COMPOSERS: Handel
LABELS: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi
ALBUM TITLE: Handel Lotario
WORKS: Lotario
PERFORMER: Sara MingardoSimone KermesSonia PrinaHilary SummersSteve DavislimVito PrianteIl Complesso BaroccoAlan Curtis
CATALOGUE NO: 82876 58797 2
Lotario survived for ten performances
in 1729 and then fell into virtual
oblivion until its first modern revival
(in Henley-on-Thames) in 1975. This
is its premiere recording; and only the
most fanatical Handelian would claim
it as a masterpiece.
Even by Baroque standards, the
libretto – a quasi-historical account of dynastic rivalries in tenth-century
Italy – is ill-motivated and far-fetched.
Only Matilda, wife of the tyrant
Berengario, cuts a strong dramatic
figure, though her ruthless schemes are
thwarted with comical regularity by
her lovelorn son Idelberto. But though
some of the arias are routine Handel,
Lotario has many vivid numbers,
not only for Matilda (including a
chilling invocation to the Furies), but
also for the put-upon Adelaide, for
Berengario (above all his brooding aria
of remorse), and for the hero Lotario
himself, whose noble, richly textured
Act II aria ‘Non disperi peregrino’
is one of those show-stopping
Handelian moments.
Alan Curtis perhaps underestimates
the gravitas of certain numbers. But
he gets typically spruce, pointed
playing from his expert band, while
his cast, led by the magnificent deep
ochre tones of Sara Mingardo in
the title role, sing with style and as
much character as their music allows.
I don’t find Simone Kermes’s fast,
tight vibrato ideal for Handel, though
she phrases gracefully and summons
plenty of fire in extremis. Both the
soft-grained yet verbally incisive
Sonia Prina as Matilda and the
aptly androgynous-sounding Hilary
Summers (Idelberto) are excellent,
while Steve Davislim copes skilfully
with his taxing coloratura and brings
a grave intensity to Berengario’s
magnificent aria of remorse. Purists
will regret the cuts (mainly in
recitatives and the ‘B’ sections of arias)
made to fit Lotario on to two CDs.
Others can be assured that they are
missing very little. Richard Wigmore