Customer Reviews

Handel - Ottone / Minter, Saffer, Gondek, Spence, Popken, Dean; McGegan

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is, with all due respect to the reviewer alluded to above, one stupendous work. Handel is a diety to me, and his operas my life's blood; that said, not all are as consistently engaging as Ottone (though even at his most ordinary, Handel is pretty terrific). As with so many operas of the period, the story of Ottone (or Otto, if you prefer) is loosely derived from history, but this one offers a particularly sharp libretto and rather less contrivance than usual. Musically there isn't a dull bar in the score, and much of it (particulary act II) staggers the mind with its inventiveness. Had Handel written nothing else than the aria "Vieni, O Figlio," in which a scheming mother consoles her son whom, she believes, is about to be executed, he still would have been counted among music's immortals. The casting is superb with excellent vocal characterization from all involved and exceptionally beautiful singing from Juliana Gondek. Drew Minter's voice is a tad white for me, but he brings a sympathy and humanity to the title character. Nicholas McGegan has often been taken to task for overfast tempi and here he seems, if anything, to exceed himself (the overture is breathless) with the result that some of the arias end up sounding a bit like Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs; but no matter. Even for those not yet converted to the cause, this is a 5-star recording of 5-star Handel. Bravos all around!

The Amazon reviewer should recognize that borrowing from one's own compositions (with influence from Purcell, Keiser, and other lesser composers of the day in Handel's case) was accepted and even expected. The public did not have the luxury of listening to recordings of all or most of Handel's work to compare similarities. At best, in baroque time, the astute listener might sense a familiar melody.

This Handel masterpiece does not have significant repetition. As she did did on her review of Riccardo Primo, this Amazon reviewer painfully misses the essence of Handel's music and should not be reviewing it.

A must-have for any music lover.