HANDEL: Opera Arias – Joyce DiDonato, soprano/ Les Talents Lyriques/ Christophe Rousset, conductor – Virgin Classics

by | Feb 28, 2009 | Classical CD Reviews | 0 comments

HANDEL: Opera Arias – Joyce DiDonato, soprano/ Les Talents Lyriques/ Christophe Rousset, conductor – Virgin Classics 5 19038 2 4, 75:08 *****:

Handel’s time continues to come a rollin’ with great strides almost every month. If we had to name one composer who has undergone a critical and popular re-evaluation, and one that has enhanced his reputation one hundred fold, it would certainly be Georg Frederick. From a Messiah curiosity of the last century with a smattering of concertos and other works played occasionally, his star has now risen to many music-lover’s Top Ten lists, with the wonders of his oratorios and operas discovered in not one or two versions, but sometimes three or four, almost unheard of except from composers of the likes of Verdi, Mozart, and Wagner. We knew he was smart (IQ of 145 by most accounts), shrewd (a superior negotiator for the presentation of his own works), and inspired (Messiah took three weeks and change), but what most people of that long lost twentieth century did not realize was the immense depth of his writing, the heady emotional content, and the extraordinary manner of putting the meaning of the words as well as the syllables themselves to music.

Every soprano who is worth her salt is now feeling the need, if not quite yet the necessity, of turning to this German composer living in England and writing Italian music, and of proving her worth at bringing the ancient and sometimes non-existent characters to life. Period instruments have revitalized the perception of structural integrity and wondrous counterpoint that Handel threw off almost as yesterday’s lunch, and seasoned collectors like me will have about eight to ten fully competitive and eminently enjoyable solo albums on their shelves that get played quite regularly. Joyce DiDonato, lurching headlong into her fifth solo album including a successful Wigmore Hall Live release, has chosen the music of this Poet’s Corner resident to launch what will be by all counts a highly important release in the world of Handeliana and great recordings in general.

DiDonato, a Kansas native, has been establishing a career slowly and surely over the years so that she is now one of the most respected mezzos in the world. For this program, titled “Furore” (Fury), she takes on the challenge of some of Handel’s most difficult and maddeningly maddening music. All of the characters are angry, scorned, and vengeful–you name it–if it implies a rising in the emotional barometer. This is consequently some of the best music the composer ever set to paper, full of dramatic impetus and stinging, rapid fire violin passages that stunningly amaze one every time you hear it. DiDonato slays the Handelian dragon with all the weapons at her disposal, a powerful, evenly balanced voice that refuses to distort in the higher registers while offering a graceful pianissimo in the lower. Technically she may not be the equal of the human Gatling gun that is someone like Cecelia Bartoli, but don’t take that as an invitation to criticism; her runs are superb and equally tempered, while always the aim is the enunciation of the dramatic moment.

This neither supplants nor takes away from the many fine Handel solo albums available, but it certainly joins their rank with distinction. Rousset and company provide amply resonant partnership in a sterling effort.

TrackList:
1. Serse: Crude furie (Serse)
2. Teseo: Dolce Riposo
3. Teseo: Ira, sdegni, e furore + O stringero nel sen
4. Teseo: Moriro, ma vendicata
5. Giulio Cesare: L’angue offeso mai riposa
6. Admeto: Orride larve
7. Hercules: There in myrtle shades
8. Semele: Hence, Iris Hence away
9. Imeneo: Sorge nell’alma mia
10. Ariodante: Scherza Infinda
11. Admeto: Gelosia, spietala Aletto
12. Amadigi Destero dall’ empia Dite
13. Hercules: Cease Ruler of the day to Rise
14. Hercules: Where shall I fly

— Steven Ritter
 

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