Handel Semele
Semele sags but the prolific Martini shows he’s up to a Herculean task
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 12/2008
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Catalogue Number: 8 557960/62

Composer or Director: George Frideric Handel
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Naxos
Magazine Review Date: 12/2008
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 8 570431/3

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Semele |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
Annette Markert, Contralto (Female alto) Elisabeth Scholl, Soprano Frankfurt Baroque Orchestra George Frideric Handel, Composer Joachim Carlos Martini, Conductor Junge Kantorei Knut Schoch, Tenor |
Author: David Vickers
The sound engineering is poor, the plodding organ continuo in recitatives is tedious, the choir is unfocused and most of the soloists are weak. Martini includes Ino’s aria “See, she blushing turns her eyes”, which Handel replaced with a recitative version for Athamas before the first performance (hearing this, one feels that Handel’s judgement was correct). The rejected aria version of Juno’s “Behold in this mirror” is also reinstated. There are a few bright spots: Knut Schoch has more enthusiasm in his singing as Jupiter, harpsichordist Ludger Rémy accompanies Semele’s “O sleep, why dost thou leave me?” with sensitivity, and Julia Schmidt delivers a nice interpretation of Cupid’s “Come, Zephyrs come” (which Handel also omitted).
Hercules receives a better performance. The orchestra sound like an entirely different group of players (just over half of them are) and often play with precision, vigour and awareness. Peter Kooij is a surprising choice to play the title-role; lighter in timbre than most brawny basses who tackle Hercules, he none the less sings with intelligence and warmth. Franz Vitzhum’s English is just about OK, and he is musically secure. Gerlinde Sämann sings Iole’s difficult arias with assurance; her English pronunciation is among the best from the German singers, and the astonishing aria “My father! Methinks I see” is excellently done. Scottish mezzo-soprano Nicola Wemyss shows astute awareness of Dejanira’s intense moods and gives an effective performance of “Where shall I fly?”. A few blips are inevitable in a live recording, and the choral sonority is woolly and underwhelming, but in certain respects Hercules is Martini’s most consistently agreeable Handel recording yet.
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