Customer Reviews

Reinhard Keiser: Der geliebte Adonis

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

 

 

Those looking for a truly "German" baroque opera would do well to start here. I'm deeply, deeply tempted to say that if Bach (a contemporary of Keiser's, though a few years younger) had written an opera, this is what it would sound like. This Hamburg opera is from slightly earlier in Keiser's career, 1697 to be precise; it's only his second effort in the genre. This work is much more spare and serious than later Keiser works such as the lush "Croesus" (as heard in the wonderful Rene Jacobs recording). Though Italianate influences can be heard here, of course, I'm repeatedly struck how naturally German this work seems, and I'm not just talking about the libretto's language. Keiser's arias in "Adonis" are basically Bach-like cantatas, except they're about a subject from classical mythology rather than the Bible. The librettist, Christian Postel, took his story of the doomed love of Venus and Adonis from Ovid, and this results in a mostly mournful, tragic work--lacking some of the playful silliness occasionally found in baroque opera. This has a sad elegance which, too, seems Germanic yet manages to avoid being boring. The instrumental scoring here--as constructed by the conductor, Thomas Ihlenfeldt, a Keiser scholar--contributes to this; it's very spare, with few strings, no brass, but featuring woodwinds. And a baroque guitar is present in a continuo-like role. This work has the feel of what we might consider today a "chamber" opera, though doubtless it wasn't experienced that way at its premiere. Keiser wrote "Der geliebte Adonis" for Hamburg's Gansemarkt, Germany's first "public" opera house--that is, anyone who could afford the ticket could attend.

Vocal fireworks resembling those found in later baroque opera are not present here, but the German singers performing here handle their roles admirably. In sum, this is a charming work revelatory of the state of early Continental opera.