The Irish conductor Kevin Mallon offers a totally refreshing account of Rinaldo,
Handel’s opera about the crusading knight whom the sorceress, Armida,
attempts to seduce. Mallon opts for the first version of the score, even
though Handel later added alternative numbers. Following that decision,
he has women instead of counter-tenors for the castrato roles of
Rinaldo and Eustazio, giving the small castrato role of the magician,
Mago, to a bass. The cast is made up of fresh, youthful-sounding
singers, none of them strikingly characterful but all stylish, with
clean, fresh voices and immaculate techniques. Despite the dictates of
period performance Mallon takes the most famous number, the aria Lascia ch’io pianga,
exceptionally slowly, allowing the excellent soprano Laura Whalen to
ornament the reprise with great delicacy. Vivid, open sound. An
excellent bargain, despite the lack of a full libretto. (Penguin Guide)
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