Customer Reviews

Handel - Amadigi di Gaula

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This is a very well done recording of one of Handel's 'magic' operas. The ensemble Al Ayre Espanol specializes in Baroque music, so this Amadigi was a perfect match for them and for Handel fans who will probably want this even if they have the 1980s recording with Bernarda Fink, Natalie Stutzman, Eiddwen Harrhy, Jennifer Smith and conducted by Minkowski. That was a fantastic recording, and so is this. Instead of two sopranos & two mezzos for the leads, this Ambroisie CD set goes with a counter-tenor (Jorid Domenech as Dardano), a mezzo (Maria Riccarda Wesseling as Amadigi), and two sopranos (Sharon Rostorf-Zamir as sorceress Melissa and Elena de la Merced as Orianna). Wesseling and Rostorf-Zamir have performed and recorded Handel before (Teseo, Floridante, recital discs with Handel arias) and Merced has sung baroque and bel canto roles with major opera houses the last couple of years. She's very good as Orianna, and I hope she does more Handel in the future. Rostorf-Zamir and Wesseling are very good, and Merced's singing is meltingly beautiful. The Al Ayre group can match up with the best of the baroque chamber ensembles out there. Thorough and attractive booklet/libretto makes this one an easy recommendation.

Amadigi di Gaula (1715) was the fifth Italian opera that Handel wrote for London, and the last before he took up his duties for the newly formed Royal Academy. Like Rinaldo and Teseo, which preceded it, Amadigi is a "magic opera", a genre that always brought out the best in the composer; like them too it features a love-sick sorceress as a central figure, a character-type he was to return to with equally memorable results in Alcina (1735). (His remaining "magic opera" Orlando has a benevolent male sorceror in place of a malevolent female one.)
Amadigi is an absolutely wonderful piece, with a memorable score of great freshness, invention and youthful vitality - not a single weak number. There are two duets, an onstage death scene (very rare) and a ghost scene, all outstanding. Altho' there are a few puzzling moments in the plot (due to the libretto's compression from a 5-act French original), the story and conflicts are clear and the characters well-drawn. And with essentially only 4 characters and at 2 1/2 hours in length, it's one of Handel's most concise and intimate stage works.
This new recording, only the second so far, is excellent, and certainly fully equal in quality to Marc Minkowski's fine 1989 version (Erato). Perhaps the new one has a slight edge in sheer theatrical excitement, but the difference is marginal. Unlike Minkowski, conductor Eduardo Lopez Banzo has cast a countertenor (rather than a woman) as Dardanus, and this may matter to some listeners. (The role was originally sung by a woman, tho' a castrato took over later.) I should also note that on the new recording one aria, Oriana's sublime Siciliana "Gioie, venite in sen" loses its da capo (no doubt to fit the piece on 2 CDs - Banzo's overall timings run slightly longer than Minkowski's) and Melissa's "Io godo, scherzo e rido" is heard in a different setting from Minkowski's: similar in length and tone, but in duple rather than triple time. There is a good new English translation of the Italian text - Erato reprinted the Italian-English libretto from the 1715 premiere - as well as French and Spanish versions. Excellent sound. A fine achievement all round, strongly recommended.

As previous reviewers noted, this is an excellent overall recording, with great singing and conducting. Again, we were fortunate enough in Boston to listen to this opera live, and although conducting and period instruments were excellent, the singing was variable, and Amadigi on this recoding is absolutely perfect.

It was interesting to get acquainted with the Knight Amadis, whose image inspired Cervantes. However, his character is just as selfish and shallow as that of Tancredi, a hero of Rossini's opera. But of course, these stories and characters are not made to be taken seriously, and exist only to support the most beautiful music.

One can hear that Amadigi is still an early Handel's opera, however alreay genius. Yet his later masterpieces, as Hercules and Semele are more balanced.

Overall, it is a highly recommended recording.

Quite an eccentric performance, though not without its occasional beauties. The issue is not with the soloists; the decision to go with the counter-tenor, Jordi Domenech--as described by other reviewers above--as Dardanus works well and all the other soloists turn in fine performances. The problem lies with Banzo, and some of the choices he makes. Many passages are taken at rocket-fast speed, eventually eroding the gravitas of the whole work. For example, the Melissa arias "Destero" and "Vanne lungi" are shoved so fast that poor soprano Sharon Rostorf-Zamir is nearly killed. Banzo engages in slightly experimental scoring, too: a lute is added and played often in guitar-like fashion, sometimes doubling the continuo, sometimes by itself. And I've never heard a tambourine played fandango-style (as in the finale here) in Handel, though I suppose it must have happened somewhere. These and other little touches (like a loud, intentionally off-key double bass in the Dardanus aria "Tu mia speranza") add up to a kind of "Spanish" Handel performance. I suppose that some like their Handel "perked up" like this; maybe I'm just getting old.

Amadigi di Gaula is one of my favorite Handel works and the Minkowski recording, though admittedly getting on now, is probably still my favorite Handel opera performance. If you must choose only one Amadigi, go with Minkowski.

Handel - Amadigi di Gaula is a great recording under the direction Eduardo López Banzo. I am a huge fan of Baroque music and Handel shows his prowess in this opera. The booklet is amazing and contains great liner notes by Olivier Rouviére and short biographies of the performers. It also contains nice and clear photographs of the performers. On the cover they have a mysterious but beautiful painting of a young man holding a bowl of water. One also gets a list of who plays what. I strongly recommend this splendid recording. 5/5.