Handel: Alcina (DVD)

This 1735 opera by Georg Handel set to libretto (lyric) by Antonio Marchi is based on a side story from Ariosto's tome 'Orlando Furioso'.

THE STORY is of the rescue of the crusading knight Ruggiero from the enchantment of the sorceress Alcina by his fiancee Bradamante and Melisso, their magician/counselor. Ruggiero proves a tough rescue due to the love spell placed on him by Alcina (who has an alarming habit of turning past lovers ...
...also doesn't help that Alcina's sister Morgana falls for Bradamante (in disguised as her own brother Ricciaro) to the indignation of her husband Oronto.

The rescue party is joined by the young boy Oberto, who is looking for his dad (a past lover of Alcina who is now one of the critters on the island), though the boy's big mouth alerts Alcina to the true identity of her guest Ricciaro and Melisso. Love conquers all in the end... but ... more

This 1735 opera by Georg Handel set to libretto (lyric) by Antonio Marchi is based on a side story from Ariosto's tome 'Orlando Furioso'.

THE STORY is of the rescue of the crusading knight Ruggiero from the enchantment of the sorceress Alcina by his fiancee Bradamante and Melisso, their magician/counselor. Ruggiero proves a tough rescue due to the love spell placed on him by Alcina (who has an alarming habit of turning past lovers into animals and other 'artefacts' that litter the island). It also doesn't help that Alcina's sister Morgana falls for Bradamante (in disguised as her own brother Ricciaro) to the indignation of her husband Oronto.

The rescue party is joined by the young boy Oberto, who is looking for his dad (a past lover of Alcina who is now one of the critters on the island), though the boy's big mouth alerts Alcina to the true identity of her guest Ricciaro and Melisso. Love conquers all in the end... but whose love? Tune in and find out.

Alcina the opera contains some of Handel's most gorgeous music especially for the title role and for Ruggiero (a castrato role now usually sung by a mezzo soprano) and Bradamante. It came back to the stage after a long century of neglect when Dame Joan Sutherland revived it in the 60's. With the current abundance of great virtuoso soprani and mezzo soprani capable of doing this music justice, the opera is now a popular Baroque work at major opera houses in Europe and America.

This DVD is a live recording of a performance from Staatsoper Stuttgart in 1999. There are some cuts, but Morgana gets to keep her showpiece aria 'Tornami a vegghiar.'

CAST:
Alcina (A sorceress) = Catherine Naglestad (Soprano)
Ruggiero (A knight) = Alice Coote (Mezzo-soprano)
Bradamante/Ricciaro (Ruggiero's fiancee) = Helene Schneidermann (Mezzo-soprano or Contralto)
Morgana (Alcina's sister) = Catriona Smith (Soprano)
Melisso (Bradamante & Ruggiero's wizard) = Michael Ebbecke (baritone)
Oronto (Morgana's husband) = Rolf Romei (tenor)
Oberto (the boy looking for dad) = Claudia Mahnke (Mezzo-soprano)

Conductor: Alan Hacker / Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Stage Directors: Jossi Wieler & Sergio Viebrock

This performance from Stuttgart shows how even a good musical performance can be derailed by the stage director's lack of restraint and good taste.
A look at the DVD's front cover should give you a good idea how.

LOTS of GRATUITOUS SEX. That the singing actresses keep their clothes on is about the only thing that keeps this from being x-rated! .... On second thought, Ms Naglestad's tops are of such revealing quality that it really wouldn't take much imagination to see what's it's covering (and due to an unfortunate 'wardrope malfunction' during her long aria 'Ah mio cor', you actually do get to see what it's covering... Tho, Kudos to the girl for being such a cool customer in her dealing with it).

I get that romance is a big theme in this opera, but there is a difference between showing a motif and over-exploiting it to the point of distracting from the music and the story. This production crosses the line!

THE STAGING is simple and conceptual ... The set is a room in Alcina's flaking palace (no set changes during the show), featuring a long rectangular window in the middle that opens to a backstage room.... quite effectively used. Sometimes the backroom represents another location, while other times it shows a vision or the character's thought. Interesting at time, boring at another.

Costume is modern. Guys are in suits and gals are in dresses (note that there are 2 pant roles in this opera, both Ruggiero and Oberto are sung by female singers).

THE SINGING is good to great. The American soprano Catherine Naglestad's both visually and vocally seductive Alcina (how she keeps singing like that while doing all those things is beyond my comprehension). From the first note of her introduction aria 'Di, cor mio' she is mesmerizing. The voice is so lush and full of character. Her Act II 'Ah, mio cor' is heart-revealing... I feel sorry for the girl... Such a wonderfully involved musical and theatrical performance, but what most viewers will remember after watching this performance won't be her voice.

Catriona Smith has a good showing as Morgana. Her light soprano voice is surprisingly strong and she acts well with it. She makes light of the difficult 'Tornami a vagheggiar' (perhaps the show's best known tune), and is a scene stealer on the acting front (unfortunately much of it involves molesting Bradamante/Ricciaro).

The mezzo Alice Coote acts well and has a strong and radiant masculine-sounding voice. She is entirely believeable as a male character. She is touching in the Act II aria 'Verdi pratti, but the voice isn't quite agile enough for the coloratura-infested numbers.

Helene Schneidermann is a reliable Bradamante who looks old enough to be Ruggiero's mom rather than lover. But she is a convincing actress and involved singer. All the rest of the cast give fine supporting performance and make their best out of their very questionable stage directions.

I'm afraid this is just about the only DVD of this opera available commercially. Musically it is a good performance, so if you are visually offended by the staging, you can just play it for the music. But if you are willing to settle just for the music of this opera, a better choice is to buy the CD of it. Either the Decca label with Sutherland, Berganza, Freni, Horne, or the Erato label with Fleming, Graham, Dessay will do.  

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