MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
AmazonUK AmazonUS

 

Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)
Furore – opera arias
Serse HWV 40 (1738) - Crude furie degl'orridi abissi [3:43]
Teseo, HWV 9 (1713) - Dolce riposo, ed innocente pace  [3:14] Ira, sdegno, e furore...O stringerò nel' sen [4:46] Morirò, ma vendicata [4:46]
Giulio Cesare HWV 17 (1724) - Figlio non…L'angue offeso mai riposa [5:22]
Admeto, Rè di Tessaglia HWV 22 (1727) - Orride larve...Chiudetevi miei lumi [7:33] Gelosia, spietata Aletto [5:00]
Hercules HWV 60 (1745) – Then I am lost…There in myrtle shades reclined [4:40] Dissembling, false, perfidious Hercules!…Cease, ruler of the day, to rise [4:44] Where shall I fly? [6:00]
Semele HWV 58 (1744) - Hence, Iris, hence away [3:39]
Imeneo HWV 41 (1740) - Sorge nell'alma mia [5:21]
Ariodante HWV 33 (1735) – E vivo ancora?…Scherza infida [10:54]
Amadigi di Gaula HWV 11 (1715) -Destero dall’empia dite [5:23]
Joyce DiDonato (mezzo)
Les Talens Lyriques/Christophe Rousset
rec. during and after performances at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, April 2008
VIRGIN CLASSICS 519038 [75:08] 

 

Experience Classicsonline


Furore
is the well-chosen word for a recital of, in the main, incendiary arias by wronged, scorned or vengeful Handelian heroes and heroines. The conduit for these passions is Joyce DiDonato, a singer of remarkable dramatic power and instincts who now joins a long and distinguished list of singers who have essayed all-Handel discs in the last twelve months. It seems now to be almost de rigueur.

The especially good news is that a number of the arias are less well-known ones. Crude furie degl'orridi abissi from Serse is the opener and is an immediate index of her amazing declamatory powers, the unerring ability in runs, excellent pitch, and above all the sense of immediate characterisation that is established. The voice here is under pretty much perfect control and is not subject to the occasionally discursive and off putting mannerisms others in this repertoire tend to inflict on it. The nobility of utterance of her aria from Teseo, Dolce riposo, ed innocente pace is immediately contrasted with the avenging fury of O stringerò nel' sen. Programming throughout I should note is a conspicuous success.

She covers huge expressive ground in L'angue offeso mai riposa from Giulio Cesare, colouring the line, inflecting it – note how she chews over the word trucidata in particular, relishing every syllable - and shadowed by an expressive oboist. There are scorching moments throughout, not least, when called for, in recitatives. Lend an ear to Orride larve, the recitative before the aria Chiudetevi miei lumi from Admeto. which moves from incendiary, explosive drama to sudden introspective desolation. There in myrtle shades reclined comes as balm after the fervid imaginings that precede it and here she fines down her tone with discretion and imaginative intelligence. Hence, Iris, hence away takes her to the slightly uncomfortable lower mezzo range – something that happens once or twice in the recital. It’s true also of Where shall I fly? which though a tour de force of theatrical and histrionic drama reveals the voice sometimes struggling to meet purely vocal demands.

It was inevitable that she should take on Scherza infida and it offers something of an extreme example of her art. I wouldn’t seek to judge the rectal as a whole from this single aria. It’s very slow and DiDonato slightly scoops up the note. Stylistically she plays – possibly plays havoc – with the ornaments especially in the da capo. It’s all a mixture of expressively oddly inert and technically exaggerated. She enjoys considerable rubati and portamenti. The highest notes though are undeniably beautiful and of the most ravishing intensity.

The booklet contains a good essay, texts and translations. But it’s not immediately clear from the documentation how much of this recital was recorded live and how much without an audience – ‘recorded during and after performances at the Théâtre de la Monnaie’ is what we’re told. It may account for the exceptionally theatrical nature of many of the performances, for their quivering intensity and occasionally excessive character. What’s not in doubt is the fulsome commitment revealed by this fearless singer.

Jonathan Woolf

see also Review by Robert Hugill

 





 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.