George Frideric HANDEL (1685–1759)
Handelian Pyrotechnics
William Towers (countertenor), Armonico Consort/Christopher Monks
rec. St Mark’s Church, Leamington Spa, 5 to 6 November 2019
Sung texts with English translations enclosed
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD658 [60:52]
Reviewed as downloaded from
Hyperion
“Handelian Pyrotechnics” the CD-cover says, and any unsuspecting reader
should be excused for concluding that here we are in for a programme of
coloratura equilibristics. But the title is deceptive. Out of eleven arias
only three belong in the pyrotechnical category. But this is no great loss.
Anything Handel wrote is worth a listen, and here we are treated to an
agreeable mix of various feelings in arias both fast and slow, sung by the
up-and-coming British counter-tenor William Towers. He got an opportunity
to record a Handel disc quite early in his career but turned it down, since
he had then only sung a couple of Handel roles on stage. Today he has a lot
of experience in the Handelian repertoire, and all the arias on this disc
are from roles he has sung on stage, some of them many times in various
productions.
And we start as far away from pyrotechnics as is possible, with
probably the best-known aria by Handel, Ombra mai fu from Serse. It is the main character in the opera, the Persian King
Serse (or Xerxes as his name was in the original) who at the very beginning of
the opera sings the aria to a plane tree to thank it “for furnishing him
with shade” as Wikipedia puts it in their synopsis. As presumably every
reader knows it is a slow, beautiful song with a melody that easily lends
it to religious meditations – and the aria has often been performed at
funerals – but the content is, in fact, profane. Beautifully sung it is.
The next aria, from Poro, is likewise a meditation. There are some
discreet embellishments in the reprise, but nothing spectacular. There
follow two arias from Giulio Cesare in Egitto, and in the first, Al lampo dell’armi, the text says: “The soldier’s foremost thought
in battle is to strike the enemy first …”, and even without knowing the
music one realises that here, with sabre-rattling coming up, must be a
perfect moment for pyrotechnics. And so it turns out to be. It is an
up-tempo aria with intense string accompaniment – and a great deal of
coloratura, expertly negotiated. The second aria, Dall’ondoso periglio – Aure, deh, per pietà, is also from the
battlefield, but here the hero is at a loss, and he meditates on his
situation: Where are the soldiers? He only sees arms and corpses scattered.
Caro sposa
is the hero’s slow and beautiful longing for his wife. This long aria is
from Rinaldo, Handel’s break-through in London in 1711. There is a
fast middle section but it only lasts a few seconds. In Cielo! Se tu il consenti from Orlando, premiered in 1733,
we encounter the title character, who is none else than Ariosti’s Orlando
furioso, who went mad of love for a foreign princess. Madness is often a
reason to burst into coloratura singing, and here we get a fair share of
breakneck virtuosity.
The best known aria from Rodelinda is no doubt Dove sei,
where Bertarido, the former King of Lombardy, longs for his wife Rodelinda.
It is a touching love song.
From Radamisto we are served by two slow and beautiful songs, both
melodic gems, to return to and savour. Qual nave smarrita may be
the brightest shining of the two, but the sorrowful Ombra cara has
its own beauty. Both are sung with care and inwardness. And so is Tacerò, purchè fedele from Agrippina, possibly Handel’s
first great opera, composed while he was still in Italy, and predecessor to Rinaldo.
And so we arrive at Ottone, re di Germania, an opera first heard
in 1723. Handel had assembled a star-studded cast, including castrato
Senesino and soprano Francesca Cuzzoni, both of them for the first time
appearing in London. Cuzzoni knew that Handel had written Ottone
before he engaged her and thus she thought he couldn’t know her capacity,
and consequently she wanted him to write a new aria for her that showed her
off in the best possible light. Handel went furious, grabbed Cuzzoni by the
waist and told her that he would throw her out of the window if she
persisted. Cuzzoni gave in and sang the aria Handel had written – and it
was a great success. After that she sang it in recital throughout her
career.
What we hear here is not Cuzzoni’s aria but one of Ottone’s, and
that role was sung by Senesino, who continued to appear in another
seventeen of Handel’s operas. The aria Dopo l’orrore rounds off
the programme with some pyrotechnics and colourful orchestral
accompaniment. Elegant, effortless singing by William Towers – whether he
could have challenged Senesino is a moot point, since there naturally
exists no documentation and written testimonies are hard to interpret. What
we know is that the awakened interest in baroque music, not least opera,
has changed the musical scene considerably. Seventy years ago Alfred Deller
was practically the only falsetto singer of stature; today we have a
plethora of excellent singers in this voice category.
Baroque authority
Harry Bicket recently wrote in the liner notes for the brand-new recording
of Rodelinda, that it is easier in the twenty-first century to
cast a Handel opera well than a Verdi opera. To judge from the present disc
William Towers seems well endowed to further strengthen the appeal of the
countertenor breed. The accompaniment of Armonico Consort under Christopher
Monk also contributes to the value of this issue – and, of course, the music
of Handel. I can’t get enough of his music, especially his operatic music.
I know that I’m not the only one who feels that way. If you too are a
Handel enthusiast: don’t hesitate! If you are not: try it anyway!
Göran Forsling
Contents
Xerxes, HWV 40:
1. Ombra mai fu [3:11]
Poro, re dell’Indie, HWV 28:
2. Se possono tanto due luci vezzose [5:45]
Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17:
3. Al lampo dell’armi [3:17]
4. Dall’ondoso periglio – Aure, deh, per pietà [7:31]
Rinaldo, HWV 7:
5. Caro sposa [8:24]
Orlando, HWV 31:
6. Cielo! Se tu il consenti [4:33]
Rodelinda, regina de’Longobardi, HWV 19:
7. Dove sei [4:44]
Radamisto, HWV 12:
8. Qual nave smarrita [6:12]
9. Ombra cara [7:44]
Agrippina, HWV 6:
10. Tacerò, purchè fedele [4:28]
Ottone, re di Germania, HWV 15:
11.
Dopo l’orrore [4:56]
