Reviewer: Michael
Church
Almira,
premiered to acclaim in Hamburg in1705, was Handel's first opera. It was in many
ways typical of opera in Hamburg at that time, with recitatives in rhymed German
verse and its score mingling Venetian, German and French styles. Its
labyrinthine libretto deals with a standard 17th-century trope - the Queen falls
in love with a commoner, who after many twists and turns of the plot turns out
to be a nobleman after all. Handel had not yet found his operatic voice - one
listens in vain for an aria with knock-out beauty - but there are plenty of
hints of the great things to come, and the dance music contains trial runs for
two of his most-loved melodies, 'Pena tiranna’ in Amadigi, and 'Lascia ch’io
pianga' in Rinaldo, so in this respect alone its worth a revival. And the
performances on this recording are outstanding: theorbo players Paul O'Dette and
Stephen Stubbs share the musical direction, and dances and obbligato
accompaniments are a delight with no weak link among the singers. Soprano Emöke
Barath brings an imperious fullness of tone to the title role, while the singing
of Colin Balzer as her paramour Fernando is full of character. The parallel
coupling of Edilia and Osman is beautifully rendered thanks to soprano Amanda
Forsythe’s girlish sweetness and to the lyrical grace of tenor Zachary Wilder’s
coloratura. Teresa Wakim’s Bellante sounds suitably kittenish, baritonal ballast
is provided by Christian Immler's Consalvo and light relief breaks out thanks to
Jan Kobow's Papageno-like Tabarco.
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