Bella Plain

The Legendary Pink Dots exist in the fields of experimental and psychedelic music. The band is fronted by Edward Ka-Spel, who doubles as singer and chief lyric writer. Phil Knight (The Silverman), Erik Drost, and Raymond Steeg make up the current lineup of the band…

'Serse' comes late in the Handel opera list, with only two more attempts at the form remaining. Adapted from the libretto originally prepared for Cavalli's 'Xerses' in 1655 (itself a great opera), 'Serse' remains true to its Venetian roots. The action, which is largely comic, moves fluidly through short arias, ariosos and ariettas. Serse is a parody of the self-important ruler; "Ombra mai fu,' possibly Handel's most famous setting of Italian words, is in fact a love song to a plane tree originally intended to be sung by a man who had been castrated. Irony does not go much deeper than this. The characters that surround Serse are an uncommonly varied lot with the plain-speaking Atalanta a particular joy.

Philippe Herreweghe, respected elder of the early choral music world, directs a pared-down version of his choir Collegium Vocale Gent in delectably careful performances of music that in less careful hands can sound plain crazy. The slippery harmonies of Carlo Gesualdo’s sixth book of madrigals, written in 1611 but sounding centuries ahead of their time, are nailed down with the sharpest, slenderest of pins thanks to the perfect tuning and clear tone of Herreweghe’s ensemble. One to each line, the singers maintain a finely balanced blend, emerging briefly as soloists at moments of emphasis. Some may find the ambience a bit churchified for these texts, in which images of frolicking cupids are heavily outweighed by the laments of unbedded lovers miserably invoking death; but the performances are full of subtle nuance, and you’re unlikely to hear passages such as the end of Io Pur Respiro, with its sliding, viscous harmonies, better done.