Handel: Fernando Alan Curtis
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CD
- Release Date: 02/06/2007
- 2 Disc Set
- Sales Rank: 99,116
- Label: EMI CLASSICS
- UPC: 094636548326
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Handel: Fernando
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Editorial Reviews
To most of the living, "Fernando" is a song by ABBA that gets played way too much on the radio. To even many dedicated Handelians, admittedly a much smaller group than "the living," the title "Fernando" as applied to a Handel opera will give pause -- conventional wisdom says he didn't write an opera by that name. Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco beg to differ; careful examination of the manuscript of Handel's Sosarme reveals that the original title was indeed "Fernando" and liberal cuts were made to eliminate recitative relating to Handel's first idea. The action was moved from Portugal to Media, and the character names were all changed. "Fernando/Sosarme" was composed very quickly and the first production mounted just 13 days after the manuscript was completed; the first two acts were written out in the "Fernando" stage of the project, whereas the third was composed as "Sosarme." This realization by Alan Curtis restores the cut material in the first two acts and presumably changes all of the character names in the third to complement the first two. One might feel such a project is a bit disingenuous, as Handel had reason to make the changes even if we don't know now just why, but perhaps in response Curtis might say "So sue me!"
Seriously, this Virgin Classics release is a boon to Handelians, as Sosarme has never had a major league recording. Conductor Johannes Somary recorded it back in the 1990s for Newport Classic in a version that is long gone, and there is an ancient broadcast of the work featuring Alfred Deller from 1954 floating around on various labels -- not much for a Handelian to sink his or her teeth into. Virgin Classics' Fernando is a top quality recording and performance, with bass Antonio Abete as Altomaro, the "Iago" of this turbulent story about a king's battle against his sons, being a standout among the front line singers. Filippo Adami as Dionisio, the king under siege, seems the weakest link, but his part was the first music that Handel ever wrote for a tenor and the writing up high is a little ungracious. If one is a fan of Handel's operas, than it is hard to imagine what would keep him or her from obtaining Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco's Fernando. Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide
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