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Disc 1:
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Arminio is hardly one of Handel's more celebrated operas. It was a flop when first performed and has been pretty much ignored since then. So does it warrant such neglect? Well, the libretto--which relates the tale of the German leader Hermann (Arminius) fighting for freedom against the Romans in the first century AD--is pretty unsatisfactory, with characters left largely undeveloped and events unexplained. Mind you, that's hardly uncommon in the land of opera, and nor is it necessarily a recipe for disaster if the music's up to scratch. And here, though there are patches of Handel on autopilot, there is plenty more to please. Try, for example, "Mira il ciel" (disc two, track 11) which finds Luigi Petroni duetting most effectively with oboes and horns. Or for something a bit gentler sample "Non sono sempre vane larve" (disc one, track 15), wonderfully sung by Dominique Labelle. Generally the female soloists steal the limelight, but there are no serious weaknesses in the solo cast. If you're a Handel groupie you will need to have this. But even for those less committed, it's an interesting work, well recorded here, and the instrumental playing, under Curtis's direction, is unfailingly vigorous and full-blooded. --Harriet Smith
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rarer Handel worthy of exploration,
By
This review is from: Handel - Arminio (Audio CD)
'Arminio' is not one of Handel's better known operas nor is it ever likely to be. The plot and libretto are fairly poor, characterisation and motivation lazy and unconvincing. Handel's music however is often excellent and well worth hearing and this is one of Alan Curtis' most consistently pleasing recordings in my opinion.
I accept that Vivica Genaux's voice might be an acquired taste (I know people who can't stand it) but I like it very much and this is one of her best recordings to date culminating in the joyous and brillianly executed 'Fatto scorta'. The final duet with Geraldine McGreevy as faithful wife Tusnelda is also very enjoyable. McGreevy again proves to be a lovely recording artist (I have been disappointed in live performances) and the other female soloists are also very fine (Dominique Labelle and Manuela Custer). The men fare less well though I did like the robust countertenor of Sytse Buwalda. It's unlikely that there will another full recording of 'Arminio' anytime soon but that's OK as this one will do very well. Highly recommended!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Music is Enough...,
By Giordano Bruno - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handel - Arminio (Audio CD)
... without staging and without laboring through the stuffy libretto in Italian or English, to make Handel's Arminio a balmy entertainment. Most of the flashiest arias, the showiest instrumental passages, the touchingest affectations come in the second and third acts, on CD 2, so be sure you hold judgment on the performance until then, when you've had a chance to hear the unusual duet/trio/quartet recitativos, even including some passages sung by overlapping voices, and the defiant, heroic arias of Arminio and Sigismundo.
Any skepticism I've expressed in other reviews about Vivica Genoux can be dismissed in light of her splendid singing as Arminio, a role which allows her to exploit her lower mezzo timbre to beautiful effect as well as to show off her 'concitato' (frenzied) athleticism. The two higher sopranos, Geraldine McGreevy and Dominique Labelle, achieve dramatic intensity without sacrificing beauty of timbre or accuracy of tuning, evidence I think of the inspiring standards that conductor Alan Curtis always demands of his performers. Basso Riccardo Ristori might seem a little impassive dramatically, in his role as the heavy, but his musical profundo more than compensates. How often do you hear a basso sing sixteenth-note arpeggios with tonal clarity and precision? Italian tenor Luigi Petroni, singing the role of the Roman general Varo, has more technique than natural voice, and I suppose the same is true of countertenor Sytse Buwalda as a Roman captain, but both singers are fully enjoyable to hear. The opera seria Arminio was first sung in London in 1737. This recording was made in 2001, using a score prepared by Alan Curtis himself. The instrumental parts, fortified by Curtis to suit his polished ensemble Il Complesso Barocco, are robust and stirring, with brilliant moments for the oboes, horns, and theorbos. This 2-CD recording is.... are you ready for the good news?... included in the box of six Handel operas recently released by Virgin Classics at a rock-bottom price. The other five operas are Rodrigo, Radamisto, Admeto, Fernando, and Deidamia, all recorded by Il Complesso Barocco between 1978 and 2007. Each opera has a different cast of singers, but all six are superlative. 7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Worthwhile Despite Weaknesses,
By Leslie Richford - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handel - Arminio (Audio CD)
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759): Arminio. Opera in 3 Acts with a libretto by Antonio Salvi. Cast: Vivica Genaux, mezzosoprano (Arminio); Geraldine McGreevy, soprano (Tusnelda); Dominique Labelle, soprano (Sigismondo); Manuela Custer, mezzosoprano (Ramise); Luigi Petroni, tenor (Varo); Sytse Buwalda, countertenor (Tullio); Riccardo Ristori, bass (Segeste); Il Complesso Barocco, dir. Alan Curtis. Recorded at the Teatro dei Rozzi in Siena, Italy, in July 2000, and released in 2001 by Virgin Classics (EMI) as 7243 5 45461 2 9. Total playing time: 146'26".
"Arminio" must be considered as one of Handel's minor operatic works, even though it contains some very attractive, but generally rather conventional music. It was staged by Handel himself towards the end of his career as impresario (1737) and only had six performances, its reception being so bad that it was never staged again until the 20th century. The main problem, of course, is not the music but the libretto, the Italian original (based on Tacitus) having been shortened almost to the point of unintelligibity for the London stage (Handel's English audiences had a notorious dislike of Italian recitative). All this is the subject of Alan Curtis's introductory essay in the documentation, which is here pleasingly complemented by a radio talk given by Donna Leon, explaining some of the intricacies of the "plot", such as it is. I found these essays attractive reading, but was a little disappointed to find that the libretto in the booklet was given only in Italian and in the "translation" used by Handel himself in the 18th century, this being, in fact, anything but literal and blowing up the fairly sane Italian text with Georgian poetic bombast. Despite Donna Leon's misgivings about the plot, I found the moral conflicts involved in the various dilemmas facing the characters to be quite challenging. Yes, of course the 18th century had its conventions, but I still prefer a good opera seria with its often cathartic approach to, say, a 19th century Verismo opera or to the decadence of Viennese operetta. I agree with another reviewer that the instrumental side of this performance is the greatest highlight, with Alan Curtis's conducting proving him once again to be one of the "grand old men" of the revival of Handel's operas. His choice of singers, on the other hand, is a matter of taste. Vivica Genaux, of course, needs no recommendation from the likes of me; since her album of "Arias for Farinelli" she has been a Handelian star, and her performance as Arminio is beyond criticism. Her rich, dark, creamy mezzo combines with a fire in her declamation which lifts her head and shoulders above the rest of the cast. Dominique Labelle as Sigismondo, the indecisive son of Arminio's enemy Segeste (and the equally indecisive lover of Arminio's sister Ramise), has a pleasingly agile soprano voice which grew on me while listening to these CDs. Geraldine McGreevy, Tusnelda, is a singer I had not come across anywhere before, and I felt that her performance was one which improved during the opera - at the beginning she seemed remarkably "cool" (not to say, cold), and even at the end, when she has some beautiful arias, I felt that a little more "fuoco" would have enhanced her performance. Manuela Custer, mezzo, was a satisfying Ramise. The male voices, on the other hand, were somewhat disappointing. Sytse Buwalda, countertenor, is able to sing Tullio quite plesantly, but he certainly isn't in the Andreas Scholl class, his timbre sounding falsetto-like and reminding me rather of some of the efforts at countertenor in the 80s. Segeste (Riccardo Ristori) remains surprisingly pale for a villain of his calibre, but it is the tenor part of Varo which here really seems to be the Achilles heel of the production. Without wishing to be unkind, I felt on a number of occasions that I wanted, literally, to shake this Italian performer into a bit of temperament; I think the best I can say of him is that he was involved in the production. All in all, this is, despite the weaknesses, a very worthwhile project which has closed one of the last gaps in the Handel opera discography and provides some excellent insights into the way Handel combined genius with convention in the battle for survival as an impresario. 7 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am THRILLED with this opera---and with it's cast!,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Handel - Arminio (Audio CD)
I am so glad to have discovered this opera. What a magnificent cast! Vivica Genaux [Arminio] and Geraldine McGreevy [Tusnelda] are a JOY to behold and hear!
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