![]() The small orchestra-16 strings (including continuo) and pretty sparsely used trumpets, bassoon, oboes, horns, and timpani-play beautifully, with sharp, decisive attacks and spotless ensemble. The singers embellish their vocal lines, but not always sensibly or appealingly. It is remarkable for its conciseness and for its intelligent use of dynamics (which emphasize drama when there is little in evidence), with recitatives done at a natural, conversational speed, slowing down when necessary and always with heed to what's being said. And the latter's darker hue and serious demeanor set him apart.īut it is Alan Curtis' conducting of Il Complesso Barocco that makes this recording work as well as it does. ![]() The former is lighter and so is his attitude he doesn't have much to do, but his rhythmic accuracy is perky and welcome. Two baritones, Furio Zanasi as Fenice and Antonio Abete as Lycomedes, round out the cast. Her saucy phrasing and juicy, distinctive timbre make you sit up and listen carefully whenever she opens her mouth. Dominique Labelle almost walks away with the show as Nerea. At any rate, Panzarella is very good, even if she only occasionally sounds boyish (though that may be the point). (In the only competing recording, on Albany/Troy, the Deidamia is the ravishing Julianne Baird, and she sings Kermes under the table.)Īchilles, sung here (as at the premiere) by a woman, is Anna Maria Panzarella, and it's a strangely unsatisfying role-the warrior seems not to take his life as seriously as everyone else does. Her upset with Achilles ("Va, perfido") when she thinks he's going to leave her is fine for its many mood changes, and in general her lovely tone and easy technique impresses, save at the very top. Her aria, late in Act 2 ("No, quella belta non amo"), is stunningly sung, with every note of fiorature in place. Here the role is sung by a mezzo-soprano, Anna Bonitatibus she has a fine, darkish tone and is as good at exclamation as she is at coloratura. He, rather than Achilles, gets five arias and shares the score's only duet with Deidamia, underlining his importance. Ulysses is the leading man-at the premiere the role was taken by a castrato. The whole opera has an uncertain tone, but it's not particularly ironic if the truth be known, it has a defeated aura about it. Deidamia has vaguely comic elements, and almost all of the arias are in a major key. The opera's closing words advise that we take our pleasures while we may. ![]() ![]() The outcome is that Achilles and Deidamia do marry but he also decides that he will return to Troy with Ulysses-he can be both hero and husband. Confusion ensues, with Ulysses somewhat innocently flirting with Achilles, and Nerea, Deidamia's confidante, being wooed by Ulysses' ambassador, Fenice. The whole story can be summarized easily: Achilles, Deidamia's fiancé, is dressed as a woman and is hiding at the court of her father, Lycomedes, so he won't return to Troy and die, as has been prophesied Ulysses (also in disguise), who has come from Troy to drag Achilles into battle, is therefore deceived. His penultimate opera, Imeneo, is an intimate, uncomplicated story about (mostly) unrequited love, and it clocks in at two hours it takes three to unravel Deidamia, and its men-disguised-as-women plot isn't grand enough to house the 35-or-so brief arias. And while it's true that tastes in England had changed over the years from the madly Baroque works that made him famous, it can't be denied that there is something missing from his last operas: the energy level is lower, his instrumentation is simpler (almost all the arias in his last two operas are for strings alone, with an occasional oboe tossed in), and his interest in dazzling with vocal showpieces is rarer. Performer: Anna Bonitatibus (Mezzo Soprano), Anna Maria Panzarella (Soprano), Dominique Labelle (Soprano),Īntonio Abete (Bass), Furio Zanasi (Baritone), Simone Kermes (Soprano)Īfter the failure of Deidamia in 1741, Handel turned exclusively-and successfully-to the composition of oratorios. ġ.ĝeidamia, HWV 42 by George Frideric Handel Performer: Anna Bonitatibus, Anna Maria Panzarella, Dominique Labelle, Antonio Abete. Label: Virgin Classics Catalog #: 40926 Spars Code: DDD Handel: Deidamia / Curtis, Kermes, Labelle, Et Al
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