Upcoming concert performances:

January 27, 2007, at 7:30 p.m., Emmanuel Music, Emmanuel Church, Newbury Street, Boston, Massachusetts

Cast to include: Paula Murrihy, Sanford Sylvan, Sarah Pelletier, Charles Blandy, Jeffrey Gall, and Jayne West.
Michael Beattie, Conductor

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Handel Ariodante
Les Talens Lyriques / Rousset
27 March 2007 / 19:00
Barbican Hall

Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset conductor
Angelika Kirchschlager Ariodante
Danielle de Niese Ginevra
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo Il Re
Topi Lehtipuu Lurcanio
Sandrine Piau Dalinda
Vivica Genaux Polinesso

Recommended recording

Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble & Marc Minkowski - Handel: Ariodante (USA)

Guardian March 8, 2002, review of English National Opera production

Financial Times March 8, 2002, review of English National Opera Production

ARIODANTE. Music by George Frideric Handel. Libretto adapted from Antonio Salvi’s Ginevra, principessa di Scozia, after Ludovico Ariosto’s poem Orlando furioso, cantos iv-vi. Cast: Amy Burton (Ginevra), Kendra Colton (Dalinda), Rosemarie van der Hooft (Polinesso), Beth Clayton (Ariodante), Curtis Streetman (King of Scotland), Ryan Turner (Odoardo), and Jeffrey Thompson (Lurcanio). Orchestra and Chorus of the Handel & Haydn Society. Conducted by Christopher Hogwood. Baroque dancers: Catherine Turocy and David Rodriguez. Stage consultant: William Gustafson.

On Sunday afternoon, April 21, 2002, I attended a complete performance of Handel’s Ariodante at Symphony Hall in Boston.

The first act was somewhat boring, with only Kendra Colton as Dalinda and Rosemarie van der Hooft as Polinesso creating believable characters. The other singers seemed bland if competent.

In the second act, with the singers called upon to express negative emotions, things picked up, and the performance became interesting. Beth Clayton in the title role was riveting in “Scherza infida.” She is a tall, very good-looking woman with an attractive voice.

The performance remained interesting in the third act.

All of the singers were very good, and the small orchestra played well under the competent conducting of Christopher Hogwood. Amy Burton made much more of an impression on me in the acoustic of Symphony Hall than she had a few years ago in the New York State Theatre. Rosemarie van der Hooft enunciated the Italian text with exceptional clarity. It was especially welcome to see dancers during the music that Handel had written for dancers.

Review of performance--New York City Opera--October 16, 1999

ARIODANTE. Music by George Frideric Handel. Libretto adapted from Antonio Salvi's "Ginevra, principessa di Scozia," after Ludovico Ariosto's poem "Orlando furioso," cantos iv-vi. Musical edition by Walter Siegmund-Schultze. Cast: Amy Burton (Ginevra), Lisa Saffer (Dalinda), Bejun Mehta (Polinesso), Keith F. Partington (Squire), Sarah Connolly (Ariodante), Sanford Sylvan (King of Scotland), Jeffrey Reynolds (Odoardo),and John McVeigh (Lurcanio). Conducted by Jane Glover. Director: John Copley. Set designer: John Conklin. Costume designer: Michael Stennett. New York City Opera, Lincoln Center. Saturday evening, October 16, 1999.

On October 16, I attended the season's final performance of Handel's "Ariodante" by the New York City Opera.

An "opera seria" by Handel, "Ariodante" has a somewhat complicated plot involving an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to besmirch the honor of the princess Ginevra, perpetrated by a thwarted rival for the hand of the princess.

The opera was in three acts, with only one intermission, which came after the first act. Since substantial cuts were made, the entire performance took place in just under three hours. The two acts that followed the one intermission nonetheless seemed long and somewhat tiring. Although the audience was clearly enjoying the show, they seemed eager for it to end, and seemed disappointed on two occasions when the opera continued after what had seemed like a potential finish. Paradoxically, if there had been fewer cuts and an intermission between acts two and three, the performance though taking more time might actually have seemed more interesting. Opera seria is interesting not so much for the story told, but more for the characters' comments on their emotions.

The singers were uniformly good. Outstanding among them was Sanford Sylvan in the role of Ginevra's father the King of Scotland. Sylvan is clearly a first-rate singer, with a beautiful voice and faultless enunciation. Unfortunately, his costume and wig were slightly ridiculous, making him resemble a king from a deck of playing cards.

Though quite pleasant, none of the other singers had an especially distinctive voice. Sarah Connolly as Ariodante looked quite dashing, with short hair and a tall athletic build well suited to trouser roles.

From where I was sitting on the left side of Row D in the Fourth Ring, I found that the sound "enhancement" system seemed to be working well. The sound seemed to come from the area of the stage and orchestra pit, and nothing seemed disproportionately loud.

On the whole, I enjoyed the evening, but would have preferred to hear something closer to a complete performance.