Antonio Montagnana, a Venetian, sang bass parts for Handel, and for Handel's London rivals, during the 1730s. He created a number of roles, in both operas and oratorios, and his voice—at least initially—was of a quality to lead Handel to supply extra arias for him in revivals. It is of course the arias written specifically for Montagnana that tell us most about his voice, and on their evidence it was clearly quite remarkable, almost as remarkable, in fact, as David Thomas's. His first roles were Varus in Ezio and Altomarus in Sosarme; he also took roles in the London premieres of Esther, Acis and Galatea and Deborah, though the music here was not actually written for him (sometimes it was adapted). He created roles in some later operas, too, but the fact that Handel wrote smaller and less interesting music for him indicates that his powers were waning.
But the six opera arias here clearly belong to his prime. We tend to think of Handel's bass music as typically rather blustery and bombastic—in the operas, they are often the utterances of a military man or villain. These are not so easily typecast. The first in Ezio is in fact of this sort (Varus, the character Montagnana played, is head of the Praetorian guard), but the second is a noble, sustained piece, at moderate tempo, demanding a true basso cantante with its long, fluid lines mostly within the octave below middle C but rising to top F and falling to a bottom one—and with a lot of large leaps and some florid semiquaver writing. The last from this opera is a stirring, warlike piece with solo trumpet. The first in Sosarme is another rich, eloquent, slow piece, exploiting again Montagnana's capacity to combine agility and expressive force. David Thomas's ornamentation here enlarges one of the leaps to two octaves and a fifth, an astonishing effect. His second is an aria as brilliant in style as any for a higher voice, a fine, fiery piece; and last is a lively gavotte-aria. For the rest, I would mention in particular the Italian adaptation of Polyphemus's ''O ruddier than the cherry'' (Acis), the appealingly expressive aria from Tolomeo, and from Deborah above all the deeply felt ''Tears, such as tender fathers shed''.
Handel might have been more adventurous still had he known David Thomas's voice. Thomas has a formidable range, a dazzling technique—the runs precisely articulated, the huge leaps (some must feel like falling without a parachute) always surely and accurately negotiated—and a tone that is full and resonant yet always clearly defined. Even at the extreme bottom there is no fuzziness, and plenty of volume right down to F or so. He goes down on this record to a B, a semitone below cello C, and rises to a tenor's high A. His voice does not always come out as well on records as it does in person; but here it is beautifully caught, not only that characteristic incisive quality but also warm, softly resonant tones in the expressive arias. I admired the fine free but controlled singing, particularly in the second Orlando aria, and the sustained singing, notable in the second from Deborah as well as those described above.
I am less happy with some of the orchestral playing. Nicholas McGegan goes in for light yet sharp attack, and in many of the arias the string sound is rough and choppy; I would be surprised if this is the kind of effect that Handel (or indeed anyone else) intended. The violins often seem to nibble at the notes, or even snap at them. And I am not convinced that the rather forward presence of the lute in the continuo team always produces an appropriate sound. Still, this is essentially David Thomas's record, not the orchestra's, and his contribution is very remarkable and very enjoyable too.'