classical music:

	Handel - Arcadian Duets / Dessay, Gens, Petibon, Claycomb, Lascarro, Panzarella, Mijanovic, Mingardo, Asawa, ... George Frideric Handel, Emmanuelle Haim, ... Virgin Classics, 2002 average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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I note it is diffucult for me to randomly select pieces from this album. It is best taken like a good meal, from beginning to end.


Haendel 'di chiesa'

The most famous male conductor of the moment offers, in her new recording, a selection of Handel's religious duets. With a chamber formation of her ensemble, Le concert d' Astrée (here wiyh only 3 musics, and Haim sit at the harpsichord and the organ) and with a very big formation of 10 famous solists: 6 sopranos, 2 altos, 1 countertenor and 1 tenor (all of them very experts in the barroque repertory) Haim makes a great recording, and she wins a lot of congratulations by me. A great disc tath all barroque lovers must have.

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Stellar Females Guide Handel's Lesser Known Arcadian Duets

Ten world-class singers have been assembled for this 2002 anthology of Handel's chamber duets, nine in all. The selections are sometimes in two movements but more often in three contrasted movements with various changes in tempo, as they tell sometimes disheartening, sometimes effusive tales of the effects of love. They all have the familiar pastoral feel that Handel often brings to his compositions, and these, in particular, are inspired by the Arcadian academies and courts of Italy at the end of the 17th century. Led by Emmanuelle Haïm, this recording intelligently uses many distinct voices to lend individuality to each of the selections, in contrast to, say, the recent 2004 Handel duets CD in which soprano Patrizia Ciofi and mezzo-soprano Joyce Di Donato ambitiously tackle an almost overwhelming variety of Italian opera duets just by themselves.

All the women here are excellent. The particular standouts are French sopranos Natalie Dessay and Véronique Gens on the opening duet, "Ahi, nelle sorte umane" with their bright voices intertwined with deep, intense feeling; the lightness of Laura Claycomb's soprano matched with the superb fullness of Sara Mingardo's contralto on "Tanti strali al sen mi scocci" and again on the concluding "Sono liete, fortunate"; and the similarly contrasting performances of soprano Patricia Petibon and contralto Marijana Mijanovic on "A mirarvi io son intento". The two men featured are somewhat disappointing but only by comparison - tenor Paul Agnew sounds a bit unctuous and lead-footed against Petibon's ethereal silvery tones on "Caro autor di mia doglia", and countertenor Brian Asawa, despite a purity in tone, sounds dramatically constrained on "Conservate, raddoppiate", his brief duet with soprano Juanita Lascarro. Regardless, the overall mood of the recording is appropriately sonorous and for the most part, period-authentic except for Haïm's organ which is used to sparing dramatic effect. As she has proven with her wondrous direction of an equally stellar cast on the 2003 Virgin Classics recording of Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas", Haïm provides intense musical leadership among a varied set of talents with the able accompaniment of her ensemble, Le Concert d'Astrée.

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Something's not quite right in the state of Arcadia...

I saw this CD with deep interest, and purchased it without a second thought. The singers listed on the recording included some strong favourites of mine, and since I may be recording some of the Handel duets on this album this year, I was looking forward to hearing other interpretations of the music.

I was... not entirely disappointed, but sadly not captivated.

I found some of the accompaniments to the duets to be heavy-handed and almost paternalistic in their approach, particularly when the organ was employed. And stylistically, some of the singing was just... wrong. In particular, the flights of Natalie Dessay (who has done some gorgeous things - her Lakmè is ravishing) jarred. On reflection, I do not consider Dessay to be an ideal singer for the repertoire - she does much better in the 19th century French works and in coloratura Strauss roles, where she shines like a cluster of diamonds.

Although some of the singing here with the various singers was beautiful, it was not uniformly good, and in particular the duet work seemed under-rehearsed. Tightness in ensemble singing, even when it's 2 voices as opposed to more, is a MUST. There was no true blend present with any of the duet singing, but this was a problem that occurred more in some of the tracks than in others.

I could recommend this disc for its rarity value - Handel's duets are splendid stuff! - but not for the performances in the main. I wish I could have been more positive. I can only say that at least this disc is mostly better than another recording of Handel duets which I possess. Perhaps this CD is worth having for the repertoire, and one can always skip the particularly "not very good" tracks...

You'll know them when you hear them. Just listen for the wobble.

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reviews: page 1, 2



Tracks
"Ahi, nelle sorte umane" | "Ahi, nelle sorte umane" | "No, di voi non vo' fidarmi" | "No, di voi non vo' fidarmi" | "No, di voi non vo' fidarmi" | "Caro autor di mia doglia" | "Caro autor di mia doglia" | "Caro autor di mia doglia" | "Quel fior che all'alba ride" | "Quel fior che all'alba ride" | "Quel fior che all'alba ride" | "Conservate, raddoppiate" | "Conservate, raddoppiate" | "Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi" | "Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi" | "Tanti strali al sen mi scocchi" | "Va, speme infida" | "Va, speme infida" | "Va, speme infida" | "A mirarvi io son intento" | "A mirarvi io son intento" | "A mirarvi io son intento" | "Sono liete, fortunate" | "Sono liete, fortunate" | "Sono liete, fortunate"

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