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HANDEL (1685-1759) Opera Arias
CD1: Arias and Overtures, 1704-26
CD2: Arias and Duets from the era of ‘The Rival Queens’ 1726-28
CD3: Arias and Overtures 1729-41
see end of review for details
Emma Kirkby
(soprano)
Catherine Bott (soprano, CD2)
The Brandenburg Consort/Roy Goodman
rec. St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London,
25-27 September1995 (CD1); 2-4 January 1997 (CD2); 14-16
June 1999 (CD3). DDD.
Detailed notes in English, French and German. Texts in Italian
with English translation. HYPERION
CDS44271/3 [3CDs: 75:39 + 76:06 + 70:40]
This set of
three CDs combines three Hyperion discs - CDA66860, 66950
and 67128, now reissued at super-bargain price - in total
selling for very little more than the price of one CD on
their first appearance. Many collectors will buy this set
on pure impulse, taking the quality of the performances on
trust from Emma Kirkby, assisted by Catherine Bott on CD2
and throughout by Roy Goodman and the Brandenburg Consort. Those
who have read my earlier reviews of Emma Kirkby reissues
and of Roy Goodman’s Handel Opus 3 Concerti will not
be surprised to learn that I recommend the present reissue
very strongly: delightful music, delightfully sung, well
accompanied and recorded. At its new bargain price, this
set is irresistible.
The component
CDs were all highly praised on their first appearances. Gerald
Fenech, here on Musicweb in June 2000, thought CDA67128 an
excellent follow-up to an immensely satisfying Volume I. The
only significant criticism which I have seen is that the
orchestral accompaniment to the first CD is not always ideal
and that the recording of the orchestra is too resonant. The
same reviewer, however, who criticised the accompaniment
and hoped that the orchestra would move out of the swimming
bath described the accompaniment to CD2 as prompt and stylish
and had no adverse comments on the recording – made by the
same producer in the same venue – indeed, he made it one
of his CDs of the year.
I simply do
not hear the ‘swimming-bath’ acoustic: St Jude-on-the-Hill
has, in fact, been one of Hyperion’s favourite and most successful
locations over the years. Maybe the clarity of Kirkby’s
voice made the orchestral sound seem subjectively less precise. As
for the rough edges to the accompaniment, we seem to have
forgotten how far period orchestras have come in such a short
time: little more than thirty years ago I remember despairing
of the wind playing on an LP of Handel’s Water Music by
early-music performers who have since gone on to great things. In
any case, if we could be magically transported back to hear
the premières of these operas, the playing would probably
have far more rough edges than the few moments of imprecision
on these CDs.
The booklet
rightly highlights the playing of individual members of the
Consort who duet with Emma Kirkby in various arias – most
notably the oboist Katharina Arfken and Robert Farley on
trumpet on CDs 1 and 3.
Another reviewer
thought the performances fluent and stylish but a little
too decorous, slightly lacking in dramatic extravagance. Again,
I think the purity of Kirkby’s voice, where drama is often
more implicit than explicit, sometimes lends itself to the
misconception that she is not involved in the rôle. I have
dealt with this matter in my recent review of the Eloquence
reissue of her Elizabethan
Songbook.
There can be
no question of lack of dramatic involvement on the second
CD, where she and Catherine Bott perform some of the arias
associated with the two rival sopranos of Handel’s middle
period, 1726-8, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. Ironically,
in view of the enmity which existed between these ‘rival
queens’, Emma Kirkby enjoys a most productive relationship
with fellow soprano Catherine Bott. Each takes the rôle
of one ‘queen’ and the two voices provide a very effective
contrast with each other.
This second
CD is probably the most attractive of the three. The first
covers the period of the early operas up to 1726, of which
the best-known is Giulio Cesare, here represented
by V’adoro, pupille, sung by Cleopatra as she attempts
to seduce Cæsar to her cause. Those who find some lack of
drama in Kirkby’s voice would probably prefer a more sensuous
tone here but the sheer beauty of the singing and the sensitivity
of the accompaniment are winners in themselves.
The third CD
covers the final period, after 1729, nearly all the rôles
here being written with Anna Maria Strada in mind, a time
when Handel was writing some of his finest operatic music,
albeit for a public which was turning away from him. Once
again the range is wide and Emma Kirkby encompasses all these
rôles very successfully, from the hauntingly lyrical to the
most impassioned. If I pick out the aria from Alcina,
that is probably because that work has a strong claim to
be Handel’s operatic masterpiece. I am particularly sorry
that no space could be found for anything from Orlando,
another late-period work which I think runs Alcina a
pretty close second.
The booklet
is excellent – full of informative detail in Hyperion’s best
manner. English readers will find the Italian texts and
English translations embedded in the section of the notes
devoted to the relevant opera. French and German readers
get the detailed notes but have to find the Italian texts
in the English commentary and there is no French or German
translation. Those seeking scores of these pieces will find
some of them available online, for example the whole of Act
III of Alcina – indeed, the whole of Alcina – at
this site.
One slight
criticism: the CD case – the normal 3- or 4-CD size case – tended
not to close firmly enough to prevent its falling open too
easily. I missed the delightful cover pictures of the originals:
the photograph of Emma Kirkby looking uncharacteristically
haughty on the rear cover is no substitute, but the new front
cover depicting Rinaldo and Armida is an excellent choice,
the latter not only depicted in Rinaldo (CD1, track 4) but
also doubling as the archetypal femme fatale of Ariosto’s
and Tasso’s epics such as Alcina (CD3, track 9.)
This 3-CD set
represents the best of the reissues of Emma Kirkby which
I have recently reviewed; readers of those other reviews
will recognise that as praise indeed. Go out and buy it,
along with Hyperion’s other recent Kirkby/Goodman bargain
reissue, Vivaldi Opera Arias and Sinfonias, on Helios CDH55279. Fans
of Angela Hewitt’s Bach benefit from a comparable Hyperion
bargain: both books of the Well-tempered Klavier reissued
on CDS44291/4.
If this has
seemed shorter than my usual reviews, it is because I have
so few reservations. I note that Gerald Fenech’s review
is even more the soul of brevity, presumably for the same
reason. To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, of writing many reviews
there is no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh
when there is such beautiful music to listen to. Buy it
and listen to it – that is better than any mere words.
I only hope
that Hyperion’s generosity in making such fine performances
available at so reasonable a price does not distract attention
from their continuing full-price issues. However with recordings
of the quality of Marc-André Hamelin’s version of the Alkan
Piano Concerto this month that is hardly likely to happen.
Brian Wilson
Track listing CD1
Second Overture to Almira in G minor HWV1 (1704) [4:26]
‘Vedrai s’a tuo dispetto’ (Almira Act III) [4:39]
‘Perché viva il caro sposo’ (Rodrigo HWV3, Act III) (1707) [6:06]
‘Vo’ far guerra’ (Rinaldo HWV7Act II) (1711) [5:11]
Overture to Silla HWV10 91713) [4:38+2:02]
‘Ah! Spietato’ (Amadigi di Gaula, Act I) (1715) [6:05]
‘Desterò dall’ empia Dite’ (Amadigi di Gaula HWV11 Act II) [5:30]
‘V’ adoro, pupille’ (Giulio Cesare in Egitto HWV17, Act II) (1723-4)
[5:21]
Overture to Tamerlano HWV18 (1723-4) [2:50+1:47+8:24]
‘Cor di padre’ (Tamerlano, Act III) [8:24]
‘Ombre, piante’ (Rodelinda HWV19, Act I) (1724-5) [5:39]
Overture to Scipione HWV20 [3:52+2:00]
March (Scipione, Act I) (1726) [1:11]
‘Scoglio d’ immota fronte’ (Scipione, Act II) [5:06]
CD2
Overture to Alessandro HWV21 (1726) [5:04]
Sinfonia Act 1 (Alessandro) [2:17]
‘Che vidi? Che mirai!’ (Alessandro : Duet) [1:38]
‘No, più soffrir non voglio’ (Alessandro) [3:34]
‘Placa l’alma’ (Alessandro: Duet) [2:34]
‘Solitudine amate’ (Alessandro) [2:19]
‘Aure, fonti’ (Alessandro) [3:32]
‘Pur troppo veggio’ (Alessandro) [0:21]
‘Che tirannia d’amor!’ (Alessandro) [6:51]
‘Svanisci oh reo timore’ (Alessandro) [0:26]
‘Dica il falso’ (Alessandro) [4:31]
‘Il ritratto d’Admeto’ (Admeto, re di Tessaglia HWV22: Duet) (1727)
[2:11]
‘La sorte mia vacilla’ (Admeto, re di Tessaglia) [3:18]
‘Quest’è dunque la fede’ (Admeto, re di Tessaglia) [0:29]
‘Vedrò fra poco’ (Admeto, re di Tessaglia) [4:12]
‘Morte vieni’ (Riccardo primo, re d’Inghilterra HWV23) (1727) [2:51]
‘A me nel mio rossore’ (Riccardo primo, re d’Inghilterra: Duet) [1:49]
‘Quando non vede’ (Riccardo primo, re d’Inghilterra) [5:23]
‘A costei, che dirò?’ (Siroe, re di Persia HWV24) (Duet) (1728) [2:20]
‘L’aura non sempre’ (Siroe, re di Persia) [3:35]
‘Si diversi sembiante’ (Siroe, re di Persia) [0:14]
‘Non vi piacque, ingiusti dei’ (Siroe, re di Persia) [5:35]
‘E dove, e dove mai’ (Tolomeo, re di Egitto HWV25) (1728-9) [0:19]
‘Fonti amiche’ (Tolomeo, re di Egitto) [6:15]
‘Ti pentirai, crudel’ (Tolomeo, re di Egitto) [3:09] CD3
Overture to Lotario HWV26 (1729) [5:38]
‘Scherza in mar’ (Lotario) [5:27]
‘Io ti levo’ (Partenope HWV27Act I) (1730) [6:15]
‘Caro padre’ (Ezio HWV29 Act I) (1732) [5:17]
‘Dite pace’ (Sosarme, re di Media HWV30 Act I) [5:32]
‘Vorrei, né pur saprei’ (Sosarme, re di Media Act III) [3:14] Atalanta HWV35 Overture [5:41]
‘Son qual stanco’ (Arianna in Creta HWV32 Act II) (1734) [8:13]
‘Ah! Ruggiero’ (Alcina HWV34,Act III) (1735) [7:23]
‘Chi t’intende?’ (Berenice, regina d’Egitto HWV38 Act III) (1736) [8:38]
Overture to Deidamia HWV42 [3:52]
‘M’hai resa infelice’ (Deidamia) [3:55]
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