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Reviewer: Raymond
Tuttle
This disc goes by the catchy
title Handel Uncaged, and the cover photograph depicts countertenor Lawrence
Zazzo standing behind an old-fashioned bird cage, its doors open, and its
former occupant having literally “flown the coop,” save for a red feather.
The reason for this, Zazzo writes in his booklet note, is that he wanted to
“re-contextualize” Handel’s cantatas for modern performance, “inviting
performers to be more flexible in their presentation.” Also, in a sense,
during his Italian years, Handel was what one might call “a bird in a gilded
cage,” writing to satisfy the expectations of his several patrons, and
perhaps also involved in romantic entanglements. Finally, Amore uccellatore
(Cupid the Birdcatcher), which accounts for about half the length of this
CD, has not been recorded previously, and so it makes sense to give it
additional visibility. Udite il mio consiglio also is claimed as a world
premiere recording, albeit it in its more concise “Rome version” for the
Marquis Ruspoli, which Zazzo finds musically and dramatically preferable.
As an example of the
“re-contextualization” that Zazzo refers to, a brief improvisation for
harpsichord has been inserted between two of the cantatas, and within Amore
uccellatore, three brief instrumental “scene changes” have been added from
other works by Handel. I have no problem with this, but some might consider
it taking liberties, especially when instrumentations have been changed, as
is the case in the Suite in F.
Zazzo, who already has made an
excellent impression in several complete recordings of operas by Handel, is
in his element here. His voice is not as intrinsically sensuous as
Jaroussky’s or Orliński’s, for example, but he knows how to put it to the
service of Handel’s music. He is sensitive to the varying moods and
opportunities for expression in these cantatas, and he always does so in
good taste, never exaggerating or “camping it up”—which Amore uccellatore
gives a singer ample excuses to do. If anything, he is a little too
even-tempered; the dramatic and temperamental differences amongst these four
cantatas could have been brought out more. For example, in Udite il mio
consiglio, the shepherd Fileno warns his younger and less experienced
fellows about the wiles of a “cute little shepherdess” who seems innocent,
yet “no one else is so cruel, mendacious, and cunning.” On her Meridian
recording of this cantata, soprano Julianne Baird sounds completely
heartbroken, and so does Derek Lee Ragin on Channel Classics. I also can
imagine it being done humorously. (“Bitter, party of one!”) Zazzo does
neither, which is safe and musical, but perhaps not as interesting. Zazzo’s
instrumentalists are stylish but also a bit staid, although Brachetta is
lively and imaginative in his movement from the Suite in F. This release is valuable primarily for its two premiere recordings, and for the conscientiousness of the performers, despite the slight liberties taken. | ||||
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