Handel - Ariodante / von Otter, Dawson, Cangemi, Podles, Croft, Sedov, Coadou, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Minkowski

My favorite Ariodante so far. Great product. Thank you.

This is a historic recording in every respect.Before this recording many people thought that Händel operas were all the same and mostly un-dramatic. Minkowski definitely changed this with an extremely dramatic recording. Never before we heard these extreme emotions and tempos in a Händel opera. In 1998, when the recording appeared, there were mixed reactions.Gramophone preferred the McGegan, because Minkowski was 'over the top', but on the European continent most reviewers recognized the importance and were baffled: the French magazine 'Diapason' even attributed a 'Diapason du siècle', this means that for them this was a recording of the century.Even now, some people still prefer the McGegan which I can not understand. Just compare the beginning of the ouverture, and you hear that Minkowski enters the drama, he gets into the music. With McGegan it's just another lovely tune in the gallant Baroque style, but this is an opera=drama! In the second part of the ouverture Minkowski has 'drive', McGegan's version already falls flat. I won't go futher into McGegan's singers, which are honorable, but can't excel in the sort of routine direction he offers. Let's concentrate on Minkowski's cast: Lynne Dawson is a definitive Ginevra. Even Gramophone said she was 'the Händel soprano of this moment' and indeed: what a beautiful voice, what technical assurance! Listen to the first act 'volate amori', and you understand what they mean by a Händel prima donna. Ecstasy in every note, the bride is extremely happy at that point, not aware of what is ahead of her.I am normally not a big fan of Von Otter, but here she is perfectly in place. Every line she sings is heartfelt and meant. On top of that you get the bravoura e.g. in the third act 'Dopo notte', which is really liberating after all the dramatic events that preceded.The emotional climax of this recording is 'Scherza infida' where the music almost comes to a stand-still. It's really revolutionary to go to these extremes of tempo and dynamics and it is breath-taking.Ewa Podles is a wicked Polinesso, no pleasant voice but very convincing. And the range of her voice is simply unbelievable, listen to 'Dover, giustizia, amor' in the 3rd act and marvel. Denis Sedov was very young at the time of the recording, but what a noble king! He has the greatest entrance : he interrups the da capo of the Ginevra-Ariodante duet 'prendi da questa mano' with a great line 'Non vi turbato, bell'alma innamorate' which can not sound more lovingly parental. Veronica Cangemi and Richard Croft conclude the cast of first-rate singers and the fact alone that they can keep up with Minkowski's extreme tempos is admirable.I own over 50 Händel opera and oratorium recordings, and this is definitively one of my favorites (others are Nelson's Semele, Christie's Orlando and Hickox' Alcina). It is certainly the one I admire most, because everything is right.But you must see a Händel opera as drama, and not just a chain of beautiful tunes ...

This review is a bit of an addendum to the one I wrote about the McGegan Ariodante. How lucky we are to have both his and Minkowski's superb recordings, so different yet both alive with vocal and dramatic excitement.I've mentioned that I choose McGegan over Minkowski and it is for a number of reasons. That said, I feel that both are really excellent and either is a good choice. My main reservation about this set concerns the conducting. The tempos are all so extreme - on the one hand, Scherza Infida is so slow as to almost cripple poor von Otter (she's a good enough artist to get through - but it's a real challenge for the listener). Then on the other hand, much of the dance music and many of the arias (poor Veronica Cangemi in Dalinda's Act 1 number!) is taken at very, very high speed. The sound made by the Musiciens du Louvre is vibrant and alive but lacks the refinement and beauty of McGegan's orchestra. Minkowski is liberal - sometimes to a fault - with ornaments, and I feel that occasionally less would be so much more.Fewer reservations about the singing. Von Otter is a wonderful hero, full and radiant of voice, rock-solid and exciting of technique. If she made just a little more of the words she would be the Ariodante of our time. Dawson's Ginevra has been highly praised here and elsewhere and whilst she sings most beautifully and with bags of feeling, I (heretic that I am!) find her range of vocal colour just a bit limited. Cangemi's voice is accurate but thin, whilst thin is never a term that could be applied to Podles' mighty contralto. She's not a subtle singing actress, but the sheer power and security of her singing is what impresses. Croft is certainly an improvement on his Harmonia Mundi counterpart.A very, very good recording that for me isn't quite the equal of its main rival, but certainly wouldn't disappoint any Handel lover. Five stars, and no mistake.

Next to Giulio Cesare, Alcina and Orlando, Ariodante is one of Handel's finest operas. The music is exquisite and the plot is nos as silly as in other Baroque operas. We have 2 very desirable recordings of Ariodante> this one and a slightly older one in Harmonia Mundi which won a Gramophone Award for best Baroque Vocal recording. The main drawback of the Archiv recording is Minkowski's nervous conducting, sometimes it's just too fast for its own good (and the singers). Anne-Sofie von Otter sings mostly very well, but I think Lorraine Hunt has an even better sense of style and a voice just as good. The main advantage of the Archiv over the HM is the Ginevra of Lynne Dawson, marvelous performance. But HM has a better orchestra in the Freiburger Barockorchester, one of the choicest period bands around. Both recordings are good and I certainly would want both, but if forced to choose, the McGegan is the more natural and beautiful Ariodante to be had.