Handel: Alcina

Joyce DiDonato, Maite Beaumont, Karina Gauvin, Sonia Prina, Kobie van Rensburg, Laura Cherici, Vito Priante, Il Complesso Barocco, Alan Curtis

Released on 09/03/2009 by Archiv Produktion
Main artist: Joyce DiDonato
Genre: Classical

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It's a pleasure to have such an abundance of excellent recordings of Handel operas that were long virtually unknown or available on CD in a single version, if at all. Alan Curtis' stellar recording of Alcina, which joins a respectable number of very fine recordings of the opera, is remarkable for the supple liveliness of his conducting and the outstanding performances of the soloists. The elasticity of his performance, leading Il Complesso Barocco, should dispel any misconceptions about Baroque music being rigid and metronomic. The nuanced care with which he brings out the emotional depth of Handel's writing is evident from the first measures of the overture and enlivens the entire opera. The opera is one of Handel's strongest, both in its sensuous, endlessly inventive music, and in the coherence and emotional complexity of its libretto, taken by an anonymous writer from Ariosto's "Orlando Furioso," the source of many operas of the era, and Curtis and the singers give it fiery dramatic urgency. The soloists assembled here, veterans of Baroque opera, perform with assurance and fluent familiarity with the style. The intelligence and emotional rightness of their ornamentation in the da capo arias is especially impressive, and they handle the florid pyrotechnics with polish and an engaging sense of spontaneity. Joyce DiDonato is stunning in the title role, with the intensity of a force of nature, and Maite Beaumont as Ruggiero and Karina Gauvin as Morgana are no less impressive. The women who are less well known, Sonia Prina and Laura Cherici, are just as astonishing in their virtuosity and the consistent purity and beauty of their tone quality; these are singers to watch out for. Bass Vito Priante sings with comparable effectiveness, but tenor Kobie van Rensburg doesn't quite have the ideal vocal heft for his role, although otherwise his performance is exemplary. The sound is immaculate and clean and intensely present. This version of Alcina should delight fans of Baroque opera and might even make converts of opera lovers who have never warmed to this repertoire.

© TiVo

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Handel: Alcina

Joyce DiDonato

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Alcina, HWV 34 / Overture (Georg Friedrich Händel)

Overture

00:03:14

George Frideric Handel, Composer - Alan Curtis, Conductor, MainArtist - Il Complesso Barocco, Orchestra, MainArtist - Arend Prohmann, Producer, Recording Producer - Ludovico Ariosto, Author, Original Text Author - Mark Buecker, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Hans-Ulrich Bastin, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Marita Prohmann, Producer, Executive Producer

℗ 2009 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

Musette

00:01:03

℗ 2009 Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, Berlin

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