Customer Reviews

Handel - Rinaldo

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is indeed a luxury to have 3 decent recordings of Rinaldo on period instruments when so many of Handel's operas are still to be recorded, but if the name of René Jacobs appears on the last one, well, that's as good a reason to buy it as you are going to get.
Jacobs is the star of the show, he does many splendid things and some rather weird ones, but: 1.he is never boring, 2.he knows what he is doing and why, and...3.he does it very well.
Christopher Hogwood on the rival DECCA recording is quite simply no competition, he is bland, unimaginative and boring. Pity that DECCA didn't use Christophe Roussett instead.
Jacob's cast is generally excellent but DECCA has 4 trump cards: Luba Orgonasova, Bernarda Fink, Gerald Finley and Cecilia Bartoli (of course). For sheer voice quality they are better than Jacobs' singers, but Jacobs sees that his cast make an even more vivid impression. More problematic in both recordings is the title role. Rinaldo is a bravura role, and demands a considerable voice. In a perfect world a young Marilyn Horne would have been ideal. David Daniels certainly has a lovely voice, but it's insufficient for this kind of roles, a coloratura mezzo is a much wiser solution. Vivica Genaux should have been ideal, but her voice seems too high for the role, more contralto generosity would had been appreciated in "Cara sposa". All in all I would still prefer Carolyn Watkinson in the old Malgoire recording (but the orchestral playing in that set leaves something to be desired), but if the choice is between Daniels and Geneaux, I would opt for her.
The fabulous Freiburger Barockorchester quite outclasses Hogwood's band, their playing is nothing short of spectacular.
Jacobs makes Rinaldo a very theatrical experience on audio, it is very enjoyable and I don't think we will get another one in decades.

There is always room for a new recording of any opera and if not for the crisis in music industry, we would be still getting a couple of new Figaros, Traviatas, Aidas etc. per year. Handel, however, is not Mozart or Verdi (in terms of popularity) and it takes a particularly huge dose of courage in this time of crisis to do what Harmonia Mundi did by releasing this new "Rinaldo" only two years after a successful recording under Christopher Hogwood appeared on the market. This is exactly what we expect of HM - courage in undertaking musical projects, regardless their 'bankability' and the highest standards of execution (also applied to the packaging) that put "Universal" to shame. I was eagerly looking forward to this new set, hoping that it would help me discover the beauty of an opera I wasn't able to appreciate in Hogwood's recording. It had its merits, to be sure, but the limp and antiheroic David Daniels made it impossible to listen to, at least for me. Bartoli was a great Almirena, but - with her partner so effeminate - she sounded too heroic, almost like "Freedom Guiding the People" in the famous painting by Delacroix. Well, that's at least what I thought before I heard the present recording.

Rene Jacobs is one of my favorite conductors of Baroque music. His passion for the music he performs is never in doubt and this always makes his recordings rather special, as does his experimenting with the scores which always adds to the music's flavour. Those were the qualities I expected to find in this set and I found them in abundance - Jacob's conducting is certainly a great asset of this new "Rinaldo".

But opera is first and foremost about singing and it is the singing that I found rather undistinguished in this set, something that really surprised me because Jacobs had always a great ear for voices. Vivica Genaux's Rinaldo certainly isn't an improvement over Daniels's. Where Daniels lacked power, Genaux lacks both power and charisma. The voice does have a masculine hue but it doesn't sound particularly heroic. I also don't find this voice very appealing; to me it is more suitable for a villain than a hero, but it is an esthetic question and has nothing to do with Genaux's singing which is accomplished enough (though I found her much more interesting on her Farinelli disc) and which many will probably find gripping. To me she doesn't stand out as the eponymous hero and doesn't dominate the opera as she should. She sings her arias without much expression, which is particularly bothersome in those more contemplative ones ( there is no sense of lament in "Cara sposa"), but she clearly enjoys displaying her rather impressive vocal technique in such showy numbers as "Venti, turbini" or "Or la tromba".
Almirena is also a problem. Miah Persson has a lovely voice and apparently a lovely face but her portrayal of Almirena is bland and rather chilly and, frankly, I don't always understand it. The scene before "Lascia ch'io pianga" is puzzling to me: is Almirena a damsel in distress or is she a cunning flirt trying to seduce her oppressor? In this context, the famous aria sounds as if it taken from another story. Persson also exaggerates in recitativi, drags the words trying to give them some dramatic accent but it rarely works well and simply sounds strange. That's one of the reasons I find her Almirena rather graceless although judging from the pictures the singer doesn't lack grace herself.

But Jacobs has a marvellous Armida! Actually, each recording of "Rinaldo", including Malgoire's, boasts a fine Armida, but Inga Kalna seems particularly impressive. She must be a very young singer and this touch of youth makes her Armida rather special, if not necessarily better than the matronly and rather more formidable sorceress of Orgonasova for Hogwood. Kalna's vocal technique is stupendous but what really strikes me most is the seemingly unlimited range of colours in her voice which she uses with an almost devilish skill. What an accomplished young singer!

Other roles are taken successfully but they are rarely memorable. The only singer who seems to be making a real effort to give his character some flesh is James Rutherford in the role of Argante. Although he doesn't eclipse his predecessors, particularly the splendid Gerald Finley for Hogwood, he leaves a very good impression indeed.In the role of Goffredo I decidedly prefer the inspired Bernarda Fink to Jacobs's Lawrence Zazzo who is vocally impressive but lacks character, a problem affecting many countertenors.

Disappointment with this new recording made me listen again to Malgoire and Hogwood. I always thought that Malgoire's was a very good recording and it would be a truly great one if only the conducting was a bit better. All the singers are deeply in character, the delivery of the dialogues is natural and vivid, diction is perfect and there is this palpable feeling of cooperation between the singers that distinguishes so many productions of those years.

But my greatest surprise came with the Hogwood. All of a sudden I found it absolutely gripping and all my earlier reservations simply vanished. Is it because Jacobs was so disappointing? Maybe, but that can't explain everything. There is really something old-fashioned about Hogwood's "Rinaldo", the sense of total dedication of all involved that distinguishes great recordings. I don't know why it wasn't obvious to me earlier but if it is indeed the new set that caused this awakening, I am the more happy for that.

There is always room for a new recording of any opera. Yes, that's true and the popularity of this new set only proves that my reservations expressed above may be unfounded, but I still think that instead of this rather pale "Rinaldo" Jacobs could have given us a recording of another obscure opera by an equally obscure composer, something that nobody does as well as he.
But having learned my lesson with the Hogwood, I wouldn't be surprised if one day I warm to this new recording and find it as captivating as many no doubt will at first hearing. Four stars instead of three then, to account for my fallible judgement. (Kicek)

This recording shows exactly what Handel and Baroque Opera in general are able to do, when handled by the right conductor/singers/musicians. This music is never boring, never "reserved, emotionally cool, etc." or any other adjectives sometimes used to describe (bad) performances from the genre. It's more music than drama, YES, but that's to be expected from this period, and with music and an approach this good, who needs "dramatic cohesion" anyway?
Handels' music here is full of surprises, in terms of the sequence of arias presented here. Colorful orchestration, interesting vocal melodies and turns of phrase, plenty of room for both technical and expressive virtuoso singing, all combine into a springboard for conductor Jacobs and the Frieburg Baroque Orchestra to make the music become personal and really become something more than what's written on the page.
Immediately recognizable is the sound of Jacob's orchestra: it's crisp but never metallic, intense and full of emotion (compare to the sounds of the strings on recordings by Manze of other Handel works), and lets Handel's voicings, harmonies, orchestrations, etc. really shine through. I'm not a music theorist, but Jacobs alllows anyone to hear what Handel is doing within the orchestral parts, and not just through them i.e. why he voices the strings and/or winds one way versus another at different points in the piece. Jacobs also allows the musicians considerable improvistory freedom: there's too many to mention, but a good example is the 4(!) harpsichord solos in Armida's showy aria "Vo Far a Guerra." These and other ad-lib parts show off the players' chops in an effort to make the music sound alive and not like a museum piece that is being dusted off for historical interest.
Of course most people listen to opera(s) primarily for the singers, and I don't feel that this set is deficient in that part at all. Some reviewers didn't care for some/all of the singers, but personally I feel they all contribute something unique and exciting to the performance. Inga Kalna's Armida covneys the right amount of emotional uncertainty in the character: her music expresses love for the hero alongside anger and menace, in a series of arias that can be intsnely longing or searingly furious. She handles all of these with technical and melodic displays that are quite impressive. Rutherford's Argante is sung with confidence that allows him to portray the spooky, sinister side of the villain. Perrson's Almirena is actually quite varied: she is able to express the militarisitc tone of a general's daughter in "Combatti di forte," which is sung with an upbeat lilt that makes it "swing" in a way, while showing the sensitivity and delicateness of her in the famous "Lascia Chio pianga." Lawrence Zazzo as the leader of the Christian army Goffreddo has a truly unique counter-tenor voice. The timbre is full and round, not nasal, feminine, limp, etc. like many counter-tenors; I hope he does a recital disc soon. The other two counter-tenors really don't hold up too well: Dumaux is tolerable and comptetent but lackluster, and Visse is just plain annoying (thank goodness he has a very small role). Finally, Vivica Genaux in the title trole has received many mixed responses. In my opinion, and it's only an opinion, she's amazing in up-tempo numbers, handling the runs and coloratura brillinatly (try her Farinelli CD!), but on the slower, more melodic pieces she sounds a bit uninvolved (her recent Bel Canto outing shows this deficieny). However all in all she does a good job, and the sound of her voice may or may not be to everyone's liking, so listen and see what you think.
Not a brief review, but this set is amazing and will continue to reveal more and more delights every time you listen to it. Pick this up especially if you want a good introduction to what Handel is capable of, or if you enjoy Handel and want a particularly daring, exciting interpretation of one of his better works.

A friend of mine has Hogwood's (DECCA) version of "Rinaldo", and it was through that recording that I came to know and enjoy this interesting opera. I was about to buy that version when I heard that Jacobs had recorded it too. I usually like everything that Jacobs does, so I decided to get his "Rinaldo" instead of Hogwood's.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the Jacobs recording. He did a great job as usual, making the music in this opera sound really crisp, spectacular and beautiful.

However, I am quite disappointed with his choice of Vivica Genaux as Rinaldo, this opera's hero! Genaux voice just doesn't sound heroic at all to me! Her "Cara sposa" is simply horrible, so much so that I find myself skipping that track everytime that I play this CD! I prefer Hogwood's choice of David Daniels as Rinaldo! The rest of the singers are fine though, and I especially like Inga Kalna's Armida, she's fantastic!

I wouldn't say that Hogwood's version of "Rinaldo" is better than Jacobs. I would just recommend that anyone wanting to get this opera should listen both versions before making a final decision.

Both recent recordings of this opera are excellent, although I would recommend this one if you had to choose. It hasn't been mentioned yet how much more interesting Jacobs' performances of the recitatives are compared to Hogwood's. Jacobs uses an enormous and varied continuo group which never fails to add dramatic interest and excitement to recitatives that would otherwise risk seeming somewhat bland. Also, Jacobs' cast, while not as famous as Hogwood's, more than makes up for this by singing some superb ornamentation - most likely composed for the singers by Jacobs himself; bottom line: both casts are about flawless, so pick this one instead! For those that would prefer a more restrained or traditional interpretation, go with the Hogwood. However, the majority of listeners would be better advised to pick up Jacobs' recording, it is definately the more engaging of the two.

Handel is a master of exquisite exuberance, and Rene Jacobs brings it out marvellously. Jacobs takes the desired effect--enchantment--as his starting point and works back from there. The result is more than a fine recording; it is an intoxicating musical landscape. The sound is absolutely luscious: supple, frothy, mesmerizing. It whisks you into the soft vivacity and splendid melancholy of Baroque palaces, into that sumptuous mix of restraint and abandon. It creates a sense of wonder that is so central to Baroque opera. Perhaps the seduction lies in the ways in which the voices mingle with the orchestra and with each other. It is not in any particular singer as good as they are; it is always in the musical tapestry as a whole. The Decca recording has outstanding singers and does almost everything right, but this one has the magical ingredient that takes it from pleasing to bewitching. True, Vivica Genaux is not heroic in the title role, and neither is David Daniels on the Decca version. But Rinaldo does not express the 19th century heroism we are accustomed to. It is something more indefinite. It works differently. Suspension of disbelief is its very medium. And ultimately I do not much care why this version enthrals; I take pleasure in its effects. This is a recording to which to spend a voluptuous afternoon on the divan.

Approaching Handel opera as a harsh critic (especially of recordings) I was stunned at the dramatic energy that comes across in this recording. Not only is the emotion evident, but obviously (as one would expect of any Harmonia Mundi release) the attention to period style is remarkable. The voices are outstanding, most notably those of Kalna and Genaux. Continuo choices are stunning, as is the collective orchestral playing. For those who prefer a more 'standard' (read 'later') operatic approach, the Hogwood recording is still worth hearing, but I advise anyone who is interested in combining period style with tangible drama, admirable technique AND a lush sense of line, this recording reigns supreme!

Of course,baroque opera is vocal concerto.Of course,villains performed by talented singers could be the real stars on the block.And,of course,Inga Kalna was,perhaps,a temerity to her fellows;just perfect!Yet,she comes under thunder and lighting.
Vivica Genaux,Rinaldo,sounds a bit more twang Marylin Horne,
however both of them have very similar vocal approach of castrati heroes.Virtuoso arias are her specialty;"Venti turbini"and "Or la tromba" are the best but inconceivable operatical vices appears on "Cara sposa".Impossible to choose between Genaux or Daniels.French countertenor Christophe Dumaux sings an flaming,thrilling Eustazio;very steady technique,virtuosistic ornamentation,speedy roulades,...A delicious new voice;he is in his twenties!Bravo,Christophe!
Zazzo,his brother on opera (and vocal range),is a very fine Goffredo,rending a gorgeous "Sovra balze",but Bernarda Fink was nothing less than spectacular to Hogwood,just like bass Gerald Finley;both invincible.Perfect orchestra;the battle scene is terrific.Nicolau Figueiredo almost stole the show;flamboyant,clamorous harpsichord huge scales.Unjustifiable
is the Mago by Dominique Visse;his cartoon,quacking performance,whistled falsetto...I hated that;a much better Mago
was Bejun Mehta to Hogwood.After all,no problem to choose between the two best options;Jacobs,that fails sometimes in strange conceptions to Monteverdi for instance,never fails on baroque opera.He got a much more contrasting,charmed and daring recording.Pick this one.Or both,if you are a huge handelian fan.

Rene Jacobs is a Genius!
This is a work of art and all the singers are amazing!!!!
This is a superb work I would recommend to everybody!!!

I am a great admirerer of Vivica Génaux's voice and so is René Jacobs. I think she is one of the most pleasant sounding mezzosopranos - pleasant in all registers. For some ears she may not sound heroic enough in this recording, but why shouldn't we have a soft character in the title role? This is a justified interpretation as at the beginning of the opera he is more concerned with love than with heroic deeds. So it should not put you off buying this box as everything is first rate and there is nothing better or more idiomatic than René Jacobs and his orchestra.

If you really want to go into it, you should also listen to the Decca recording with the great Cecilia Bartoli. A quite different interpretation, but I enjoy them both.

By the way Vivica Génaux sounds quite different in her recitals ("Arias for Farinelli" and "Vivaldi - Pyrotechnics"). These CDs are among my favourites in my huge collection of singers.