and was patterned after models in French operas, a particular source being Les festes grecques et romaines by Louis Fuzelier and Colin de Blamont, first presented in Paris in 1723. The work featured the celebrated French dancer Marie Sallé as well as stars of Handel's Italian operas and was a success with audiences of the day.

In 1733 the Opera of the Nobility was set up in London in opposition to Handel's own opera company. Handel lost all of his star singers except for the soprano Anna Strada del Po - she was rewarded with two of Handel's finest roles, Alcina and Ginevra (Ariodante)). Handel engaged the castrato Carestini as leading man. He had a range of two octaves and an ability to sing elaborate coloratura. He only sang for Handel from 1733 to 1735 but Handel wrote the roles of Ariodante and Ruggiero (Alcina) for him. These are roles which exploited Carestini's virtuosity in instrument-like vocal writing.