This attractive recital of Handel arias features Emma Matthews,
the English-born rising star of Opera Australia. She made her debut with
them in 1993 as Damigella in Monteverdi’s ‘L’Incoronazione di Poppea’
and her wide range of roles with them has since included Morgana ("Alcina"),
Almirena ("Rinaldo"), Ilia ("Idomeneo"), Cherubino
and Susanna ("La Nozze di Figaro"), Blonde ("Die Entführung
aus dem Serail"), Marie ("La Fille du Regiment"), Oscar
("Un Ballo in Maschera") and Sophie ("Der Rosenkavalier",
to Lisa Gasteen’s Marschallin), besides roles in Sweeney Todd and contemporary
operas, and she is due to sing the title role in "Lulu" next
year with Opera Australia.
This CD was recorded in 2001, after the artists had
finished a tour of New Zealand. Sensibly they concentrate on just three
of Handel’s heroines. Allowing Emma Matthews to reprise her stage performances
as Morgana and Almirena, the recital contains three of Almirena’s arias
from "Rinaldo" and four of Cleopatra’s arias from "Giulio
Cesare" along with the overtures and sinfonias from both operas
and the CD opens with Morgana’s ‘Tornami a vagheggiar’ from "Alcina",
the bravura aria with which she concludes Act 1. With a responsive artist,
this is an admirable way of constructing a programme of Handel arias
as it allows the singer to gradually construct the character before
our eyes. Handel’s operatic arias, based on the idea of displaying contrasting
affekts, only allow us to appreciate Cleopatra’s ‘infinite variety’
once we have heard all of her 7 arias. There is no question of a single
aria providing a microcosm of a character the way an aria can in 19th
century opera.
Emma Matthews’s attractive voice is warm, vibrant,
evenly produced and she shrugs off the technical challenges with admirable
bravura and consistent ease. Rarely have I heard singing in Handel sound
so beautiful and so natural. I could say effortless, which it is, but
she has the ability to use coloratura passages for dramatic purpose,
as in the middle section of ‘Piangerò, la sorte mia’ from "Giulio
Cesare".
I wish I could be as enthusiastic about the New Zealand
Chamber Orchestra and conductor Donald Armstrong. They provide efficient,
neat accompaniments with a style of Handel playing that seems a little
dated. It is, of course, unfair to compare them to one of the many recordings
on period instruments, but Sir Charles Mackerras’s achievements with
the English National Opera Orchestra on his recording of "Julius
Caesar" make the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra sound rather stolid
and their textures rather dense. Listening to their different versions
of the overture to "Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar)" is instructive,
both are played at pretty much the same sort of tempo, Mackerras succeeds
in getting his English National Opera forces to deliver the music with
a crispness, sense of style and more of a feeling of bows off the string.
And, I think, that this is the essential problem. Despite their firm
(and not unstylish) delivery, the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra performances
seem to remain firmly rooted in 19th century performance
techniques. On repeated listening this starts to sound a little heavy
and you keep feeling that it is holding Emma Matthews back from a more
complete characterisation of the roles. Armstrong’s speeds in general
are middle of the road, rarely risking much.
In the opening aria on the CD, ‘Tornami a vagheggiar’,
remarkably the performers manage to sound a little rushed in the middle
section, but Emma Matthews throws off the pyrotechnics with remarkable
ease. Faced with such virtuosity it seems churlish to complain, but
I wanted more characterisation, perhaps a greater sense of teasing.
The da capo section is freely ornamented without sounding forced.
Here, as in all the da capo sections on the recording, I am not
fond of the modern tendency to freely recompose Handel’s vocal line.
We do have a handful of arias from "Ottone" written out with
ornaments in Handel’s hand. I am not sure that they have ever been recorded,
but it would prove instructive as they stick more strictly to the written
tessitura of the vocal part and the ornamentation fills in the gaps
between the written vocal line, rather than actively changing it. If
Emma Matthews’ ornaments are sometimes a little too elaborate, at least
you rarely get the feeling that she is seriously changing the vocal
line’s tessitura.
In ‘Non disperar, chi sa?’ (Cleopatra’s first Act 1
aria from "Giulio Cesare"), Mackerras and Valerie Masterton
take it slower, their version lasts 50 seconds longer. Rather than sounding
more ponderous, Mackerras gives the orchestra a delicacy which is entirely
lacking in the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra. This allows Valerie Masterson
to be far more teasing than Emma Matthews, despite her showing an admirable
command of the coloratura at the faster speed.
In ‘V’adoro pupille’, (Cleopatra’s first Act 2 aria)
Armstrong and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra seem a little immune
to Handel’s ravishing orchestration. At a tempo somewhat slower than
Mackerras, they can sound a bit leaden though Emma Matthews sounds lovely,
but I not quite ravishing enough. After all, in this aria she is setting
out deliberately to ensnare Caesar.
In ‘Piangero, la sorte mia’ (Cleopatra’s first Act
3 aria) Mackerras’s version is a miracle of transparency and considerably
slower than the New Zealand forces, who sound rather stolid. And in
the final aria from "Giulio Cesare", ‘Da tempeste il legno
infranto’ I would have liked a more pointed, sharper delivery from the
orchestra and the singer, both a little lacking in light and shade.
But we can end on a more positive note. Both soloist
and orchestra sound crisply martial in Almirena’s first aria from "Rinaldo",
‘Combatti da forte’. And Almirena’s final two arias are lovely. In ‘Lascia
ch’io pianga’, for once, the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra find the
requisite delicacy and transparency and allow Emma Matthews to provide
a moving vocal line.
I enjoyed this disk, it is an admirable debut disk,
with some stunning Handel singing. What we do not get is a feeling of
Cleopatra’s infinite variety, most of the arias seem a little under-characterised.
The most successful seem to be those that she has actually performed
on stage, but I think in all of them she is held back by the stylistically
outdated performances by the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra under Donald
Armstrong. I would love to hear Emma Matthews again in Handel, perhaps
even a complete opera. But next time, please could it be with a more
period-aware accompaniment.
Robert Hugill
Emma Matthews (Soprano)