After a century of neglect, many of Handel’s
once sensationally popular operas are now an established part of the
operatic mainstream. But here is something of a rarity: the incomplete
‘incidental music’ for Alceste.
Conceived as a hugely lavish production, it was possibly Alceste’s
overreaching ambition that led to its downfall. A team of top talent was
assembled for its creation: Scottish-born playwright Tobias Smollett,
impresario John Rich, celebrated set-designer Giovanni Servandoni,
Handel's librettist Thomas Morell and, of course, the towering genius
composer of the opera world himself. Intended for performance at Covent
Garden, the production collapsed soon after rehearsals had begun in
1749. Quite why remains a mystery – but it seems likely that the
involvement of too many temperamental cooks spoilt the proverbial broth.
Smollett's play disappeared and remains lost; but, fortunately,
Handel's music survives. Indeed, much of it will be familiar to anyone
acquainted with the subsequent works into which Handel pragmatically
recycled its material – The Choice of Hercules, Belshazzar and Alexander
Balus. This new Chandos release offers a welcome chance to appreciate
the music of Alceste in its original, never realised, guise.
The classical drama tells of Alceste's self-sacrifice to save her
dying husband, King Admetus, and of Hercules' journey to Hades to bring
Alceste back to the world of the living. Smollett assigned the
principal roles to actors; Handel's arias are sung by secondary
characters. Pick of the bunch is the ravishing ‘Gentle Morpheus, son of
night’, in which Calliope (goddess of poetry) consoles Admetus, sung
with affecting tenderness here by Lucy Crowe to sumptuously lilting
accompaniment from the Early Opera Company orchestra under conductor
Christian Curnyn.
Occasionally he doesn't get the mood quite right – the wedding
celebration chorus ‘O bless, ye pow'rs above’ needs greater rhythmic
spring. But, generally, Curnyn's lively and sensitive approach makes a
strong case for this little-known score. (Graham Rogers / BBC Music)
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