This version
of
Ariodante seems to have been released as long
ago as 2000, soon after it was recorded, deleted and
now reissued. If the deletion was due to poor initial
sales, I hope that its reappearance will remedy the problem:
this version has a great deal going for it.
There is a
considerable overlap of personnel between this Bavarian
production of 2000 and that of the English National Opera
in 1996 – Ann Murray, Joan Rodgers, Christopher Robson
and the conductor, Ivor Bolton, also feature on that
earlier production, available on DVD (Arthaus Musik 100
064). One reviewer called this ENO production ‘Handel
comme
il faut’. That comment is equally true of this reissued
Farao recording, but, bearing in mind that the DVD set
is actually likely to cost you less than the new CDs,
those who like to see as well as hear opera will doubtless
go for those well-regarded Arthaus DVDs or the Dynamic
DVDs which my colleague RMcK recently made Recording
of the Month (33559 – see
review).
The English
National Opera revival of their production in June, 2006,
was broadcast on BBC Radio 3; I have listened to the
recording which I made of that broadcast with great pleasure. Though
much less well known than Nicholas McGegan, who directed
an earlier ENO revival and also recorded the opera for
Harmonia Mundi (HMU90 7146.78, highlights on HMU90 7277),
Christopher Moulds presided over a well-considered performance,
with Alice Coote in the title role and Rebecca Evans
as Ginevra. One notices from the outset the slightly
faster tempo of Ivor Bolton’s version of the Overture,
which nevertheless does not oust Moulds’ account from
my affections.
In fact, though
Bolton is faster, the playing of the Bavarian State Opera
Orchestra actually sounds slightly heavier at first – this
is no chamber group. Not that there is a great deal
in it – both sets of players, though employing modern
instruments, effectively capture a truly Handelian style. In
neither version is the continuo particularly audible,
which is better than having a massive close-miked harpsichord,
but not ideal.
Bolton maintains
slightly faster tempi throughout the opera, especially
in Acts II and III. Less able singers might sometimes
sound rushed at these marginally fleeter speeds, but
all involved here sing well enough for this not to be
a serious problem. Just occasionally I felt that the
singers would have preferred a slightly more sedate pace. The
second and third acts each take five minutes shorter
in all than the ENO/Moulds account, probably because
the
cast by then found themselves much more in accord with
the direction, allowing Bolton to move at his ideal pace.
Allowing for
the vagaries of live performance, all concerned acquit
themselves well. I had no complaints about the ENO singers,
but the Bavarian cast has a slight edge. After a slightly
hesitant start Ann Murray is superb – just listen to
her account of
Scherza infida in grembo al drudo (CD2,
tr.5) to be won over. Christopher Robson is about as
effective and villainous a Polinesso as a counter-tenor
can be; most would probably prefer Patricia Bardon’s
mezzo account of the role for ENO. The only common factor
between London and Bavaria is Paul Nilon’s account of
Lurcanio; he sings very well on both versions.
I recently
praised the musical content of Ivor Bolton’s
Rodelinda highly,
though castigating some of the more crass aspects of
the production – see
review;
those musical virtues are again in evidence here – and,
paradoxically, the photographs from the production contained
in the booklet suggest that the (unseen) production was
much more to the point than that of
Rodelinda. In
fact, I understand that David Alden’s ENO/Welsh Opera
production was employed for the Munich performances. Paradoxically,
therefore, whereas I now play the
Rodelinda as
sound-only, via my audio system, I find myself wishing
that Farao had released
Ariodante on DVD, if only
to help unravel some of the complexities of the plot. The
well-paced performance and the quality of the performers,
together with the assistance in the booklet, does help,
but it would have been nice to have seen the action.
The booklet
offers David Alden’s
raison d’être for his production,
offering a view of the opera which may raise a few hackles – I
note that one reviewer in 2000 was more than a little
mystified by it. The recorded sound is good – if anything,
slightly better than the BBC broadcast of the ENO performance. Neither
can match the balance of a studio event: the Farao is
a little too close for my liking, but a slight reduction
in volume is all that is needed. It’s a small price
to pay, in my opinion, for the extra excitement of a
live performance.
The recording
comes in a conventional 3-CD jewel box, with the booklet
fitting into a recess in the box. The outer slipcase
is, therefore redundant – the only point of such a case
would be to house a booklet too large to fit inside the
jewel case or to keep three separate CDs together – it’s
likely to get scuffed and torn in short order.
I shall play
this version more often than the ENO, but I must point
out that the classic Janet Baker and Raymond Leppard
set remains available on two Philips reissues – that
on Trio 473 9552 is the cheaper. Janet Baker is one
of those special singers whom I would happily hear in
a rendition of the phone book. Her Handel is extra-special
because I remember her wonderful performance in
Orlando at
Sadler’s Wells over forty years ago. However fans of
the authentic will find Leppard’s direction more dated
than Bolton’s. I’ve even seen Leppard’s direction described
as ‘stuffy’ by comparison with modern preferences.
You’d need
to be a bigoted purist not to like this version, but
lovers of authenticity will be better served by the McGegan
version to which I have referred above, with Lorraine
Hunt in the title role, or by Mark Minkowski with Anne
Sofie von Otter on DG Archiv (457 271-2). I can’t claim
that this Farao reissue is quite in the category of the
Baker/Leppard, the Hunt/McGegan or the von Otter/Minkowski
but it is certainly good enough to be mentioned in the
same sentence.
Brian Wilson