Ariodante Ann Murray mez Ariodante; Joan Rodgers sop Ginevra; Julie Kaufmann sop Da I inda; Christopher Robson alto Polinesso; Paul Nilon ten Lurcanio; Umberto Chiununo bass King of Scotland; James Anderson ten Odoardo; Bavarian State Opera Chorus; Bavarian State Orchestra / Ivor Bolton Farao Classics 2 B108 030 (181 minutes: DDD) Text and translations included Recorded live in the Munich Nationaltheater in January 2000
This live Ariodante has much to recommend it — there is fine singing and playing, and
Bolton directs the whole with enthusiasm
Selected comparisons:
Leppard (12/94) (PHIL) 442 096-2PM3 MeGegan (4/96) (HARM) HMU90 7146/8 Minkowski (2/98) (ARCH) 457 271-2AH3
AR1UDANTE
This new recording of Ariodante was made during performances last January at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in the David Alden production which has also been seen at the English National Opera. Three of the principals here sang the same roles when that production was first heard in London. Unlike the two most recent recordings of the work, it uses modern rather than period instruments. There is no mistaking the feeling of a live, opera-house performance. Ivor Bolton directs it with a great deal of vitality, choosing quickish tempos on the whole, especially in the First Act, and at times a little at odds with the singers, or at least seemingly unsympathetic to their needs. But the performance settles down, and by the middle of the Second Act there is a real sense of dramatic energy, and in the Third a strong sense of dramatic resolution. All the recitative is done intently and is well paced, and there is a real sense that the singers are eager to get its meaning across. The performance is inevitably not quite as tidy as a studio one would be in terms of ensemble and precision, and I dare say some of the singers would do things differently in a studio from what they do in the heat of the moment on stage, projecting the opera and their emotions to an audience (which process includes some of the unruly 'ornamentation' that too often represents a free rewriting of Handel's lines, and is apt to take some of the singers too high for anyone's comfort). Audience applause is heard from time to time, though the effect is somewhat arbitrary — it must be because of what is happening on the stage that some of the finest singing goes unapplauded (most notably Ann Murray's in the wonderful aria `Scherza infida').
The orchestra, if rather large, is very polished, producing rather more sustained a sound than a period one would; and at times the bass-line is apt to be heavy and insufficiently shaped; it would have helped if the harpsichord had been more prominently recorded. Sometimes the orchestra is too forward, and occasionally there is distortion, especially on loud and high soprano notes. It sounds as if the entire Bavarian Opera Chorus comes in for the final scene.
The chief reasons to buy this set, in addition — or even in preference — to the Minkowski or the McGegan, are twofold. One, of course, is Ann Murray's singing. She starts, I have to say, unpromisingly — her opening arietta, one of the most profoundly poetic things in all Handel, goes for little, but her involvement in the music and the drama is total, and her singing is often very vivid and impassioned, even if occasionally the tone is liable to harden. The big Act 1 aria, taken very speedily, is quite a tour de force and the divisions are beautifully placed. As I have indicated, `Scherza infida' is a high point; so, too, is the spirited aria which precedes it, and also the pair of arias that begins the final Act: the C minor one has a fine, strong line, and Bolton makes the most of the spiky orchestral writing. The second reason resides in Christopher Robson's impersonation of the villainous Polinesso. This part was written for a mezzo, and in truth is better sung by one, for a countertenor lacks the necessary focus and attack, and, I have to say, Robson's voice is not always ideally even or sweet. But he is an excellent stylist, and his characterisation is full of subtlety and intelligence. Listen to his management of the recitative, to his artful, suggestive timing in 'Spero per voi', or the expressive undertones in his Act 2 aria; and the technical difficulties in 'Dover, giustizia' are, in their way, brilliantly dealt with.
Joan Rodgers' Ginevra has good things too, including a full and bright ring to her tone, although her vibrato is often excessive — perhaps she is compelled to force in order to fill the large Munich house. Some of her articulation, equally of words and of notes, does not come across quite clearly. But she does carry off very finely the closing scene of Act 2, with her desolate E minor aria 'II rnio crudel martoro', and the pathetic 'Jo ti bacio' is also very moving. Julie Kaufmann's Dalinda is done with some vivacity and charm, but the voice is apt to become squally when she sings high and loudly, as she too often does. Paul Nilon seems to start unsurely, with some thinnish tone and romantic phrasing in his first aria, but the later ones are done with a real touch of heroic tone and confident Handelian style. I very much enjoyed the warm, resonant and expressively aware singing of Umberto Chiummo as the King of Scotland.
There are many good things, then, but Minkowsld and McGegan remain the recommendations here. If, incidentally, you want to know when and where this opera was first produced, the booklet will leave you none the wiser; but it will tell you David Alden's views about the opera and its plot, which, to put it mildly, would have surprised Handel and his librettist.
Stanley Sadie
> 我来回应