Customer Reviews

Handel - Admeto (Special Edition with 2 DVDs plus 2 CDs)

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When I saw the photographs of the costumes (including--on different cast members--vinyl pants, hoodie, and fedora), I began to think that I had made a serious mistake in ordering these DVDs. When I read the description of the production ("set somewhere between comedy, tragedy, and almost absurd grotesqueness: a modern hospital"), I felt almost sure that I had. But I ended up enjoying the performance despite myself.

Act I of the opera opens with King Admeto on his sickbed, at the verge of death, in the throes of fevered nightmares. At the beginning of Act II, Hercules rescues Alceste from the tormenting furies of hell. When you think about it, why shouldn't these scenes take place in a hospital? The staging does have some oddities, such as Meraspe's PT Cruiser and a fountain that shoots up now and again for no apparent reason, but at least Trasimede doesn't quite take off his pants (as Nero does in the Virginia Opera's recent performance of "Agrippina"). Eventually director Axel Kohler calms down, and most of Act III is set in a stylized, columned palace.

The singers, instrumentalists, and sound quality are excellent--even better than in Alan Curtis's classic 1977 account (available on three Virgin CDs). The voices, including two male altos, all correspond to those in Handel's original performances. As a bonus, this set includes two CDs of audio excerpts, containing about half of the arias and none of the secco recitatives.

I would still prefer a somewhat more traditional performance, and I'm not sure how well this one will wear with repeated viewings, but it's an enjoyable addition to the growing list of Handel operas on DVD.

Addendum (September 26, 2010): How well does this performance wear? Not very well. There are a lot of other Handel videos to which I return frequently: Christie's Giulio Cesare, Hercules, and Semele, Curtis's Ariodante, and Rousset's Serse, among others. But this isn't one of them. The new Admeto conducted by McGegan Admeto is excellent, and much to be preferred. If I were reviewing this DVD today, I would give it only 3 stars.

This is one of only two recordings of Admeto that I know of, the other being the early Alan Curtis recording from 1977 with singers like Rene Jacobs. I have not heard the latter, but the present recording reflects recent period-style practices, and has the major added bonus of being a stage production one can watch on DVD. There is a deliberate sense of incongruity between the "contemporary hospital" setting of the story (by the 'renowned' countertenor Axel Köhler), and the absolutely faithful Baroque-style playing and singing. Which means that the recording is second-to-none in terms of the period instrument playing and conducting, even if the conductor, Howard Arman, may be totally new to most of us (as are, for me, all of the soloists). But the musical quality is second to none, and the recording is highly enjoyable either to listen to or to watch (well, especially to watch). While in principle I don't like far-fetched contemporary stage-settings, in this case it provides a reasonably good foil for presenting the story in a savagely original and humorous way, and almost all of the singers manage very well to adapt to the strange sets and still give us very good emotionally-nuanced performances, and even some pretty good acting at times (deliberately hammed up). I am a lover of countertenors, and I must admit that there is one countertenor in this production that I really cannot bring myself to like, namely the lead part, Matthias Rexroth. He is handsome and looks fine in the part, which may be why he was cast, but his mode of singing has more of the unnaturalness that sometimes plagues the counter-tenor voice than any other counter-tenor I know of, with the probable exception of Rene Jacobs, who found much greener pastures as a conductor. The other soloists are uniformly superb, each in his or her own distinctive way: Lichtenstein as Admeto's wife, Bach as Princess Antigona, Mead (a countertenor who wins you with his stage-acting as much as his voice) as brother of Admeto, Nolte as Hercules, Hirsch in a slightly silly trousers role as a courtier (dressed like an office girl), and certainly Vogel as Antigone's confidant, whose antics and facial expressions provide some of the most entertaining moments in this part-serious, part-comical drama. Even Rexroth's slightly ridiculous and incongruous style of singing, looking and sounding like he was never born to be a countertenor, kind of fits in with the basic incongruity of the production, so one can learn to listen to him with enjoyment as well. I haven't really figured out the purpose of the two extra CDs provided, but it does encourage one to put the opera on just for listening. Since one seldom gets beyond two or three viewings of an opera on DVD, this is in principle a good idea. By the way, there is some really fine Handelian music interspersed in this opera, and like every one of the master's operas, it has something distinctive about it. This DVD set is certainly for every fan of Handel's operas, at least, though of course there are more unforgettable productions around -- of OTHER Handel operas.

I came prepared to enjoy this performance. I have no objection to juxtaposing historically-informed musical values with post-modernist staging. I like counter-tenors; why, some of my best friends, etc. Nevertheless, I found Admeto mildly soporific, but I'm not sure why. The singing was mostly quite good, although Matthias Rexroth's voice is apparently so small that he needed a contact mike to project. The orchestra is stylish and well conducted. Perhaps the problem is the opera itself, which lacks "timing" and thrust, both dramatically and musically. In any case, I'll keep the DVD in my collection, but I suspect I won't hasten to watch it again.

My heart sank when this performance opened in an entourage of a modern hospital. Are they so desperately lacking of any imagination now, I thought. I have seen Iphigenia as a mentally ill patient suffering from severe hallucinations in Opera de Paris, Donna Anna as a drug addict in Peter Sellars' version, and this hyper-realism seemed to be so beaten up, old and trite.

Although it quite stayed this way in this performance, it got an innovative twist in absurdity - my mood got a boost from the incredible Cerberus who was not a traditional dog, but rather a triple-faced Janus, who was also a cannibal, picking in poor Alceste abdomen and eating her intestines. It was outrageously funny, and Hercules putting all the bowels back into the place was hilarious. Since that scene, the incredible crudity was quite entertaining.

Next I would observe that no modern German production goes without a gun, and the scene of Antigone's abduction had properly showed us the weapon. Alcina on DVD is another splendid example of using a gun, and I saw it live in Munich in 2007, in Alcina as well, with the good old gun well-employed. A gun must be German fascination and fetish, although I am not sure Handel shared it at all.

Handel would probably disapproved of the interferences with the foreign sounds, such as the car's engine sound, excessive screaming, etc - I imagine he could condone a production with the wildest imagination, as long as his music is un-assaulted and stays pure as he had written it.

His genius is as always amazing; it is interesting to compare this opera with Gluck's Alceste, which is written about 40 years later, and is so inferior; but again, who can compare with the Maestro di Halle. Maybe Monteverdi - and the duet of Antigone and Admeto is so reminiscent of "Pur ti miro" from "Il Coronazione di Poppea"; I always thought it could have been Handel who wrote that duet, since it is almost certain that it was not by Monteverdi... But this is another story.

The love triangle in Admeto is also calling to similar ones in Alcina - Alcina-Ruggiero-Bradamante and in Hercules - Hercules-Dejanira-Iole.

Vocally this production is superb; it is a pleasure to listen to CDs as well. It is noteworthy to remember that this opera was not as much about the male role, but rather about the tow prime donne of the day - the premier cast included Faustina Bordoni as Alcestis and Francesca Cuzzoni as Antigona.

Yet even if it was a funny production, it was somewhat childish, and I wish to see a more thoughtful work that does not necessarily makes a vaudeville of Handel. Considering his time, the common-folks opera was making great debut, as with John Gay's The Beggar's Opera that made a whooping success, and Handel had ample opportunity to switch his style and go popular. However he stayed faithful to myths, ancient gods, heroic kings and queens, nymphs and such. Bringing his poetry down to earth does not go too well with the grandeur and sublime of his music, and although experimenting is interesting, I personally find traditional productions more aesthetically rewarding with this composer. I think he had enough talent to create in Verismo, if he wanted, but he preferred Olympic heights, and why not to respect his obvious artistic wish? He had never been a circus director, and lavish productions do him more justice and let appreciate the perfection of his music more.