Customer Reviews

Handel - Rodrigo / Banditelli, Piau, Fedi, Müller, Invernizzi, Calvi, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis

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

 

 

The best thing about this new recording of one of Handel's early operas is that great pains were clearly taken to fit the whole opera onto two well-filled CDs (each full-price, but containing nearly 80 minutues of music). To do this, Alan Curtis (the conductor) cut some of the lengthy recitative -- which is nevertheless provided in the libretto, indicated by italic type, and will therefore satisfy even Handel "completists" who can still save the cost of an extra CD. In the program notes, Curtis makes an excellent case for his reconstruction of the opera, which until recently was lacking its beginning, part of its middle, and its end. These have been restored partly by means of a recently discovered manuscript, and partly by Curtis himself, who composed the first couple of recitatives in the Baroque style (though, admittedly, not necessarily in the style of Handel) and borrowed a duet from another opera to replace a duet that was, to judge from the score, evidently missing. But Curtis argues convincingly enough that this duet was originally part of "Rodrigo" (primarily on the basis of the duet's key and the fact that the two operas are roughly contemporary).

The only thing that might dissuade one from absolutely loving this recording is that Handel reused much of the music in other of his compositions. Since Handel lovers relish every new aria they hear, it may be sometimes disappointing that some of the melodies already sound familiar from other operas or concerti grossi. But rarely, if ever, did Handel plagiarize his own music exactly; each borrowed melody was reworked to some extent, so the music is still fresh and new.

As for the quality of the recording itself, it is first rate and vies with other period-instrument performances. The instrumentation is spare and intimate, the recording clear and vivid. The singing is impeccable. This Handel lover looks forward to further recordings of Handel's operas by Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco.

I love Baroque music, particularly vocal and particularly Handel operas and oratorios. I don't care much about technicalities or about story lines. This is beautiful music written by the 22 year old Handel. It includes five of the most beautiful female voices imaginable and an excellent tenor. If you like to listen to beautiful music, buy this set. You will not be disappointed. Alan Curtis the director, who also filled out some of the missing music, should be awarded a medal for this one. (Try his rendition of Vivaldi's Giustino as well.) The discussion of the opera by Anthony Hicks and the note by Mr. Curtis in the booklet are excellent. The only think missing are photos of the singers. I happen to know that the women are as beautiful as their voices. Buy it.

...I'd think twice before sharing a stage or a CD with Sandrine Piau. She's too good. She makes "it" sound effortless, and that of course is what makes her so good. In this performance of Handel's first opera in Italy, Piau outshines four of the most skillful women stars in the heavens of Baroque music - Gloria Banditelli, Elena Cecchi Fedi, Caterina Calvi, and Roberta Invernizzi. It helps, one must acknowledge, that the arias assigned to `Esilena' - Piau's role - are the loveliest and most virtuosic of the piece. Esilena's aria at the end of Act 1 - Per dar pregio all'amor mio - with pyrotechnic violin obbligato, should be imprinted on titanium and launched in the the next intergalactic probe, to give evidence that we homosaps were not such a crude, clumsy species, despite our propensity to foul our planet.

Rodrigo was first performed in Florence in 1707. It was not Handel's first opera; he had composed at least two for the stage in Hamburg and, with his usual economy, he recycled several arias from those works for his Italian debut. If Rodrigo has a weakness, it's that there's too much recitativo, too many words to tell its convoluted story of betrayal, jealousy, and vengeance. Actually, the verse libretto by Francesco Silvani is highly refined poetry, worth reading In Italian if you can, but it was clearly too `explicit' for the operatic stage. Handel cut portions of it before the premiere and again before the second performance, and Alan Curtis has cut even more of it in his reconstruction for this recording. The cut portions of Silvani's text are included with this performance, printed in italics. One previous reviewer, obviously not a true Baroquenik, has citicized the inclusion of any recitativo at all. That wouldn't please me; recitativo is beautiful in its own manner, and is necessary in this opera to set the table for the highly-flavored dishes called arias.

The young German composer was obviously sensitive to the new aesthetic fashions of his aristocratic/intellectual patrons in Rome and Florence, an aesthetic that called for purity of genre. Unlike most stage works of the previous century, Rodrigo is all "opera seria", with no hint of commedia. The older Apollonian detachment from human frailties -- as shown in Monteverdi's Poppea, for instance -- is replaced by Dionysian passion and immediacy. Jealousy is not to be exhibited here, but to be experienced. There is no prologue on Olympus, and no deities intervene in Handel's human drama.

As the announcers say in baseball, when a pitcher dominates a hitter, Alan Curtis has "ownage" on Handel's operas. His are the reconstructed performing scores used by most ensembles, and his are the reigning conceptions of the music. His ensemble, Il Complesso Barocco, is unmatched in consistent instrumental polish. My only wish would be that more of Curtis's Handel were available on DVD as fully staged performances. As it is, Curtis's opera CDs are among the very few that I would choose to hear only, in preference to DVDs of stagings by other conductors.

This recording has been reissued in the Brilliant Classics bargain box of recordings by Il Complesso Barocco. The other five operas in the box are:

RADAMISTO - 3 CDs 2005, with Zachary Stains, Dominique Labelle, Joyce DiDonato
ADMETO - 3 CDs 1978, with René Jacobs, James Bowman, Max von Egmond
FERNANDO - 2 CDs 2007, with Lawrence Zazzo, Max Cencic, Antonio Abete
ARMINIO - 2 CDs 2001, with Vivica Genoux, Dominique Labelle, Riccardo Ristori
DEIDAMIA - 3 CDs 2003, with Simone Kermes, Anna Bonitatibus, Furio Zanassi

The main point of my review is that this wonderful recording of a superb early Handel opera is now available again - in the Virgin Classics reissue of earlier Curtis Handel opera recordings for this Handel commemorative year called "Handel: Six Operas" (or "Handel 2009: 250th Anniversary"). Now this recording or this opera may not be quite as great as Radamisto (in the same set) or the recent Alcina, but the cast is impeccable and the recording - not to mention the incredibly good instrumental accompaniment - is top class, and then some. This recording was issued in 1999, and I would say that among very intense competition, Curtis and his crew probably established their leadership in recordings of Handel recordings with this opera, and of course they have kept it ever since (with some recent hot competition from Diego Fasolis, who has nothing at all against counter-tenors). Now I would love to hear the recent recording of the same opera by Al Ayre Espanol - an absolutely first-class Spanish Baroque ensemble with a lot of fine recordings under their belt - and a major claim they have to our attention is the absence of cuts (they use the full three CDs). But anyway, Handel opera lovers who don't already have all these earlier Curtis masterpieces have to get this bargain-priced reissue set first, and then they can go on to other competitive recordings if they have the listening time and the budget. I have only given four stars because after discussion with another veteran Amazon reviewer, I realized that five stars should be reserved for just a very few absolutely top recordings. It is only in comparison with Curtis recordings like Alcina, Radamisto and Rodelinda that this recording drops one notch.

For me the principal pleasure here is the possibility of hearing a Händel opera performed by Italian singers, uttering every word authentically and dramatically. Also, the castrati parts are sung by women, not male falsettists. No plummy churchy drawls, no countertenorial hooting and bleating, no bland Albionic dyspepsia. The Esilena and Evanco are not Italians, but they fit right in. Alan Curtis directs spiritedly and colourfully, and the sound is crystal-clear. Excellent!

Mr. Baumann's comments on this site are right on target, but there is one point of view that needs to be voiced. Why bother with a reconstruction at all? In listening to "Turandot" (say) I always hit the Stop button when Puccini's music ceases. In the case of "Rodrigo," the plot is not so compelling that the public is panting for a complete version. Would it not have been far better simply (or complexly) to record those parts of the score that do not call for flights of imagination and borrowings from the composer's other works? Giving a stage performance is one thing, making a recording another. I am grateful for that part of the work that is Handel's. The trouble is I can never be sure in listening what part that is, except for the instances given in the notes that come with the libretto. Perhaps the producers would consider a single CD without the tiresome recites of just those parts that are undoubtedly authentic. Merely a Modest Proposal.