Continuing the Handel series from Le Concert
d’Astrée and Emmanuelle Haïm is La resurrezione, composed during the
young Handel’s period in Rome and first performed there in 1708. The
work recounts the events of Easter and the solo singers portray Lucifer,
Mary Magdalene, an Angel, St John the Evangelist, and St Mary Cleophas.
It calls upon a large orchestra, led and directed at the first
performance by the master violinist Arcangelo Corelli. The role of Mary
Magdalene, here performed by the lush-voiced young British soprano (and
EMI Classics artist) Kate Royal, was sung at the first performance by
the celebrated Margherita Durastanti, even though the Pope had forbidden
female singers to perform in public.
In April 2009,
Emmanuelle Haïm led a performance of La resurrezione at London’s Barbican Centre,
part of a tour which also covered Paris, Dijon, Aix-en-Provence, Lille,
Pamplona, Valladolid and Salzburg. The Guardian reported that:
“Emmanuelle Haïm's understanding of the relationship between sense and
sensuality in Handel has marked her out as one of his finest
interpreters, and her performance with her own Concert d'Astrée was
notable for its immediacy and expression. The playing had touches of
magic as recorders and flutes comforted the uncomprehending saints, and
flaring brass heralded the arrival of a new dawn … Camilla Tilling's
joyous Angel let fly volleys of flamboyant coloratura … while the great
Sonia Prina was vocally spectacular and immensely moving as Mary
Cleophas.”
The Salzburg performance led the Salzburger Nachrichten
to describe the “springy mastery” of the ensemble, “with sparkling
accents from the trumpets, lute and gamba … A Baroque highpoint in an
Easter Festival dominated by Romanticism.” Drehpunkt Kultur described
Luca Pisaroni’s Lucifer as “dangerously honed” and Toby Spence as “a
master of subtle ornamentation”. Overall, the ensemble of singers was
“technically and stylistically at the peak of today’s Handel
interpretation”, while Haïm herself “knows how to ignite her ensemble to
such powerful effect and then to restrain the emotion once more, so
that the force of expression never runs wild.”
. . . [from the first chords of the "Figaro" overture, Nézet-Séguin]
establishes a bold, fully crystallized concept of Mozartean sonority and
the psychological implications behind it . . . [Christiane Karg as the
wily servant Susanna and Sonya Yoncheva as the Countess] are just
wonderful . . . [Luca Pisaroni's Figaro] makes dramatic points not with
his usual word articulation but with more microphone-friendly use of
tone Color . . . Even small roles are cast with stars: Anne Sofie von
Otter as Marcellina and Rolando Villazón as Basilio help sustain Act 4 .
. . [the 50-plus "Figaro" recordings on CD and DVD] show how the opera
showcases each generation of Mozart performers . . . Nézet-Séguin's
recording takes its place among these touchstones. A great musical
mediator . . .
