Customer Reviews

Handel: Rinaldo

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

 

 

Strangely enough, this was this first opera recording I ever heard, and I fell in love with it. I remember checking it out numerous times from the public library when I was ten (I liked the cover) and listened to it over and over. This recording started my love for opera, which has grown ever since. I was delighted when it was finally released on CD in 1997 -- I had been looking for my own copy of the recording for over ten years. It is a lively and energetic performance of Handel's first great operatic success, and even without the legendary stage effects (ie, real birds in the garden scene), the music produces enough magic on its own. International singers were brought from all arenas -- the opera house, recital hall, and concert platform -- and came together to provide twentieth-century listeners a chance to hear the music as it may have sounded in Handel's day. Ileana Cotrubas sings sweetly and purely as Almirena, while Jeanette Scovotti scales the coloratura passages and brutally high tessitura of Armida's role with ease. Carolyn Watkinson possesses a contralto of rock-solid firmness and deep expression and is well-cast in the title role. The rest of the cast is equally accomplished. If you enjoy Handel, opera, fine singing, or simply good music, do not hesitate to purchase this recording.

This is a wonderful opera and the recording does it justice. The orchestra sounds very fine, particularly the oboes, piccolo "birds" and the pizzicato sections. At all times the crispness of the dotted rhythms keeps the work moving.

Cotrubas and Scovotti are in good voice. "Lascia ch'io pianga" moved me to tears and Almira's equivocating magic worked very well. The other roles were also well sung.

Having recently heard a fine performance by Opera Australia with Graham Pushee in the title role, I missed the agility of his voice, particularly in the second theme of "Cara sposa". It would be wonderful to hear Andreas Scholl in this work.

In summary, I would recommend adding this to your collection now, especially if your budget extends to a second copy if Andreas obliges.

Rinaldo is certainly one of the most famous operas of the first half of 18th century. It contains arias like "Lascia ch'io pianga", "Cara sposa, amante cara", "Venti, turbini prestate" and also three remarkable duets, but you can enjoy all the other arias, too. From the beginning to the end Handel maintains a high musical level: he also takes care of the instrumental parts more than in other operas (there are also 4 trumpets, timpani and a piccolo in the score). However the greatness of Rinaldo stands on the variety of feelings and emotions (like in Mozart's operas): in the same character you can find heroism, love, happiness, sadness. This performance directed by Malgoire remarks this richness in a magnificent way. Moreover he gives a faithful interpretation: in the "da capo" the arias are singed with ornaments and variations, like in the performance of the 18th century. The orchestra plays with lucidity and accuracy. The cast is considerable: surely you know Carolyn Watkinson (here as Rinaldo), Ileana Cotrubas (Almirena) and Paul Esswood (Goffredo). A great interpretation of Armida is given by Jeanette Scovotti. It would be a perfect recording, but the bass Ulrik Cold isn't suitable with the role of Argante because he has a harsh voice and diminishes the beautiful aria "Sibilar gli angui d'Aletto" and the lively duet "Al trionfo del nostro furore" (with Armida).

This is a wonderful opera and the recording does it justice. The orchestra sounds very fine, particularly the oboes, piccolo "birds" and the pizzicato sections. At all times the crispness of the dotted rhythms keeps the work moving.

Cotrubas and Scovotti are in good voice. "Lascia ch'io pianga" moved me to tears and Almira's equivocating magic worked very well. The other roles were also well sung.

Having recently heard a fine performance by Opera Australia with Graham Pushee in the title role, I missed the agility of his voice, particularly in the second theme of "Cara sposa". It would be wonderful to hear Andreas Scholl in this work.

In summary, I would recommend adding this to your collection now, especially if your budget extends to a second copy if Andreas obliges.

This is a wonderful opera.

Having seen a production with male voices, I was slightly disappointed that only four of the roles meant for men were sung by male voices. (Paul Esswood sings Goffredo, Charles Brett Eustazio and Armand Arapian doubles in the roles of both Mago Christiano and Araldo.)

Carolyn Watkinson does an apt job as Rinaldo, but a male voice does the character more justice. Evidently it is very difficult to find a male star up to the task.

But if you like Baroque music, and Handel operas, this is a fine treatment of Rinaldo, which is altogether stunning, no matter who sings.

My first contact with this opera was a high-powered performance of the exciting aria "Or la tromba" by Marilyn Horne on an Erato vinyl disc. The Malgoire CD set is a little disappointing for two reasons. There is no translation of the Italian libretto; and the singing and/or instrumental music is a bit thin. Certainly Carolyn Watkinson's performance of "Or la tromba" is not up to Horne's standard nor would we expect it to be. I am grateful for any representative performance of Handel's first opera at London in 1711 thirteen years before Giulio Cesare in Egitto. The work brings Handel's robust style to bear on Tasso's remarkable Jerusalem Delivered set at the First Crusade and dating in the 1570s when Europeans were not yet ashamed of the Crusades.

The libretto takes liberties with Tasso by supplying Rinaldo with a Christian lady love, Godfrey's daughter Almirena and by making this woman a fair maiden in distress taken captive by Armida and the amorous Muslim champion Argante. As though to defy European decadence in parallel with a later painting by William Hogarth, the opera ignores the obsessively popular love affair between Rinaldo and Armida. It centers the action on the rescue of Almirena by Rinaldo, Godfrey and Godfrey's brother Eustace. Sung by a bass in the midst of all the sopranos and countertenors, Argante makes an effective villain, in and out of love with Armida. Armida's infatuation with Rinaldo is strictly a one-way affair that soon turns bitter and vengeful as it does in Lully's Armide et Renaud (1686). An element of magic, as in Purcell's operas, adds to the fun. A particularly colorful sequence occurs when the Christian heroes storm Armida's palace on the side of a volcanic mountain with the aid of a Christian magus capable of countering the sorceress' bag of tricks. Rinaldo sings "Or la tromba" ("Now the trumpet") on the eve of the battle that conquers Jerusalem. In this happy version of the story, Armida and Argante convert to Christianity as Rinaldo declares, "O clemenza del Ciel!"

Rinaldo is one of Handel's finest opera's (although they all have their own unique charms) but this version is pitiful and embarrassing! You only need to check out the Hogwood version to hear a far superlative interpretation. For the finest singing and (incredible, if not out-of-this-world ornamentation) get the (possibly incomplete) John Fisher version with the inimitable Marilyn Horne (infinitely superior to Daniels) among other top- rate soloists. Bartoli I find breathy, wispery, and infinitely annoying for this! (much like Terfel). The 'Furie Terrabile' in the Fisher version is, without doubt, THE most electrifying thing I have ever heard in my entire life (no exaggeration!) and is worth getting for that alone! Unfortunately the orchestra is nowhere near as polished as Hogwood's - hindered by a live recording, the net result is hardly of CD quality - but the soloists are more than worth it (in my opinion). Maybe Hogwood and Fisher should have done a swap!