Handel Opera Arias DAME EMMA KIRKBY

61
Handel Opera Arias DAME EMMA KIRKBY CATHERINE BOTT THE BRANDENBURG CONSORT ROY GOODMAN

description

Handel Opera AriasDAME EMMA KIRKBY CATHERINE BOTT THE BRANDENBURG CONSORT ROY GOODMAN. Liner notes

Transcript of Handel Opera Arias DAME EMMA KIRKBY

  • Handel Opera AriasDAME EMMA KIRKBYCATHERINE BOTTTHE BRANDENBURG CONSORTROY GOODMAN

  • George Frideric Handel (16851759)

    Opera AriasCOMPACT DISC 1 [75'39]

    Arias and Overtures from the first part of Handels operatic career, 17041726

    Almira HWV 11 Second Overture in G minor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [4'26]2 Vedrai s a tuo dispetto Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [4'39]

    3 Rodrigo HWV 3 Perch viva il caro sposo Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [6'06]4 Rinaldo HWV 7 Vo far guerra Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ALASTAIR ROSS harpsichord [5'11]5 Silla HWV 10 Overture: Largo Allegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [4'38]6 Andante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATHARINA ARFKEN oboe [2'02]

    Amadigi di Gaula HWV 117 Ah! spietato Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . KATHARINA ARFKEN oboe [6'05]8 Dester dall empia Dite Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT FARLEY trumpet [5'30]

    9 Giulio Cesare in Egitto HWV 17 V adoro, pupille Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'21]Tamerlano HWV 18

    bl Overture: [Largo] Allegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [2'50]bm Adagio Menuet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [1'47]bn Cor di padre Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [8'24]

    Rodelinda, regina de Longobardi HWV 19bo Ombre, piante Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RACHEL BROWN flute [5'39]

    Scipione HWV 20bp Overture: [Largo] Allegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3'52]bq Allegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [2'00]br March Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [1'11]bs Scoglio d immota fronte Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'06]

    2

  • COMPACT DISC 2 [76'06]

    Arias and Duets from the era of The Rival Queens, 17261728Alessandro HWV 21 Lisaura CATHERINE BOTT; Rossane EMMA KIRKBY

    1 Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'04]2 Sinfonia Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [2'17]3 Recitative Che vidi? Che mirai! Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duet [1'38]4 Aria No, pi soffrir non voglio Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisaura [3'34]5 Aria Placa lalma Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duet [2'34]6 Recitative Solitudine amate Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossane [2'19]7 Aria Aure, fonti Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossane [3'32]8 Recitative Pur troppo veggio Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisaura [0'21]9 Aria Che tirannia damor! Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisaura [6'51]bl Recitative Svanisci oh reo timore Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossane [0'26]bm Aria Dica il falso Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossane [4'31]

    Admeto, re di Tessaglia HWV 22Antigona CATHERINE BOTT; Alceste EMMA KIRKBY

    bn Recitative Il ritratto dAdmeto Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duet [2'11]bo Aria La sorte mia vacilla Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antigona [3'18]bp Aria Quest dunque la fede Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alceste [0'29]bq Aria Vedr fra poco Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alceste [4'12]

    Riccardo primo, re dInghilterra HWV 23Costanza CATHERINE BOTT; Pulcheria EMMA KIRKBY

    br Aria Morte vieni Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Costanza / RACHEL BROWN bass flute [2'51]bs Recitative A me nel mio rossore Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duet [1'49]bt Aria Quando non vede Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulcheria [5'23]

    Siroe, re di Persia HWV 24 Laodice CATHERINE BOTT; Emira EMMA KIRKBYbu Recitative A costei, che dir? Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Duet [2'20]cl Aria Laura non sempre Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laodice [3'35]cm Recitative Si diversi sembiante Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emira [0'14]cn Aria Non vi piacque, ingiusti dei Act 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emira [5'35]

    Tolomeo, re di Egitto HWV 25 Seleuce CATHERINE BOTT; Elisa EMMA KIRKBYco Recitative E dove, e dove mai Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seleuce [0'19]cp Aria Fonti amiche Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seleuce [6'15]cq Aria Ti pentirai, crudel Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisa [3'09]

    3

  • COMPACT DISC 3 [70'40]

    Arias and Overtures from the latter part of Handels operatic career, 17291741

    Lotario HWV 261 Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'58]2 Scherza in mar Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'27]

    3 Partenope HWV 27 Io ti levo Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [6'15]4 Ezio HWV29 Caro padre Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RACHEL BROWN flute [5'17]

    Sosarme, re di Media HWV 305 Dite pace Act 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5'32]6 Vorrei, n pur saprei Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3'14]

    7 Atalanta HWV 35 Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ROBERT FARLEY trumpet [5'41]8 Arianna in Creta HWV 32 Son qual stanco Act 2 . . . . . . . ANGELA EAST cello [8'13]9 Alcina HWV 34 Ah! Ruggiero Ombre pallide Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [7'23]bl Berenice HWV 38 Chi tintende? Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . KATHARINA ARFKEN oboe [8'38]

    Deidamia HWV 42bm Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3'52]bn Mhai resa infelice Act 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3'55]

    MARKER

    DAME EMMA KIRKBY sopranowith CATHERINE BOTT soprano disc 2

    THE BRANDENBURG CONSORTROY GOODMAN conductor

    4

  • THE GREATER PART of Handels working life as a composer was devoted to writing and performing operas. In hisnative town of Halle his early training under Friedrich Zachau had been in church music, but in 1704 he left tojoin the orchestra of the opera house at Hamburg. Within the year he had written his first opera, Almira, in theeclectic style of Reinhard Keiser, then the leading Hamburg composer. The broad model was the Italian opera seria, withset-piece arias in da capo form (two contrasting sections completed by an embellished repeat of the first section), butvaried with comic interludes in a popular German style and dances in the French manner. Three more operas forHamburg followed, all regrettably lost, apart from a few fragments. In 1706 Handel went to Italy to absorb the latest andpurest elements of the Italian style then being developed by such composers as Alessandro Scarlatti and FrancescoGasparini. By the end of 1707 his first Italian opera, Rodrigo, had been staged in Florence, showing that he had servedhis apprenticeship well; and with Agrippina, first performed in Venice at the end of 1709, his complete mastery of thestyle was apparent. Audiences greeted the new work with cries of Viva il caro Sassone! (Long live the dear Saxon!) and(thanks to the many foreign visitors who took in Venice while making the Grand Tour) Handel immediately gainedinternational fame.

    Many opportunities were open to him, but Handel chose to come to England. A taste for Italian opera had just begunto develop in London, at first rather haphazardly through pasticcios (made up of arias from various sources) and aversion of Giovanni Bononcinis Camilla prepared by Nicola Haym, all sung in English. The arrival of Italian singers(particularly such castratos as Valentino Urbani and Nicolini) forced a move to the Italian language (not without muchvituperative critical comment) and prepared the way for Handels arrival. His Rinaldo was the first Italian opera actuallycomposed in Britain, and its triumphant production in 1711 effectively consolidated the dominance of Italian opera onthe London stage.

    Operas in London in the 1710s were still produced on an ad hoc basis under the system of theatre managementthen current for spoken drama, but in 1719 a group of noblemen formed the Royal Academy of Music, an organizationdedicated to the production of Italian opera of a quality to rival the best opera houses of Europe. That meant, above all,obtaining the very best singers. For a while, the Academy succeeded. Handel acted as Master of the Orchestra as well ascomposer, and other composers were also engaged, notably Bononcini (whose style had advanced considerably since hehad composed Camilla in 1696) and Attilio Ariosti; but the greatest of the Academys productions were undoubtedly thethree operas composed by Handel in 1724 and 1725: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. The singersof this period included the leading sopranos Margherita Durastanti, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, and thecastratos Francesco Bernardi (known as Senesino) and Gaetano Berenstadt. They were all highly gifted and consequentlycommanded extremely high salariesa major factor contributing to the financial collapse of the Academy in 1728.

    Handel and the impresario J J Heidegger took over the Academys assets and began producing operas on their ownaccount, with support from the new King, George II. This annoyed several of the Academys previous supporters, and(further stimulated by political motives) they formed a new opera company (the Opera of the Nobility) to rival Handels,with Nicola Porpora as its musical director and (after its first season) the great castrato Farinelli as its star performer.Handel was temporarily exiled from the Kings Theatre, but found another home in John Richs newly built theatre atCovent Garden. There he produced his finest operas of the 1730s, Ariodante and Alcina. By this time a new musical

    5

  • formEnglish oratoriowas engaging the interest of Handel and his supporters, but opinions were mixed and hepersisted with Italian opera. The Nobility Opera finished after only four seasons, and Handel returned to the KingsTheatre; but his latest operas never quite regained the inspiration of former years. Only the amusing and yet affectingSerse seemed to point fruitfully in a new direction (partly because it was a throw-back to an earlier and more flexibleVenetian tradition) but it was not a success, and Handels last opera season of 1740/1 petered out somewhat igno-miniously after just three performances of his last opera, Deidamia. Handel went to Dublin in the autumn of 1741 togive a highly acclaimed season of oratorios and other choral works, including the first performance of Messiah, andreturned with a determination to abandon Italian opera. He soon found that he could confine his activities to short yethighly profitable oratorio seasons, and he kept to that formula for the rest of his life.

    Handels operas thus became outmoded in his own lifetime and were virtually forgotten for two hundred years,though their scores were dutifully published in the collected edition of his works prepared by Friedrich Chrysanderbetween 1858 and 1902. The first attempts at reviving them on the stage were made at Gttingen in the 1920s byOskar Hagen, but in versions freely arranged to reflect the operatic taste of the time. In the 1950s revivals continuedat Gttingen and Halle, where at first they remained influenced by Hagens ideas, while fresh and partly amateurapproaches in Britain led to stage performances which kept closer to the scores as Handel actually wrote them, especiallyin avoiding the use of bass voices to sing the high-voice heroic male roles originally written for castratos (and occasionallyfor women). With the impetus of the early-music movement in the 1970s the old ways soon vanished. The best ofHandels operas are now in the repertories of opera houses all over the world, and many modern directorsoften con-troversiallyhave found their combination of artificial form and emotional truth well suited to productions influencedby abstract ideasphilosophical, psychological or political.

    COMPACT DISC 1

    Even during the long period of neglect, the music of Handels operas was occasionally heard. Individual arias remainedin print (sometimes with new and irrelevant English words) and singers would include one or two in recitals. Orchestraslikewise played some of the operatic overtures or sinfonias in concerts. There is still a value in excerpts even thoughHandel operas are often given complete in live performance or on record. It is good for distinguished performers to givetheir interpretations of favourite pieces which they may not have the chance to perform in the context of completeproductions, and extracts from the lesser-known operas are valuable hints at treasures yet to be explored. The selectionof disc one of this set, drawn from the first half of Handels operatic career (17041726), offers a mixture of items notpreviously recorded and some deservedly famous numbers from the well-known masterpieces.

    ALMIRA was written late in 1704 and first produced at the Goosemarket Theatre in Hamburg on 8 January 1705. Thelibretto was intended for Keiser and actually set to music by him, but he seems to have been forced to leave Hamburgfor a while before the opera could be produced. Handel was asked to provide a new setting so that the scenes andcostumes already in preparation would not be wasted. Handels score is preserved in a slightly incomplete manuscriptused by Telemann for a revival in 1732. The manuscript contains two overtures, the original in B flat being supplemented

    6

  • by a second in G minor, here recorded for the first time 1 . Chrysander did not include it in his edition of Almira, pro-bably because he thought it was one of Telemanns additions, but Handels authorship is confirmed by Tim Crawfordsdiscovery of an arrangement for lute, attributed to Handel and dating from around 1712, and by Handels reuse of themusic in other contexts. The opening bars reappear in the Sinfonia that begins his Chandos anthem The Lord is my Light(1717/18), while the themes of the Allegro are reworked in the overture to The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757, butperhaps based on an earlier model).

    The libretto of Almira was translated and adapted by F C Feustking from an earlier libretto by Giulio Pancieri, butfifteen of the arias were left in the original Italian. It is a comic opera, full of complex court intrigues surrounding thelove between Almira, Queen of Castile, and Fernando, her private secretarya love that cannot be admitted by either ofthem, as Almira is contracted to marry a son of her old counsellor and Fernando is believed to be an orphan of lowlybirth. Needless to say, it is eventually revealed that he has the appropriate parentage and all ends well, but not before hehas been condemned to death because Almira mistakenly believes he is having an affair with someone else. In Vedrais a tuo dispetto 2 she gives vent to jealous rage: the vocal line has the hectic brilliance found in several arias in thisopera, but here especially apt to the dramatic sense.

    2 ALMIRA Vedrai s a tuo dispetto ALMIRA You will see, despite yourself,cangiar ben tosto affetto I shall soon make you changecrudele, io ti far; your affections, cruel man,

    se da le braccia ancora since I can separate youdi lei, che tinnamora, from the armsdisgiunger ti sapr. of her who loves you.

    Vedrai

    RODRIGO, the first of Handels Italian operas, was presented at the Cocomero Theatre in Florence in November 1707under the title Vincer se stesso la maggior vittoria (Self-conquest is the greatest victory). The shorter title (used byHandels early biographers) is more commonly used, however, not only for convenience but also as a reminder that theopera has come down to us only in the draft version of Handels autograph (apart from the start of Act 1, which is lost),not in the revised version actually performed. Francesco Silvanis libretto is a serious and often powerful drama basedvaguely on events in Spain around AD710. Rodrigo, the last of the Visigothic kings, is portrayed as a dissolute tyrant whoseseduction of a young noblewoman under a false promise of marriage stirs up a rebellion and leads to his downfall. Hislong-suffering wife, Esilena, remains touchingly loyal to him throughout, eventually saving his life and following him intoa humble exile. At the start of Act 3 the couple are in a temple in Seville, fearfully awaiting the arrival of the rebel forces. Inthe aria Perch viva il caro sposo 3 Esilena prays fervently to the gods that she may be sacrificed to spare her husband.The introductory recitative illustrates the lofty rhetorical style of the libretto, which even the original singers seem tohave found excessive: in the performing version the section from e se, perch egli tardo to sar dell arevostre was cut.

    7

  • 3 ELISENA Ah, sommi dei, cui la giustizia arruota ELISENA O almighty gods, for whom justice sharpenssovra le colpe altrui le sue saette, its arrows upon the crimes of others,ma per genio clementi, e per natura: yet kindly in your inclination and nature,se puote un umil pianto if a meek tear canplacar gli sdegni vostri, e se d un core soften your anger, and if a heartsv grato il pentimento, repentance is pleasing to you,riguardate, ven priego, consider, I pray you,con sensi di piet, quel di Rodrigo; with feelings of pity, the heart of Rodrigo;e se, perch egli tardo, and if, because it is late,un gran dolor non ha pi stima in cielo, a mighty grief is no longer valued in heaven,si che si debba all ire vostri il sangue so that to your wrath is still owedd un olocausto grande, e coronato, the blood of a great and royal sacrifice,per quello del mio sposo for the blood of my husbandtutto il mio v offerisco, ah non vi spiaccia I offer you all of mineah, do not be displeasedil cambio eguale. E se men rea son io, with the fair exchange. And if I am the less guilty,

    pi purgata la vittima, pi degna the more purified the offering, the more worthysar dell are vostre. of your altars it shall be.Quest illustre morir troppo mi piace, This noble death greatly pleases me,viva il mio sposo, e goda let my husband live, and let him enjoydono dellamor mio la vostra pace. your peace, the gift of my love.

    Perch viva il caro sposo So that my dear husband may livela mia vita io dono a voi. I offer you my life.

    Fia pur dolce il mio riposo Sweet indeed make my restnella patria degl eroi. in the homeland of heroes.

    Perch viva

    RINALDO, Handels first opera for London, opened at the Queens Theatre on 24 February 1711. The scenario, basedon Tassos epic poem La Gerusalemme liberata, was an attempt by the writer and impresario Aaron Hill to unite theepisodic spectacle of the English semi-opera (such as Purcells King Arthur) with the formal design of Italian opera.Giacomo Rossi wrote the libretto on Hills model. The story is a fantasy version of the first crusade, in which the Christianarmies under Godfrey of Bouillon release Jerusalem from Saracen occupation, despite the efforts of the sorceress Armidato lure away the Christian knight Rinaldo and kidnap Godfreys daughter Almirena. Armida is both the ally and the loverof the Saracen king Argantes, and in Act 2 her jealousy is aroused by Argantes attempts to seduce Almirena. Shethreatens him with vengeance in the aria Vo far guerra 4 , in which the harpsichord player (originally Handel himself,of course) is instructed to improvise at certain points. The harpsichord solos played here are based on a version of thearia published shortly after first performance as containing the Harpsichord piece performd by Mr Hendel.

    4 ARMIDA Vo far guerra, e vincer voglio ARMIDA Ill wage war, and conquercollo sdegno chi m offende with wrath him that offends me,vendicar i torti miei. avenging the wrongs done to me.

    8

  • Per abbatter quel orgoglio To break down that pride of his,ch il gran foco in sen m accende which kindles a great fire in my breastsaran meco i stessi dei. the gods themselves shall be on my side.

    Vo far guerra

    Handel seems to have written SILLA for a private production in London in June 1713. Rossi again supplied the libretto,based on Plutarchs biography of the Roman dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. A wordbook was printed for the occasion,but no actual record of a performance has been found. The surviving score lacks music to cover several elaborate sceniceffects described in the stage directions, and may therefore be a draft that was never completed or which Handel expan-ded in a lost manuscript. The unpublished Overture 5 6 begins in the usual French style, with a majestic introductionalternating with a fugal fast movement, but then continues with an attractive Andante featuring a solo oboe, forerunnerof a similar movement in the concerto grosso Op 3 No 4. (The final movement, a minuet, is omitted here.)

    Handel reused a good deal of the music of Silla in his next opera AMADIGI DI GAULA, produced at the Kings Theatreon 25 May 1715. The libretto, probably by Nicola Haym, was based on a French model, originally set by Andr Destouchesin 1699. Like Rinaldo, it has a prominent role for a jealous sorceress, Melissa, who is determined to destroy the liaisonbetween the hero Amadis and his beloved Oriana. Melissa is not portrayed as wholly evil, but as a woman torn betweena genuine but unrequited love for Amadis and a desire to punish him for rejecting her. Her dilemma is immediatelyapparent in her first aria Ah! spietato 7 . In the slow main section the anguish expressed by the vocal line is poignantlyechoed by a solo oboe. The mood turns to anger in the fast middle section, after which the return of the main section isespecially heartrendinga fine example of the da capo principle being used for dramatic effect. At the end of Act 2Melissas thoughts turn wholly to revenge as all her efforts to break up the lovers prove useless. She summons the furiesof hell to her aid in the glittering aria Dester dall empia Dite 8 , Handels only operatic aria for soprano and solotrumpet, and a fine display of virtuosity for them both.

    7 MELISSA Il crudel m abbandona, e mi detesta; MELISSA The cruel man forsakes me, and hates me;numi! e soffrir il deggio? you gods! must I endure it?Ingrato, segui il foco che tarde, Heartless man, follow the fire that burns you,segui l amor che ti consuma, oh ingrato. follow the love that consumes you, heartless man.Ma in vano ti lusinghi But in vain you deceive yourself,che l arti mie sapran farti morire. for my arts can bring about your death.Ma cielo, e come But how, O heaven,morir far chi vita di quest alma? shall I kill him who is the life of my soul?Ah, che gi sento in petto Ah, already I feel in my breastche lodio, e lira va cangiando aspetto. hate and anger changing their state.

    Ah! spietato! e non ti muove Ah, pitiless man, are you not movedun affetto si costante by so constant an affectionche per te mi far languir? which makes me die for you?

    9

  • Ma crudel, tu non sai come But cruel one, you do not knowfai sdegnar un alma amante how much you enrage the loving soulche tu brami di tradir. which you desire to betray.

    Ah! spietato

    8 MELISSA Mi deride lamante, MELISSA My lover mocks me,la rivale mi sprezza: my rival despises me,ed io lo soffr, oh stella? and shall I endure it, you stars?No, non sar gi mai No, never shall it bech io perda il mio vigor fra pene e guai. that I squander my power in grief and woe.

    Dester dall empia Dite Ill rouse every fury from pitiless Hellogni furia a farvi guerra, to wage war on you,crudi, perfidi, s, s! cruel, treacherous ones, yes, yes!

    Ombre tetre omai sortite Dismal shades, now come forthdall avello che vi serra from the tomb that encloses youa dar pene a colui che mi schern. to punish him who scorns me.

    Dester

    GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO is one of Handels richest scores and has become well known in modern performance. Itwas first produced at the Kings Theatre on 20 February 1724. Haym adapted the libretto from two versions of an earliertext by F Bussani, based on Julius Caesars visit to Egypt in 48BC and his encounter with Queen Cleopatra and her brotherPtolemy, both vying for supreme rule of the country. Cleopatra uses her considerable feminine wiles to gain Caesarsfavour. In the most famous scene of the opera, at the start of Act 2, she appears in a representation of Mount Parnassus,surrounded by the Muses, and attempts to seduce Caesar in the aria V adoro, pupille 9 . The haunting melody is intro-duced by a short sinfonia and is exotically accompanied by the orchestral strings and a stage band of nine instruments(representing the nine muses) including oboe, harp, theorbo and viola da gamba.

    9 CLEOPATRA V adoro, pupille, CLEOPATRA I adore you, eyes,saette d amore, like arrows of love,le vostre faville your sparklesson grate nel sen. fill my breast with delight.

    Pietose vi brama My sad heartil mesto mio core begs you to have pity,ch ogn ora vi chiama for always it calls youl amato suo ben. its best beloved.

    V adoro

    TAMERLANO, first performed at the Kings Theatre on 31 October 1724, was the successor to Giulio Cesare. Though noless masterly, it is more austere in style, requiring no special orchestral colours or elaborate stage spectacle. The actionof Hayms libretto (based on a French tragedy by J N Pradon, one of Racines rivals) takes place in Prusa (now Bursa in

    10

  • modern Turkey) and deals with the conflict between the captured Ottoman emperor Bajazet, his daughter Asteria andthe Tartar conqueror Tamerlane. With Handels music it achieves a dramatic intensity unparalleled in any comparablework of the period. The Overture bl bm sets the tragic mood with a particularly dark opening section and an Allegro basedon the corresponding movement in the Sonata which begins the Chandos anthem Have mercy upon me. A brief bridgepassage leads to a concluding minuet. Throughout the opera Tamerlane attempts to use threats against Bajazet to gainthe hand of Asteria, who is thus faced with a series of agonizing dilemmas. At the start of Act 3 Bajazet gives Asteria somepoison he has been keeping for himself, begging her to join him in taking it if Tamerlane attempts to assault her. Sheagrees, but in the aria Cor di padre bn she reflects that though such an act would keep her true to her father and to herreal lover, the Greek prince Andronicus, she would lose them both. Jagged leaps and sharp dynamic contrasts in thestring accompaniment suggest her anguish.

    bn ASTERIA Cor di padre, e cor d amante, ASTERIA Heart of my father, heart of my lover,salda fede, odio costante, steadfast fidelity, unchanging hate,pur al fin vi placher. at last I shall satisfy you.

    Sol non pago il mio core, Only my heart shall have no satisfactionperch dice il mio timore, because my fear tells mech ambedue vi perder. that I shall lose you both.

    Cor di padre

    For RODELINDA, REGINA DE LONGOBARDI Haym adapted a libretto by Antonio Salvi based on the tragedy Pertharite,roi des Lombards by Pierre Corneille, the leading seventeenth-century French playwright. This good literary sourcehelped to give the opera an unusually coherent plot and strong characterization. It was first performed at the KingsTheatre on 13 February 1725, and was revived twice by Handel. The kingdom of Lombardy has been taken over by theusurper Grimoaldo. Bertarido, the true king, has escaped to Hungary, but his wife Rodelinda and their young son remainbehind in the usurpers power. Grimoaldo wants to legitimize his rule by marrying Rodelinda. He accordingly declaresBertarido to be dead, and sets up a funeral monument to him. Rodelindas aria Ombre, piante bo in Act 1 is sung asshe and her son visit this memorial in the cemetery of the Lombardic kings. It is wonderfully expressive of her sadthoughts, the halting phrases in both vocal line and accompaniment being echoed mournfully by a solo flute.

    bo RODELINDA Ombre, piante, urne funeste! RODELINDA Shadows, tears, funeral urns,voi sareste you would bele delizie del mio sen. the delights of my heart;

    Se trovassi in voi raccolto if I should find together in youcome il volto both the imageanche il cener del mio ben. and the ashes of my beloved.

    Ombre piante

    11

  • The libretto of SCIPIONE, by Paolo Rolli, is based on an episode in Livys account of the Roman conquest of Spain. Theyoung general Publius Cornelius Scipio has taken the town of New Carthage (Cartagena) and is captivated by one of thefemale prisoners (called Berenice in the opera). He nobly refuses, however, to take the usual conquerors advantage overher; instead he accepts a ransom from her father and presents both her and the ransom to the Celtiberian prince towhom she is betrothed. (The story is sometimes called The Continence of Scipio.) Handel wrote the music in morethan usual hasteit was a stop-gap production to compensate for a delay in the promised London debut of the sopranoFaustinaand directed the first performance at the Kings Theatre on 12 March 1726. As the immediate successor tothe great sequence of Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda it inevitably suffers by comparison, but contains severalexcellent numbers. The Overture bp bq is a perfectly good example of its kind, the reworking of movements from two ofHandels recorder sonatas in the Allegro sections being skilfully accomplished. Act 1 of the opera opens with the famousMarch br , accompanying Scipios triumphal entry; it quickly became a favourite with military bands and remains sotoday. In Act 2 Berenices fianc makes an unsuccessful attempt to rescue her and is put under arrest. Scipio offershimself as a more worthy suitor, but in the aria Scoglio d immota fronte bs Berenice swears undying fidelity to her firstlove, comparing herself to a rock unmoved by tempestuous seas. Soaring vocal phrases over slowly changing harmoniesrepresent the rock of Berenices faith, steadfast despite the turbulence released in the orchestra.

    bs BERENICE Scoglio d immota fronte BERENICE An unshakeable rock-facenel torbido elemento, in the turbulent sea,cima d eccelso monte the summit of a high mountainal tempestar del vento, in the raging of the winds, negli affetti suoi quest alma amante. is this loving soul in its affections.

    Gi data la mia f; My pledge is already given;s altri la merit, if another deserved it,non lagnasi di me let him not complain to mela sorte le manc dal primo istante. of the fate that deprived him of first place.

    Scoglio

    Notes and translations by ANTHONY HICKS 1996

    COMPACT DISC 2

    THE FIRST DISC of this set presents items from the first half of Handels operatic career, from Almira (1704) toScipione (1726). The selection for disc two draws on the operas composed by Handel for the last three seasonsof the Royal Academy of Music (17261728), all originally sung by the two sopranos Francesca Cuzzoni andFaustina Bordoni. Cuzzonis roles are sung by Catherine Bott, Faustinas by Emma Kirkby. Cuzzoni had made her debutin London in 1723. Faustina was engaged for the 1725/6 season, but her delayed arrival in London prevented her fromappearing until the first performance of Handels Alessandro in May 1726, when most of the season was over. The factthat the two singers first appeared together playing rival lovers of Alexander the Great immediately ensured they were

    12

  • dubbed The Rival Queens, the title of an antiquated and much parodied tragedy by Nathaniel Lee, first performed in1677 and still in repertory in the 1720s. (Like Alessandro it tells of two women vying for the love of Alexander, thoughthe story is quite different. The play, unlike the opera, is set in the last days before Alexanders death, and Roxanas rivalis Alexanders first wife Statira, not the entirely fictional Lisaura of the opera.)

    The choice of the libretto for the debut of Faustina leaves little doubt that the Academys directors were intent onexploiting the likely rivalry of the two singers, and the immediate success of Alessandro at first vindicated their decision.There were, however, dissenting voices, notably that of the agent Owen Swiney, who had helped arrange Faustinascontract. Writing from Venice just when Faustina was arriving in England, he urged the Duke of Richmond, one of theAcademys directors, never to consent to any thing that can put the Academy into disorder, as it must, certainly, if whatI hear is put in Execution: I mean the opera of Alexander the great; where there is to be a Struggle between the RivalQueens, for a Superiority. Swineys warning was ignored, but nevertheless proved prophetic. Satirical attacks on theexpense and supposedly degenerate nature of Italian opera increased, and the next season, the first in which Cuzzoniand Faustina appeared throughout, ended in scandal with a performance of Bononcinis Astianatte at which factionsof the audience supporting the rival singers behaved riotously in the presence of one of the royal princesses. Swineysprediction of disorder had come true. The next season opened in a mood of pessimism. Dissent among the directorsand the lowered reputation of the opera militated against efforts to recover the Academys growing debts, and the seasonturned out to be the last under the Academys regime. The success of John Gays The Beggars Opera, first produced on29 January 1728, did not itself bring about the demise of the Academys activities but added an extra degree of hostileridicule. Italian opera by no means vanished from the London stage, however. When an attempt to raise a subscriptionfor the 1728/9 season failed, the Academys directors released the companys assets to Handel and Heidegger, and operaresumed under the new management in December 1729.

    Neither singer worked with Handel again. (The librettist Paolo Rolli implied that Handel never liked Faustina and grewtired of Cuzzoni.) Faustina married the composer Johann Adolf Hasse and had a successful career in Continental Europefor the next twenty years. Cuzzoni, a less stable character with a tendency to financial extravagance, never regained herpopularity. She sang in London again for the Opera of the Nobility from 1734 to 1736, but made little impression. In1750, old, poor, and almost deprived of voice (according to Charles Burney), she returned for the last time, singingbenefit concerts to clear her debts, but with little success. She finally retired to Bologna where she died in poverty.

    * * *

    Handel completed the score of ALESSANDRO on 11 April 1726 and directed its first performance at the Kings Theatrein the Haymarket on 5 May. He had begun composing it a couple of months earlier, but Faustinas delayed arrival inLondon had forced him to put it aside and compose Scipione to meet the expected quota of new operas in the season.(Scipione used some music originally composed for Alessandro.) Rollis libretto is based on Ortensio Mauros Lasuperbia dAlessandro, produced with music by Steffani at Hanover in 1690. The largely fictional story is set in theperiod of Alexanders Indian campaign. After the Overture 1 (in the usual two-section form, but with an exceptionallylively Allegro in which the oboes are given some independence) Act I opens with Alessandro (Alexander) leading an

    13

  • assault on the walled city of Oxydraca (a fictional place, the supposed capital of the Oxydracae tribe). The wall is breachedwith a battering ram, and Alessandro is first to enter the city, at great danger to himself. The Sinfonia 2 represents theensuing battle. All this is witnessed by the two princesses, Rossane (Roxana) and Lisaura, who express their love andtheir fears for their hero in an ingenious accompanied recitative in which neither voice predominates over the other.Right from the start Handel shows that he is going to give equal opportunities to the two sopranos, a policy to which heand his fellow composers had to adhere for all the remaining Academy operas.

    3 LISAURA (CB) Che vidi? LISAURA What do I see?ROSSANE (EK) Che mirai! ROSSANE I am amazed!LISAURA Gloria precipitosa! LISAURA Endangered glory!ROSSANE Ambizion perversa! ROSSANE Mad ambition!A 2 Se Alessandro per, BOTH If Alexander has died ROSSANE Rossane ROSSANE Rossane LISAURA Lisaura LISAURA Lisaura A 2 persa. BOTH is lost.LISAURA (Rossane sen affligge.) LISAURA (Rossane is distressed.)ROSSANE (La mia rival si duole.) ROSSANE (My rival grieves.)A 2 Cos lalme discordi BOTH Thus souls in conflict,

    ne temuti infortuni, amore accordi. in fearful misfortune, agree in love.

    Alessandros military success is acclaimed. He looks forward to the pleasures of love after the pleasures of conquest, andturns first to Rossane. Lisauras annoyance is not appeased when he attempts to embrace her as well, and she angrilydeclares she will no longer put up with what she regards as his betrayal of her love.

    4 LISAURA No, pi soffrir non voglio, LISAURA No, I will endure it no longer, troppa infedelt. such infidelity is too much.Istabile qual onda, Unstable as a wave,pi mobile che fronda more flexible than a branch, linconstante. is the fickle man.

    Non lo vorria lorgoglio, My pride will not have him,se lo volesse amor. even if my love might want him.Nol voglio pi soffrir No, I will not endure himdunaltra amante. as the lover of another woman.

    No, pi soffrir

    Alessandros vanity extends to a claim that he is the son of the god Jupiter, and when one of his captains objects to thisabsurdity, Alessandro strikes him to the ground. Shocked, the two women unite in an attempt to calm Alessandros rage.The opening theme of their duet is similar to that of the last movement of the Recorder Sonata in C, Op 1 No 7.

    14

  • 15

    5 ROSSANE Placa lalma, ROSSANE Calm your spirit,quieta il petto, make tranquil your heart,pace, calma love desiresvuol Amor. peace and calm.La dolcezza Affectionspira affetto: inspires sweetness:la fierezza fear causesd timor. ferocity.

    LISAURA Son dAmore LISAURA In Loves torchnella face peace and calmcalma, pace, are found,non furor: not rage:quando alletta when it inflamesarde il seno the breast burns,ma diletta but delight comescon lardor. with the fire.Sdegno il core Let not ragenon toffenda, assault your heart

    ROSSANE Ma lAmore ROSSANE But let Love alonesol laccenda warm it

    LISAURA torna in calma, LISAURA be calm again, ROSSANE placa lalma, ROSSANE quieten your spirit, A 2 breve sdegno BOTH rage is brief

    in nobil cor. in a noble heart.ROSSANE Placa lalma, ROSSANE Calm your spirit, LISAURA Quieta il petto, LISAURA Make tranquil your heart, ROSSANE pace LISAURA calma ROSSANE peace LISAURA calm A 2 vuole amor. BOTH are Loves demand.LISAURA Bel diletto, LISAURA Sweet delight, ROSSANE Caro affetto, ROSSANE Dearest love, A 2 No, non nasce dal rigor. BOTH no, they do not spring from harshness.

    Act II begins with Rossane alone in a garden, uncertain whether it is her or Lisaura whom Alessandro really loves. Themusic, with a full complement of woodwind (recorders, oboes and bassoons) begins with an atmospheric preludeleading into an accompanied recitative. The aria following is broken up with more recitative, and at the end Rossanesinks into a troubled sleep.

    6 ROSSANE Solitudine amate ROSSANE Beloved solitude,in cui sfogarmi lice which allows me to confess touna fiamma infelice, a hopeless passion,voi le sventure mie, deh consolate, oh, bring consolation to my misfortunes,solitudine amate! beloved solitude!

  • Amo il grand Alessandro, ei sol mi sembra I love the mighty Alexander, he alonedegno dellamor mio, seems to me worthy of my love,ma in qual core infedel non regno sola. but in his faithless heart I do not reign alone.Chi mi consiglia, ohim! chi mi consola? Who will advise me, alas! who will comfort me?

    7 ROSSANE Aure, fonti, ombre gradite, ROSSANE Breezes, springs, pleasing shadows,che mi dite? what are you telling me?Che far? What shall I do?Languir. Sperer. I pine away. Yet I shall hope.

    Amer le mie ferite, I shall love my woundspurch vengano guarite, if only they can be healeddalla man che mimpiag. by the hand that struck me.

    Aure, fonti, Breezes, springs,

    Sento il sonno, che vela I feel sleep veilingle stanche luci miei con lali placide. my weary eyes with its soothing wings.

    Aure, fonti, ombre gradite, Breezes, springs, pleasing shadows,

    Al fin, dolce riposo, At last, sweet rest,cedo agli inviti tuoi; I yield to your invitation;

    ombre gradite, pleasing shadows,che mi dite what are you telling me

    [saddormenta [she lies down to sleep

    Lisaura has a more faithful lover than Alessandro in the person of the Indian King Tassile. He tries to persuade her thatAlessandro will abandon her in favour of Rossane, but Lisaura says that her love for Alessandro is too strong for her torelinquish it, despite the torment it brings her. Her aria is in the style of a mournful siciliana, full of despair.

    8 LISAURA Pur troppo veggio dAlessandro il core LISAURA All too well I see Alexanders heartalla rival rivolto. given over to my rival.E intanto allalma mia and meanwhile empty hopedan continuo tormento, and bitter jealousy bringvana speranza e acerba gelosia. unrelenting torment to my soul.

    9 LISAURA Che tirannia damor! LISAURA How great is loves tyranny!Fuggir chi siegue ed ama! To fly from one who follows and loves him!Amar chi non mi brama! To love him who does not want me!Misera fedelt! Vana speranza! Wretched fidelity! Empty hope!

    Estinguasi lardor. Let passion be extinguished.Risolvi non amar. Be determined not to love.Ahi! che nol posso far: Ah, that I cannot do: forza del destin la mia costanza. fate compels my constancy.

    Che tirannia 16

  • Meanwhile Alessandros high-handedness has provoked a conspiracy to assassinate him, and it is only by luck that heescapes being killed by the deliberately engineered collapse of the canopy above his throne. Rossane faints, convincingAlessandro of the depth of her love for him. His heart is all hers, he says, and she, left alone at the end of the Act, looksforward to being united with him.

    bl ROSSANE Svanisci oh reo timore ROSSANE Be gone, dreadful feardi tormentosa gelosia. Risolvo of tormenting jealousy. I am determined,o riamata o no, di sempre amarlo. whether or not loved again, always to love him.Qual mai pi degno oggetto What object could I ever find more worthy puossi trovar dammirazion, daffetto? of admiration and affection?

    bm ROSSANE Dica il falso, dica il vero, ROSSANE Whether it speaks lies or truth,quel bel labbro lusinghiero, that sweet enticing mouth charmspi malletta, il voglio amar. me all the more, and I will love it.

    S ben finge, tanto piace; The more it pretends, the more it pleases,che sentirlo un d verace but to hear it one day being truthfulfa questanima sperar. is the hope of my spirit.

    Dica il falso

    ADMETO, RE DI TESSAGLIA, first performed on 31 January 1727, has some claim to be the greatest of the operas ofthis period. The libretto, ultimately based on Antonio Aurelis LAntigona delusa da Alceste (Venice, 1660) is anelaboration of the classical legend best known from Euripides play Alcestis. Admeto (Admetus), King of Thessaly, fallsill, and the oracle predicts that he will die unless another is prepared to die in his place. His wife Alceste undertakes tomake this sacrifice. Admeto recovers, only to find that Alceste is dead, and is at first unaware of the connection betweenthe two events. The hero Hercules, a visitor at Admetos court, on learning the truth, rescues Alceste from the underworldand restores her to Admeto. In the opera the situation is complicated by the presence of a second woman, the Trojanprincess Antigona, who was once betrothed to Admeto (though the two had never met) and whom he abandoned infavour of Alceste. She sees the death of Alceste as an opportunity to win Admeto back. In Act II Alceste is brought backto life by Hercules, but in order to see whether Admeto remains faithful to her, she disguises herself as a soldier and tellsHercules to report that he was unable to find her in the underworld. There is a new twist to the story with the revelationthat Admeto only rejected Antigona because his brother Trasimede, himself in love with Antigona, gave Admeto a falseportrait of her. A page is sent to fetch the true portrait, but brings a picture of Admeto by mistake. He is ordered to takeit back, but drops it. In the final scene of the act the picture is found by Antigona, who, overheard by the disguised Alceste,addresses it with a declaration of love bn . Both women have optimistic arias, but in contrasting styles reflecting theircharacters. An airy triple-time tune suggests the flighty Antigona bo , while Alcestes loyalty and determination areindicated by solid counterpoint bp bq .

    17

  • bn ANTIGONA (CB) Il ritratto dAdmeto ANTIGONA In his haste the careless servant has left behindha nel corso perduto il servo incauto; the portrait of Admetus;non poco, o Fortuna, it is no slight thing, O Fortune,che in mano mi presenti that you place in my handsil ritratto gradito the delightful picturedi colui, che nel cor porto scolpito. of him which is engraved on my heart.Oh caro Admeto, oh idolatrato volto! Oh dear Admetus, oh face that I worship!

    ALCESTE (EK) (Oh caro Admeto! ALCESTE (Oh dear Admetus!Chi costei? che ascolto?) Who is this woman? What do I hear?)

    ANTIGONA Amor lo sa quanto oh mio ben tadoro: ANTIGONA Love knows, my beloved, how much I adore you:lasciate, chio vi baci allow me to kiss you,adorate sembianze, ondio mi moro. adored features, and let me die.

    ALCESTE (Costei sopra il ritratto ALCESTE (As she sighs in this waydel Rege mio consorte over the picture of the king, my husband,va gemendo cos per darmi morte.) she brings death to me.)

    ANTIGONA Chi mosserva? ANTIGONA Who is looking at me?ALCESTE Un guerriero, ALCESTE A warrior,

    che le tue voci ud. who heard your voice.ANTIGONA Chi trafitta damor, parla cos. ANTIGONA So speaks one who is pierced by love.ALCESTE (Resisti, o cor!) Deh, dimmi: ALCESTE (Hold back, oh my heart!) Ah, tell me,

    ami tu quellaspetto? do you love that face?ANTIGONA Io lamo, vero, ANTIGONA I love it, indeed,

    e se ben mel contese and though harsh destinyil destino severo, has opposed me,spero che un d la sorte I hope one day that fatemel conceda in consorte. will allow him to be my husband.

    ALCESTE (Questo troppo!) Chi sei? ALCESTE (This is too much!) Who are you?ANTIGONA Dellesser mio non posso ANTIGONA I cannot give you any clue

    darti notizia alcuna; to my identity;sol ti dir, chio sono all I will say to you is that I amuno scherzo del fato, e di fortuna. a plaything of fate and fortune.

    ALCESTE E dove abiti? ALCESTE And where do you live?ANTIGONA In corte. ANTIGONA At court.ALCESTE (Mai non la vidi.) A tetti tuoi ritorna! ALCESTE (I have never seen her there.) Go back home!ANTIGONA Addio. ANTIGONA Farewell.ALCESTE Va in pace; ah no! ALCESTE Go in peace; ah, no!

    Fermati, ascolta, dimmi, Wait, listen, tell me,ami il Tessalo R? do you love the Thessalian king?

    ANTIGONA Di lui maccesi. ANTIGONA By him I am inflamed.ALCESTE E speri tu di conseguirlo in sposo? ALCESTE And do you hope to gain him as your husband?ANTIGONA Pi non mi chieder no, pi dir non oso. ANTIGONA Ask me no more, more I dare not say.

    18

  • bo ANTIGONA La sorte mia vacilla ANTIGONA My fate waverscome scintilla in Ciel like a tremulous startremula stella. twinkling in the sky.

    Talor si oscura, e poi Sometimes it is dim, and thenspargendo i raggi suoi as it sheds its raysappar pi bella. it shines forth more beautifully.

    La sorte mia

    bp ALCESTE Quest dunque la fede, ALCESTE Is this then the faithche me serba colui, per cui gi volsi he keeps to me, he for whom I have justperdar la propria vita? sacrificed my own life?Ingratissimo re, empio consorte. Most ungrateful king, wicked husband.Ma! che deliri oh Alceste? But do you rave, oh Alceste?Forse invol costei leffigie amata Perhaps she stole the beloved picturee sinfinge cos and puts up this pretenceper nascondere a me, che lha rubata. to hide from me that she has stolen it.

    bq ALCESTE Vedr fra poco ALCESTE Soon I shall seese lidol mio if my belovedcangi desio, has changed his desire,o se costante or if, ever faithful,sei pur madora he still adores mequal mador. as I adore him.

    Poi segli a gioco Even if he treats my loveprende il mio affetto as a joke,a suo dispetto despite him,costante ancora I, ever constant,io lamer. will love him.

    Vedr fra poco

    The libretto of Handels only opera on a subject from British history, RICCARDO PRIMO, RE DINGHILTERRA, wasadapted by Rolli from Francesco Brianis Isacio tiranno (Venice, 1710). The details are, as usual, fictional, but basedon the marriage of King Richard I (Richard Cur-de-Lion) to Princess Berengaria of Navarre on Cyprus in 1191. Handelcomposed it in the spring of 1727, presumably intending it to be the last opera of the 1726/7 season, but it waspostponed until the following season. During the summer of 1727 George I died and the opera, with some revision, couldfortuitously be presented as a patriotic tribute to the new King, George II, when it opened on 11 November 1727. In theopera the bride-to-be of Riccardo (Richard) is called Costanza. Before the wedding can take place she is captured byIsacio, the tyrannical ruler of Cyprus. He, knowing that Riccardo and Costanza have never met, tries to trick Riccardointo marrying his daughter Pulcheria so that he can have Costanza for himself. The plan is foiled by Pulcherias truelover, the Syrian prince Oronte. The relationship between the two women is never confrontational: the only villain is

    19

  • Isacio, and Pulcheria has to balance her filial duty to him with honourable behaviour to Costanza, to whom she is alwayssympathetic. In Act III Costanza, still Isacios prisoner, looks to death to end her troubles, singing a short melancholyaria with a part for a bass flute br . (The range of the part is nevertheless within that of the ordinary flute.) She iscomforted by Pulcheria, who offers to go to Riccardo as a hostage to prevent Isacio mistreating Costanza bs . At this pointHandel originally wrote the aria for Pulcheria which is sung here bt , with its unusual parts for two chalumeaux, earlytypes of clarinet. They were almost certainly intended for the clarinet players Auguste Freudenfeld and FrancisRosenberg, who had been in London for about two years (they had benefit concerts in March 1726 and March 1727).Unfortunately it seems they left London in the summer of 1727, so as part of his pre-performance revisions of the operaHandel had to rewrite the aria, replacing the chalumeaux with oboes. (Rolli also took the opportunity to rewrite thewords, eliminating the slightly undignified simile of the bleating lamb.) The attractive original was never performed.

    br COSTANZA (CB) Morte vieni, ma in van ti chiamo, COSTANZA Come, death, but I call on you in vain,

    oh morte. oh death!Sei la fine de mali, e da me lunge You are the end of my woes, yet cruel,ti vuol mia cruda insaziabil sorte: unappeased fate would keep you far away from me:morte vieni, ma in van ti chiamo, oh morte. come, death, but I call on you in vain, oh death!

    bs PULCHERIA (EK) A me nel mio rossore PULCHERIA Upon me in my shame,dal par che a te nel tuo dolor, dovrebbe as strong as is your grief, heaven shouldvolger un guardo di pietade il cielo. turn a glance of compassion.Ma del padre i furori But the ragings of my fathercerto vedran la figlia shall surely see his daughter,degli avi augusti imitratrice, in breve emulator of her noble ancestors, soon treadingcalcar lorme donor, chegli ha smarrite. the pathway of honour that he has abandoned.Torno sola a Riccardo, e prigoniera, I return alone to Richard, and as his prisoner,vado ostaggio per te. Se il fiero Isacio I shall be a hostage for you. If proud Isacioa te sar crudel: tale a me ancora is cruel to you, the same cruelty will also fallSar: vedr la figlia on me: you will see his daughter,dalma onorata e forte honourable and brave in spirit,gir teco incontro alla medesma sorte. turn to meet the same fate as yours.

    COSTANZA Dintrepida virtute illustre esempio, COSTANZA Illustrious example of fearless virtue,fida Pulcheria! Ma diversa, oh quanto faithful Pulcheria! But how different nostra condizione! A un Re cortese are our situations! You are returningtu torni, e in preda io resto to a kindly king, and I remain the preydun tiranno. of a tyrant.

    PULCHERIA Ma in lui meno possente PULCHERIA But I cannot believe that paternal mercycreder non posso la piet paterna will be less powerful in himdun cieco furioso ingiusto ardore. than blind, angry and unjust rage.

    COSTANZA Proprizio arrida il cielo COSTANZA May heaven smile favourablyallarmi del mio Re; vu allor che il mondo on the forces of my king; I would then

    20

  • la gratitudin mia have the world see my gratitudeal tuo bel cor vegga altamente espressa. deeply shown to your noble heart.

    PULCHERIA Premio dopra donore lopra istessa. PULCHERIA The reward of an honourable deed is the deed itself.

    bt PULCHERIA Quando non vede la cara madre, PULCHERIA When it cannot see its dear motherquell agnellina gemendo va, the little ewe lamb goes on bleatingfinch un pastore piet ne sente until a shepherd takes pity on ite la conduce ove ella sta. and leads it to where the mother is.

    E tale io spero se vivo il padre In the same way I hope, if my father lives,sparger lamenti to send forth lamentsallaure e ai venti to the breezes and to the windse al fin trova qualche piet. and at last find some compassion.

    Quando non vede

    Handel set only three opera librettos by Metastasio, the poet and amateur musician who came to be regarded as thegreatest, or at any rate the most influential, author of operatic texts in the eighteenth century. SIROE, RE DI PERSIAwas the first, the others being Ezio and Poro. Handel completed the score of Siroe on 5 February 1728 and the operawas first performed twelve days later. The action begins in a manner faintly resembling King Lear, with the old king ofPersia, Cosroe, favouring his villainous younger son Mendarse as his successor instead of his honourable elder son Siroe.The latter has annoyed the king by falling in love with the princess Emira, daughter of the kings enemy Asbite, whomCosroe has killed. To avenge her father Emira has joined Cosroes court disguised as a man with the name Idaspe(Hydaspes), her true identity being known only to Siroe. Also at court is a second woman, Laodice, the sister of thecommander of Cosroes army. She loves Siroe but is pursued by Cosroe. Emira is constantly torn between taking revengeon Cosroe and ensuring justice for Siroe, whose love she returns. In Act 2 Siroe is falsely accused of seducing Laodiceand attempting to murder the disguised Emira. Cosroe promises to give him Laodice and pardon him if he confesses.Siroe avoids answering by putting his fate in Emiras hands: he will abide by whatever she decides. In the final scene ofthe act Emira tries to escape the dilemmaeither Siroe dies or he has to marry Laodiceby pretending to be in lovewith Laodice bu . Laodice, however, refuses to give up Siroe, and instead asks Emira to use the authority she has beengiven to make Siroe accept her. Emiras refusal incurs Laodices anger, expressed in a vigorous aria, and Emira is left toend the Act with a more serene aria contrasting the simplicity of pastoral life with the responsibilities of royalty.

    bu EMIRA (EK) (A costei, che dir?) EMIRA (What shall I say to her?)LAODICE (CB) Da labri tuoi LAODICE Upon your lips,

    ora dipende, Idaspe, Hydaspes, now dependsil riposo dun regno, il mio contento. the peace of a kingdom and my happiness.

    EMIRA Di Siroe, a quel chio sento EMIRA From what I hear, Laodice, would,senza noia Laodice without difficulty,le nozze accetteria. welcome marriage to Siroe.

    LAODICE Sarei felice. LAODICE I would be happy to do so.

    21

  • EMIRA Dunque lami? EMIRA Then you love him?LAODICE Ladoro. LAODICE I adore him.EMIRA E speri la sua mano EMIRA And you hope that his hand LAODICE stringer per opra tua. LAODICE will join mine with your help.EMIRA Lo speri in vano. EMIRA You hope in vain.LAODICE Perch? LAODICE Why?EMIRA Posso svelarti un mio segreto? EMIRA Can I reveal to you a secret of mine?LAODICE Parla. LAODICE Speak on.EMIRA Del tuo sembiante EMIRA Your features pardon my boldness

    perdonami lardire, io vivo amante. I love as I live.LAODICE Di me? LAODICE Mine?EMIRA S, chi mai puote EMIRA Yes, who could ever gaze

    mirar senza avvampar quellaureo crine, without being inflamed on those golden tresses,quelle vermiglie gote, those vermilion cheeks,la labra coralline, the coral lips,il bianco sen, le belle the white breast, the two fair and radiant starsdue rilucenti stelle? Ah! se non credi of your eyes? Ah, if you do not believequal foco ho in petto accolto, what fire burns in my heart,guarda, e vedrai, che mi roseggia in volto. look and you will see how blushes redden my face.

    LAODICE E tacesti LAODICE And you have kept silence EMIRA Il rispetto EMIRA Respect

    muto fin or mi rese. made me dumb until now.LAODICE Ascolta, Idaspe, LAODICE Listen, Hydaspes,

    amarti non possio. I cannot love you.EMIRA Cos crudele, oh Dio! EMIRA So cruel, oh God!LAODICE S ver che mami, LAODICE If it is true that you love me,

    servi agli affetti miei. Lamato prence assist my desires. The beloved princecon virt di te degna a me concedi. yield to me with the virtue of which you are worthy.

    EMIRA O questo no; troppa virt mi chiedi. EMIRA Oh, not that; you demand too much virtue in me.LAODICE Siroe si perde. LAODICE Then Siroe is lost.EMIRA Il cielo EMIRA Heaven

    gli innocente difende. defends the innocent.LAODICE E se la speme LAODICE And if hope fools you

    me pietosa ti finge, ella tinganna. into thinking me merciful, it deceives you.EMIRA Tanto ver me potresti esser tiranna? EMIRA Could you be so tyrannical to me?LAODICE La tua crudel sentenza LAODICE Your cruel decision

    insegna a me la tirannia. teaches me tyranny.EMIRA Pazienza. EMIRA Have patience.LAODICE Todier, fin chio viva, e non potrai LAODICE I shall hate you as long as I live, and you

    riderti de miei danni. will not be able to mock my misfortunes.EMIRA Saranno almen communi i nostri affanni. EMIRA Our troubles will at least be ours together.

    22

  • cl LAODICE Laura non sempre LAODICE The breeze does not alwaysspira a favore blow to the advantagedi nave ardita of a brave shipche scorre il mar. which ploughs the sea.Cos ad un core So love also does notnon sempre amore always bring to a heartd forza e vita the power and lifeper bene amar. to love truly.

    Laura

    [Parte [She leaves

    cm EMIRA Si diversi sembianti EMIRA So many different expressions of love and hateper odio, e per amore or lascio, or prendo, do I put on or take off,chio me stessa talor ne meno intendo. that sometimes I hardly know my true self.

    cn EMIRA Non vi piacque, ingiusti dei, EMIRA Unjust gods, it was not your pleasurechio nascessi pastorella: that I should be born a shepherdess:altra pena or non avrei now I would have no other troubleche la cura dun agnella, than the care of a lamb,che laffetto dun pastor. or the love of a shepherd.

    Ma chi nasce in regia cuna But one who is born into a royal cradlepi nemica ha la fortuna, has a more hostile fate,che nel trono ascosi stanno for behind a thronee linganno deceit and feared il timor. wait in hiding.

    Non vi piacque

    The last new opera to be produced by the Royal Academy of Music, TOLOMEO, RE DI EGITTO, seems to reflect thecompanys need for financial caution: it requires only five singers, and the mainly pastoral setting meant that the scenerycould mostly be drawn from stock. Haym adapted the libretto from Carlo Sigismondo Capeces Tolomeo et Alessandro,set by Domenico Scarlatti for Rome in 1711. As in Riccardo primo, the action is set in Cyprus, though over a thousandyears earlier in time. Tolomeo (Ptolemy), the rightful heir to the Egyptian throne, has been exiled to Cyprus by hismother and (so he believes) his younger brother Alessandro (Alexander). He has taken the disguise of a shepherd,Osmin. His wife Seleuce has also come to the island in search of her husband and is disguised as the shepherdess Delia.She receives unwelcome attentions from Araspe, the ruler of Cyprus, while Araspes sister, Elisa, is in love with Tolomeo.Act I begins with the arrival of Alessandro on the island as the result of a shipwreck. He soon falls in love with Elisa. WhenSeleuce first appears, she has not yet found Tolomeo, and in a style similar to Rossanes aria Aure, fonti in Alessandro(though now for Cuzzoni, not Faustina) she plaintively asks for guidance from the breezes and springs. Recorders sharethe accompaniment with the strings.

    23

  • co SELEUCE (CB) E dove, e dove mai SELEUCE And where, where everrivolger linnamorate piante can I turn my loving stepsper ritrovare il mio perduto bene? to find again my lost beloved?

    cp SELEUCE Fonti amiche, aure leggiere, SELEUCE Beloved springs, gentle breezes,mormorando, murmuringsussurrando, and sighing,voi mi dite chio godr. you tell me I shall rejoice.

    Io godr, fonti, ma quando? Shall I rejoice, O springs? But when?Aure, quando? When, O breezes?Ah voi dite lusinghiere, Ah, you are deceitful in sayingche lo sposo rivedr. that I shall see my husband again.

    Fonti amiche

    The conflicts come to a head in Act III when Tolomeo and Seleuce, their identities revealed, are captured by Araspe. Elisatries to persuade Seleuce to save Tolomeos life by giving him up to her. Seleuce reluctantly agrees, but Tolomeo,considering his life worthless without Seleuce, refuses to agree, and Elisa angrily threatens both him and Seleuce withdeath.

    cq ELISA (EK) Ti pentirai, crudel, daver offeso ELISA You will repent, cruel man, of having hurtun cor che tanto tama a heart which loves you so muche che tadora. and which adores you.

    Se perir quel ben, che m conteso, If her beloved, who opposed me, dies,non viver colei she who loves himche linnamora. shall not live.

    Ti pentirai

    There is, of course a happy ending. Alessandro, never in fact his brothers enemy, rescues Seleuce from Araspesclutches. Tolomeo drinks a cup of poison sent him by Elisa, but it turns out only to have been a sleeping draught whichElisa substituted in remorse when she believed Seleuce to have been killed. Tolomeo prepares to return to Egypt asrightful king, accompanied by Alessandro and Seleuce. The fate of Elisa and Araspe is left unclear.

    Notes and translations by ANTHONY HICKS 1997

    COMPACT DISC 3

    THE THIRD DISC of this set presents overtures and arias from Handels later operas. All but two of the arias arefrom roles originally created by Anna Strada del P. She was a member of the new company formed by Handeland Heidegger after the financial collapse of the Royal Academy of Music in 1728, and she remained Handelsleading soprano for eight years, keeping faithful to him in 1733 when most of his singers defected to the rival Opera of

    24

  • the Nobility. He rewarded her with a series of superb roles, all testifying to her abilities in vocal technique and dramaticexpression. The famous scene from Alcina included here is taken from what was perhaps her greatest role, and the otherarias demonstrate the wide range of her artistry. The selection also serves to show that the operas of this later periodwhich might not be placed in the very first rank always contain some wonderful music.

    The first season of Handels and Heideggers new company at the Kings Theatre in the Haymarket opened withLOTARIO on 2 December 1729. The Overture 1 is a particularly fine one. It opens in the standard French manner, butunusually the following Allegro is built on a simple ground bass, just six notes long. Handel varies the textures so skilfullythat the repetitions are hardly noticed. The final movement, in the style of a gavotte, was reused as an actual dance inHandels Oreste, a pasticcio he produced in 1734. One phrase was also taken up again in the gavotte of the overture toSemele (1743).

    The libretto of Lotario is adapted from Antonio Salvi, and is based on historical events in tenth-century Italy imme-diately preceding those referred to in Handels Ottone. In the original version of the libretto the leading male character,based on King Otto I of Germany, was called Ottone, but in Handels version the name was changed to Lotario (Lothair)to avoid confusion between the two operas. In Lotario Duke Berengario has become king of Italy by murdering thelegitimate king and is laying siege to the city of Pavia, where Queen Adelaide, the widow of the murdered king, has takenrefuge. Berengario and his wife Matilda want their son Idelberto to marry Adelaide to protect their position and securethe throne for their descendants. In Act 1 King Lotario of Germany visits Adelaide and promises to help her, giving herthe courage to withstand the threats of Berengario and Matilda. She asserts her determination not to give in to theirdemands in a dazzlingly brilliant aria 2 , bringing the act to a thrilling close.

    2 ADELAIDE Quanto pi fien tenaci ADELAIDE The more tenacious be the chainsle catene onde avvinto with which my feet are bounddellaltrui crudelt sar il mio piede, by the cruelty of others,vie pi care saranno allalma mia, the more ways they shall be dear to my soul,e il carcere pi grato ancor mi fia. and prison shall be yet more pleasing to me.

    Scherza in mar la navicella The little ship frolics in the seamentre ride aura seconda; while a favourable breeze smiles;ma se poi fiera procella but if a fierce stormturba il ciel, sconvolge londa agitates the heavens and whips up the wavesva perduta a naufragar. it is lost in a wreck.

    Non cos questo mio core My heart will not yield in that wayceder dun empia sorte to the scorn and rageallo sdegno, ed al furore, of cruel fate,ch per anco in faccia di morte for in the face of deathsa da grande trionfar. it can still triumph by greatness.

    Scherza in mar

    25

  • PARTENOPE was the second new opera of the 1729/30 season. It was first performed on 24 February 1730 and, incontrast to the serious Lotario, is a sophisticated comedy. Silvio Stampiglias libretto was a popular one, and had been setby several composers (the first being Caldara in 1707) before Handel composed his version. Partenope is the legendaryfounder and first queen of Naples. In the opera she has three admirers: her favourite, Arsace, who has abandoned hisformer lover, Rosmira; Armindo, who is at first too modest to reveal his love; and the blustering Emilio, prince of theneighbouring city of Cumae, who threatens to invade Naples if he cannot gain Partenopes love. Rosmira, determined tohave revenge on Arsace, has come to Naples disguised as a soldier. Arsace recognizes her, but she makes him swear neverto reveal who she is, and takes every opportunity to embarrass him. Eventually she challenges him to a duel, allowingArsace to turn the tables: he demands that they should fight bare-chested, and she is forced to explain her true identity.She and Arsace are reconciled, and Partenope accepts the meek and faithful Armindo. In Act 1 Partenope names Arsaceas the leader of her forces against Emilio, but when Armindo, the disguised Rosmira and the captain of Partenopes guardobject, all claiming the honour for themselves, she decides that she herself will lead her army. In a dignified aria sheassures Arsace that her love for him remains constant.

    3 PARTENOPE Io ti levo limpero dellarmi, PARTENOPE I release you from the command of arms,non limpero dellanima mia; but not from the command of my soul;

    perch amor non ingiusta pu farmi, because love cannot make me unjust,bench faccia chil core ti dia. even though it makes my heart yours.

    Io ti levo

    EZIO was the second of the three operas for which Handel used librettos by the distinguished Italian poet Metastasio. Itwas produced at the Kings Theatre on 15 January 1732 and had only five performances, the public perhaps reactingagainst its rather austere style, without ensemble numbers until the final chorus (and even there the singers only unitefor the last few bars). The arias are all of high quality, however, and the opera works well on the stage. The action is setin Rome and is based on events in the last years of the rule of the emperor Valentinian III (425455). Ezio (Aetius)returns to Rome after defeating Attila the Hun. He is received with due honours by the emperor Valentiniano and looksforward to being reunited with his fiance Fulvia, the daughter of the Roman patrician Massimo (Maximus). Massimo,however, wants revenge for the emperors attempted rape of his wife, and tries to involve Ezio in an assassination plotby telling him that the emperor wants Fulvia for himself. He also instructs Fulvia to accept an offer of marriage from theemperor, but only so that she can kill him, or give Massimo the opportunity to do so. She is appalled at her fathers plan,but he insists that she must obey him. In this tender aria, she pleads with him to take back his terrible command.

    4 FULVIA Caro padre, a me non dei FULVIA Dear father, you do not needrammentar che padre sei: to remind me that you are my father:io lo so; ma in questi accenti I know it; but in these words of yoursnon ritrovo il genitor. I do not recognize my parent.

    Non son io che ti consiglia, It is not I who advises you: il rispetto dun regnante, it is the respect due to a sovereign,

    26

  • laffetto duna figlia, it is the love of a daughter, il rimorso del tuo cor. it is the remorse of your own heart.

    Caro padre

    The libretto of SOSARME, RE DI MEDIA (first performed at the Kings Theatre on 15 February 1732) was adapted fromAntonio Salvis Dionisio, re di Portogallo, and was originally set in Coimbra, Portugal. The title role was based on thePortuguese king Dionisio (Denis the Farmer), who reigned from 1279 to 1325. While composing the opera Handelchanged the location to Sardis in ancient Lydia, and the characters were given fictional names, Dionisio becoming KingHaliate of Lydia. This was presumably to avoid any possible offence to the royal family of Portugal, a long-standing ally ofBritain, especially as the story of the opera involves a family feud. Haliate and his son Argone are at odds because Argonehas been misled into thinking that Haliate intends to make his illegitimate son Melo his heir. Haliates wife Erenice, andher daughter Elmira (who is engaged to Sosarme, king of Media) are greatly distressed by the quarrel, and their anxietyhas been increased by a dream in which Erenice has been told that reconciliation will come only with royal blood shedby a son. In Act 1 Erenice and Elmira fail to persuade Argone from leading an attack on his father, and Elmira ends theact with a reflection on the divine promise of peace to be achieved only at the cost of bloodshed. The contrast of calmand agitation is depicted in the music.

    5 ELMIRA O diva Ecate, sian deffetto vuoti ELMIRA O goddess Hecate, may your predictionsi tuoi presagi, e fa chil regio sangue come to nothing, and do not let royal bloodnon rechi s funesta a noi la pace; bring so dreadful a peace to us;fia tua gloria maggior lesser mendace. may your glory be the greater for being untruthful.

    Dite pace, e fulminate, You speak peace, and yet you thunder,crudi cieli! Or che farete cruel heavens! What then will you doquando guerra a noi direte? when you declare war on us?

    Che sar, se vi sdegnate, What will happen when you are angry,stelle fiere, se placate fierce stars, if when appeasedcos rigide voi siete? you are so implacable?

    Dite pace

    In Act 2 the situation is made worse by the plotting of Haliates treacherous counsellor Altomaro. He wants Melo tobecome heir because Melos mother was Altomaros daughter, but Melo himself is entirely honourable and will not beparty to the plan. Altomaro leads Haliate and Argone to believe that each has challenged the other to single combat,reinforcing the hatred between father and son. In Act 3 Melo and Erenice discover Altomaros deceit and resolve to putmatters right. Meanwhile Elmira again tries to appeal to Argones better nature and is again rebuffed. She decides toprevent the duel, but is uncertain whether she can achieve a reconciliation; her aria expresses her hopes and fears.

    6 ELMIRA Correte pur a fiumi, amare lacrime, ELMIRA Flow in streams, you bitter tears,nel commune periglio. at the danger to us all.Ma no; dun nobil core But no; let the courage

    27

  • si risvegli lardore: of a noble heart be roused:corriam col nostro petto let me hasten to make my breasta far scudo al furor; trionfi affetto. a shield against fury; let love triumph.

    Vorrei, n pur saprei, I would wish it, yet I would not knowse la spene nel mio core if the hope in my heartdiscacciasse ogni timore. can banish all fear.Sapr chi goder, He who finds joy will knowviene il bene dopo il danno, that good comes after ill,non v gioia senza affanno. there is no delight without distress.

    Soffrir, e ancor languir, To suffer and also to languish,questi solo fanno avere these alone bringcondimento a ogni piacere. seasoning to every pleasure.

    Vorrei

    It is Erenice and Melo who finally step between the duelling Haliate andArgone, and both get wounded. Altomaros villainy is exposed, and allare reconciled as they realize that the royal blood shed by a son is thatof Melo, not Argone.

    Handel did not give a full opera season in the winter of 1735/36,probably because he felt unable to compete with the Opera of theNobility while Farinelli continued to be their star asset, even thoughHandels previous season at Covent Garden had apparently beensuccessful. However, when the wedding of the Prince of Wales wasannounced for the spring of 1736, Handel no doubt saw it as his dutyto contribute to the celebrations, despite the princes coolness towardshim. On 12 May 1736 he accordingly produced ATALANTA at CoventGarden. It has a pastoral setting, and tells how King Meleagro(disguised as a shepherd) and Aminta (a real shepherd) each pursueand finally win the women whom they love. The princess Atalanta is theobject of Meleagros affections. The opera is generally light-hearted, asbefits a wedding celebration, but has moments of unexpectedemotional depth. The festive element is apparent in the trumpetfanfares of the finale, where they accompany a firework display, and in

    the Overture 7 , which is the nearest Handel came to writing a concerto for solo trumpet. The first two movements arein fact based on the trumpet overture which opens the Deuxime Production of Telemanns Musique de table, a sourceof many of Handels borrowings. Handel ingeniously paraphrases the original, though never quite making it typical ofhis own style. Telemann makes no contribution to the sprightly final gavotte, however.

    28

  • ARIANNA IN CRETA was first produced at the Kings Theatre on 5 January 1734, about halfway through the first seasonin which Handel faced the rival productions of the Opera of the Nobility, then at Lincolns Inn Fields. The first of theNobility Operas productions was Porporas Arianna a Nasso, which may have prompted Handels choice of a versionof Pietro Pariatis Arianna e Teseo for his new opera, not only because both operas explored aspects of the myth ofAriadne, but also because it was Porpora who composed the first setting of Pariatis libretto for Vienna in 1714. Arianna(Ariadne) is the daughter of King Minos of Crete, where the action of Handels opera is set. Every seven years theAthenians send seven maidens to Crete to be fed to the Minotaur, a monster which lives in the labyrinth at Minos palace,and the Cretans send seven young men to Athens to die in ritual games. This gruesome custom was instituted in memoryof Minos son, who was murdered in Athens, and can be ended only when a hero slays the Minotaur and defeats theCretan champion Tauride. The day for the exchange of youths and maidens has come round again, but this time theAthenian prince Teseo (Theseus) is determined to take up the challenge of fighting the Minotaur and Tauride. He is inlove with Arianna, but complications arise when Carilda, one of the Athenian maidens, falls in love with Teseo, while shein turn is loved by Alceste, Teseos friend. Teseo increases the confusion by offering to fight Tauride to save Carilda,intending to prove that he is worthy of Ariannas love, though Arianna and Alceste assume he loves Carilda. In Act 2Carilda becomes the object of unwanted advances from Tauride, who says he will save her from the Minotaur if she willmarry him. She explains her plight to Alceste. He offers to help, but cannot say that he loves her because he believes sheis loved by Teseo. His melancholy state is expressed in one of the most beautiful arias of the opera, with a flowing linefor solo cello. The minor key persists in the middle section, conflicting with the suggestion of hope in the words. Thepart of Alceste was originally sung by the soprano castrato Carlo Scalzi.

    8 ALCESTE Son qual stanco pellegrino ALCESTE I am like a weary travellerche nel dubbio suo camino whose steps on his unsure pathmuove incerto, errando il pi. move hesitantly and go astray.

    Ma se poi si fa sua scorta But if a torch or star face, o stella, si conforta, becomes his guide, he takes comfort,e smarrita pi non . and is no longer lost.

    Son qual stanco

    ALCINA opened at Covent Garden Theatre on 16 April 1735, the last new production of Handels first season at thetheatre. It had an impressive run of eighteen performances, extending the season to the beginning of July. The par-ticipation of the French dancer Marie Sall and her company, for whom Handel provided some of his most delectableballet music, was an important attraction, but the quality of the work as a whole was undoubtedly the main reason forits success. In the demanding title role Stradas vocal and dramatic capabilities were fully stretched. The libretto is looselybased on Cantos 6 and 7 of Ariostos epic poem Orlando furioso. Alcina is a sorceress who lures heroes to her magicisland and turns them into animals or other shapes. Her latest capture is the knight Ruggiero, who is enjoying thedelights of the island and has forgotten his fiance Bradamante. She, however, intends to find him and win him back,and, in the company of Ruggieros old tutor Melisso, has arrived on the island disguised as her own brother. In Act 2

    29

  • Melisso uses a magic ring to show Ruggiero that the beauties of the island are all illusory, and he and Bradamanteconvince Ruggiero to escape with them. Alcina learns of Ruggieros betrayal (as she sees it) and determines to use hermagic powers to prevent him leaving. The final scene of the act is set in the underground vault where Alcina casts herspells. This time, however, her spirits refuse to obey her, perhapsthough this is never stated explicitlybecause hergenuine love for Ruggiero prevents her from harming him. The scene takes the form of a magnificent accompaniedrecitative and an aria. Alcinas desperation is underlined by strange harmonic shifts near the beginning of the recitative:they are derived from a passage in Bononcinis opera Il Xerse, but are highly effective in their new context. Sinuousrunning figures dominate the aria, sometimes in the treble, sometimes in the bass. They suggest the shadowy spirits thathover around Alcina, and the persistent minor-key mood expresses her resignation to fate.

    9 ALCINA Ah! Ruggiero crudel, tu non mi amasti! ALCINA Ah cruel Ruggiero, you did not love me!Ah! che fingesti amor, e mingannasti! Ah, how you simulated love, and deceived me!E pur ti adora ancor, fido mio core. And yet my faithful heart still adores you.Ah! Ruggiero crudel, sei traditore! Ah, cruel Ruggiero, you are a traitor!Del pallido Acheronte Spirits who dwell on pallid Acheron,spiriti abitatori, e della notte and you blind and cruel daughters of the night,ministre di vendetta ministers of vengeance,cieche figlie crudeli, a me venite! come to me!Secondate i miei voti, Obey my orders,perch Ruggiero amato so that my beloved Ruggieronon fugga da me ingrato. shall not heartlessly fly from me.

    [Guarda dintorno, e sospesa. [She looks around, and pauses.Ma, ohim! misera! e quale But, alas! woe is me! Whyinsolita tardanza? eh! non mudite? this unexpected delay? Ah, do you not hear me?

    [Sdegnata. [Scornfully.Vi cerco, e vi tacete? I seek you, and you hide?Vi comando, e tacete? I command you, and you keep silent?

    [Infuriata. [In rage.Evvi inganno? evvi frode? Is this your deceit? Are these your tricks?La mia verga fatal non ha possanza? Does my deadly wand have no power?Vinta, delusa Alcina, e che tavvanza? Defeated, deluded Alcina, what will become of you?

    Ombre pallide, lo so, mudite, Pale shades, I know you hear me,dintorno errate, e vi celate, you hover around, and you hide,sorde da me: perch, perch? deaf to me. Why, ah why?

    Fugge il mio bene; voi lo fermate, My beloved escapes; you should stop him,deh! per pietate ah, for pitys sake,se in questa verga, chora disprezzo if in this wand, which I now despisee voglio frangere, forza non . and would break, there is no more power.

    Ombre pallide

    30

  • Handel composed BERENICE in December 1736 and January 1737, and directed its first performance on 16 May 1737.It was Handels last production at Covent Garden before he returned to the Kings Theatre the following autumn. Thelibretto was an old one by Antonio Salvi (Berenice, regina dEgitto), dating back to 1709. The title role can be identifiedwith the Graeco-Egyptian queen Cleopatra Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Lathyrus (Ptolemy IX Soter II), who ruledbriefly after the death of her father in 81BC. Berenice and her sister are both in love with the same prince, Demetrio,and Berenice angrily rejects an order from the Roman dictator Sulla (conveyed by the Roman ambassador Fabio) thatshe should marry her cousin Alessandro. However, she is eventually convinced of the sincerity of Alessandros love forher, and she tells Fabio she will accept Romes choice. After making her decision she reflects on the capriciousness ofthe goddess Fortune (traditionally portrayed as a blind old woman) in an aria which is virtually a duet for soprano andsolo oboe. Voice and instrument are often left unaccompanied as they illustrate the fickleness of fortune by playing withseveral different fragments of melody.

    bl BERENICE Chi tintende? o cieca instabile! BERENICE Who understands you, blind and fickle woman,capricciosa deit! capricious goddess?

    Infelice, e miserabile You would make him who cherishes youvuoi colui, che taccarezza, unhappy and wretched, but to hime a chi pi ti fugge e sprezza who more often avoids and despises youdai maggior felicit! you give greater happiness!

    Chi tintende

    DEIDAMIA, Handels last opera, has what seems to be an original libretto by Paolo Rolli and was first performed atLincolns Inn Fields on 10 January 1741. It received only three performances. The Overture bm is in the French form,with a brisk and bouncy Allegro. Rolli based the story on the post-Homeric myth of the boyhood of the Greek heroAchilles. In an attempt to evade a prediction that he will die in war, the baby Achilles is disguised as a girl and sent to theisland of Scyros. Lycomedes, the king of Scyros, brings him up with his real daughter Deidamia. As the children grow up,Deidamia inevitably learns Achilles true nature and the pair become lovers. When the Trojan War begins, the Greeks aretold they cannot win without Achilles, and Ulysses undertakes to find him. The opera begins with his arrival on Scyroswith other Greek rulers. Ulysses soon becomes suspicious of the boisterous character of Deidamias supposed sister.Eventually he tricks Achilles into revealing himself by offering him a choice of gifts. Achilles chooses a sword and armourrather than fine silks, and as he does so a trumpet sounds, calling all Greeks to the war against Troy. Achilles gladly agreesto leave Scyros and join the war. Realizing that she will never see Achilles again, Deidamia curses Ulysses for ruining herhappiness. Her aria begins as a slow, accusatory lament. The voice enters at the very start, and the strings sadly echoeach phrase. A second section, the actual curse, is fast, and is followed by what at first seems to be a conventional dacapo repeat of the opening section. Instead, however, it proves to be a much shortened recapitulation, and a new versionof the fast section unexpectedly returns to finish the aria. The role was first sung by Elisabeth du Parc, known as LaFrancesina, who later became the creator of the title role of Handels Semele.

    31

  • bn DEIDAMIA Mhai resa infelice, DEIDAMIA You have made me wretched,che vanto navrai? what pride can you take in that?Oppressi, dirai, You can only say, I crushedun alma fedel. a faithful heart.

    Le vele se darai If you spread your sailsde flutti al seno infido, on the fickle bosom of the sea,sconvolga orribil vento may a horrid wind convulselinstabile elemento, the unstable water,e innanzi al patrio lido and in sight of your native shoresommergati, crudel. may it drown you, cruel man.

    Mhai resa infelice

    Notes and translations by ANTHONY HICKS 2000

    If you have enjoyed this recording perhaps you would like a catalogue listing the many others available on the Hyperion and Helios labels. If so,please write to Hyperion Records Ltd, PO Box 25, London SE9 1AX, England, or email us at [email protected], and we will be pleased tosend you one free of charge.

    The Hyperion catalogue can also be accessed on the Internet at www.hyperion-records.co.uk

    Si vous souhaitez de plus amples dtails sur ces enregistrements, et sur les nombreuses autres publications du label Hyperion, veuillez nous crire Hyperion Records Ltd, PO Box 25, London SE9 1AX, England, ou nous contacter par courrier lectronique [email protected], etnous serons ravis de vous faire parvenir notre catalogue gratuitement.

    Le catalogue Hyprion est galement accessible sur Internet : www.hyperion-records.co.uk

    All Hyperion and Helios compact discs may be purchased over the internet at

    www.hyperion-records.co.ukwhere you will also find an up-to-date catalogue listing and much additional information

    32

  • HAENDEL Airs et ouvertures dopras

    COMPACT DISC 1

    COMPOS FIN 1704, ALMIRA fut produit pour la premire fois au Theater am Gnsemarkt de Hambourg, le 8janvier 1705. Le livret tait destin Keiser, qui le mit effectivement en musique, mais ce dernier semble avoirt contraint de quitter Hambourg pendant un certain temps avant que lopra pt tre jou. Haendel reutcommande dune nouvelle mise en musique pour viter tout gaspillage des dcors et