Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Enjoyable Lesson in the History of Opera, 31 Jul 2002
If you have reached thus far in your search for a CD, you will probably know the following: 'Opera seria' was the predominant form of opera for a large part of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 'Opera buffa' sprang up as an antidote to it; Gluck & others rebelled against it; Mozart paid homage to it. It shapes operatic history. Yet it is not in the present day mainstream repertoire of opera. So where can you hear it? After some research and deliberation, I plumped to hear it by splashing out on this CD. The libretto is by Metastasio, the poet who brought the style of 'opera seria' to perfection. The text (based on Metastasio's poem 'Alessandro nell'Indie') is worth getting to know since it was adapted by many composers, including Handel (in 'Poro'). But, in Metastasio's opinion, it was the now-largely-unknown Hasse who was the best composer of his texts. Having plumped, I wasn't disappointed. This is a faithful production of the original with male altos singing the parts originally sung by castrati. Emma Kirkby in the prima donna role is beautiful. The booklet provides plenty of chunky background information. It takes some listening at first. Since every part - male and female - is in the upper register, you have to concentrate to know who is singing what. The plot is complicated and at the same time insubstantial. (" Nearly everyone is Alexander the Great's enemy but he pardons them"). It goes on for well over three hours and is potentially very tedious: the basic format in each scene is recitative ending with an aria (so-called "exit arias")- and there are twenty-seven of them! But this is a Faberge egg: finely textured; or a Henry Fielding novel: needing to be enjoyed at a gentle pace. Each aria is a soliloquy, stopping to explore the inner mood of the actor after the exchanges of the recitative. The arias consciously express different emotions: exasperation, retaliation, honour, fidelity, jealousy. Sometimes horns predominate, or flutes, or a ground bass. The basic pattern of recitative & aria is subtly varied by marches of costumed characters, non-exit arias, duets and (at the end) a chorus. On repeated listening each individual aria springs into relief - and the music is sublime! My favourite is " Generoso risvegliati o core" sung by Cleofide's husband Poro. It has a good tune and a raunching rhythm: Verdi is in a direct line of descent from this.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A real revelation, 19 Dec 2007
I first really came across the name of Johann Hasse when reading about the operatic rivalry between Handel and the so-called `Opera of the Nobility' in the 1730s. This latter company put on operas by such composers as the now little-known Hasse and Nicola Porpora, as well as by Handel himself. As this rival group had managed to poach many of the best-known singers of the day from Handel's company, it achieved some considerable success, at least for a time.
I assumed Hasse's music (I have yet to delve into that of Porpora) would be decidedly second-rate but when I came across this recording of Cleofide (now fully 20 years old), conducted by the estimable William Christie (who has hardly put a foot wrong in his long recording career) and sung by a high-class team of soloists, I decided to give it a go.
Well, what a revelation! This may not be "great" music in the manner of Bach or Handel at their very best, but it is highly enjoyable and most certainly not second-rate. Cleofide is full of the most wonderfully tuneful and often exciting arias. In fact, I venture to say - excuse the sacrilege - it is rather BETTER than one of George Frideric's pot-boilers!
Undoubtedly, this CD set is helped by the wonderful soloists. That the sainted Dame Emma Kirkby is superb goes without saying, but she is on really top form here - her `floated' ornamentation can be quite breathtaking. Agnès Mellon is also excellent and very much holds her own in this illustrious company.
But it is the group of four - what shall we call them? - `countertenors' (the term doesn't quite describe the sheer diversity of voice but will have to serve) who really `make' the recording. David Cordier was a name new to me but he has a beautiful tone, which, of the four, conforms most to the countertenor norm. Derek Lee Ragin of course has a huge international reputation and is one of my favourite falsettists; he has a most unusual but (to me) attractive tone coupled with the flexibility of a mezzo. Dominique Visse has a unique, high, voice and he really comes into his own here, perhaps to an even greater extent than he has in other roles.
And then we come to Randall K Wong. His contribution alone is worth the price of the disc. A true soprano (or perhaps one should say `sopranist'), his voice is quite astonishing in its range, flexibility and, yes, beauty. If, like me, you tend to start playing the disc without referring to the accompanying booklet, I defy you to discern that it is a man singing. Once you know, you can hear an indefinable something which sets the voice apart from female sopranos and gives it a wonderful quality all of its own. I have listened to other male sopranos such as Michael Maniaci, Aris Christofellis and Radu Marian, all of whom have exceptional voices, but I believe Wong is the greatest of them all - and possibly closest to the great castrati of old (though, of course, none of us can know that). Quite why we have not heard more of him, heaven alone knows.
There were only two things which slightly irritated me about this opera: the intrusive lengthy recitatives and Herr Hasse's habit of ending arias rather abruptly - but both of these are bearable annoyances in the context of the whole. If you love baroque music and appreciate the countertenor voice, I can thoroughly recommend this set - and you get four discs for your money!
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~ Max Emanuel Cencic
~ Nicola Porpora
~ Michael Kranebitter
~ Simone Kermes
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