Handel -Tolomeo / Hallenberg, Gauvin, Bonitatibus, Basso, Spagnoli, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis
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Music CD Cover Brand: IL COMPLESSO BAROCCO Composer: George Frideric Handel Conductor: Alan Curtis Orchestra: Il Complesso Barocco Performer: Ann Hallenberg Performer: Karina Gauvin Performer: Anna Bonitatibus Performer: Romina Basso Performer: Piertro Spagnoli Edition: Music CD Audio: English (Unknown) CD Release Date: 2008-03-11 Music Label: Archiv Produktion Soundtracks: Music CD 1
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Free Music Notes for Handel -Tolomeo / Hallenberg, Gauvin, Bonitatibus, Basso, Spagnoli, Il Complesso Barocco, Curtis Album
Free Music Review: Top-Notch Handel; Fills a Major Gap
Hit: 5 Stars
Alan Curtis's recording of Tolomeo is top-notch and fills a major gap in the Handel discography. (Although there is one previous recording, an Amazon reviewer calls it "possibly the worst opera recording I have ever heard.")
Now professor emeritus of musicology at Berkeley, Curtis helped kick off the modern renaissance of Handel operas with his complete recording of Admeto for EMI in 1977. That recording, which is still available on Virgin CD, starred Rene Jacobs, James Bowman, Max van Egmond, and other pioneers in historically informed performance. The band was Il Complesso Barocco, then comprised primarily of Dutch musicians.
Curtis didn't record any more Handel operas for many years afterwards, but recently he has more than made up for lost time. From his base near Florence, Curtis has reconstituted Il Complesso Barocco as a largely Italian ensemble (although cellist Richte van der Meer plays in both Admeto and Tolomeo). Since 1999, they have produced CDs of Arminio, Deidamia, Fernando, Floridante, Radmaisto, Rodelinda, and Rodrigo. Many of these are first recordings, and several have won awards. A DVD of Ariodante was released in February 2008, and Ezio is scheduled to be recorded in September 2008.
The Ptolemy of Tolomeo is not the character of the same name in Giulio Cesare but an earlier Egyptian ruler (whose mother, to add to the confusion, was another Cleopatra). The typically convoluted plot reaches its climax when Ptolemy drinks a poisoned cup, which turns out to contain only a sleeping potion. The work is "an almost pure aria opera" with only brief recitatives, and "many of these arias are very beautiful" (quoting Paul Henry Lang).
It's great to have Tolomeo available at last in a first-rate recording. Swedish mezzo Ann Hallenberg (Arsamene in Christophe Rousset's DVD of Serse) sings Ptolemy, and Anna Bonitatibus (Irene in Trevor Pinnock's Tamerlano) is his sister Elisa. The other soloists are equally capable, although less well known. Upon first hearing, I wouldn't classify Tolomeo as one of Handel's best operas, but I look forward to becoming better acquainted through repeated listening.
Paul N. Van de Water