The idea of focusing a Handel recital
on the run of arias sung by one character
is good. The likes of Cleopatra (Giulio
Cesare) or Bajazet (Tamerlano)
are given a progression of numbers,
revealing rich and complex personalities,
and sequencing them results in compelling
quasi-cantatas. The emotional see-saws
of the operas respond well to this treatment,
but drama in the Christian oratorios
comes more from meditation on constant
attitudes. Thus in Theodora (1749)
the heroine's visionary radiance is
juxtaposed with Didymus's more energetic
faith, both against the Roman consul's
apoplectic fury. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson
has made a profound impression on stage
as Theodora’s confidante Irene, but
can the character sustain dramatic interest
over more than half an hour? The difficulty
lies neither with the music nor the
singer: Irene's arias are masterfully
turned, and with the exception of the
rather blank "Defend her Heav'n", inspiring
in context. They also fit Hunt Lieberson's
rich, noble mezzo like a glove. No,
the problem is that five such dignified,
beautiful and thoughtful meditations
in a row are too much of a good thing.
Mind you, no such difficulty
should attend the chamber cantata La
Lucrezia, a dramatic masterpiece
from Handel's Italian years (c.1708).
Recorded performances by Janet Baker
(Philips 4264502 with Leppard) and Kozena
(DG 469065 with Minkowski) ring the
emotional changes on the wronged Roman
lady to thrilling effect. Hunt Lieberson
offers an intensely serious, tonally
consistent character who seems closer
to Britten's dignified proto-martyr
than Handel's excitably varied baroque
portrait. As pure singing this is extremely
lovely, but sensitively supported as
it is by Bicket and his three fellow
instrumentalists, the conception is
a mite too monochrome, too staid for
comfort. Two encores from Serse
(1738) reinforce the feeling: Hunt Lieberson
smoothes out the vertiginous contrasts
of tempi in "Se bramate", but a fault
there becomes a positive virtue for
the ubiquitous "Ombra mai fù".
Serse's love song to his favourite tree
(did the Victorians realise?)
is beautifully sustained, with just
the right hint of emotional reserve.
A satisfying conclusion, then, to an
impeccably recorded and presented disc;
but one which shows off the singer's
vocal consistency better than her powers
of characterisation.
Christopher Webber
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson - mezzo-soprano
AVIE AV0030 [67:00]