David Alden’s staging of Ariodante was generally praised when it was first staged by WNO, a joint venture with ENO. This DVD is a recording of the much-admired revival at the ENO in 1996. Its appearance confirms the extraordinary perspicacity of Alden’s production, which explains, from an almost Freudian viewpoint, the loves, hates, fears and fantasies of the principal characters so unerringly and deeply delineated in Handel’s masterly score, in which aria after aria exposes new layers of emotional thrust and instability. At its heart is the unswerving, almost hysterical love of Ariodante for his royal bride Ginevra, herself bowled over by first love, then distraught when accused – wrongly – even by her father, of being a harlot. What that does to her psyche is arrestingly uncovered in Alden’s treatment of her behaviour.
That Alden had willing accomplices in his devastating expose of interior feelings is amply proved in Ann Murray’s totally committed performance of the unhinged Ariodante. Both in movement and in her singing Murray gives a performance of physical and vocal virtuosity only occasionally vitiated by a harsh tone – but that is perhaps not inappropriate for a lover pushed to extremes. The great arias, ‘Scherza infida’ and ‘Dopo notte’ are just the climactic moments they should be. Joan Rodgers as Ginevra is hardly less impressive in her portrayal of the myriad feelings suggested by Handel and Alden, and she sings with an innate sense of Handelian style.
Christopher Robson, as the villain Polinesso, is the very incarnation of evil lasciviousness, for which his edgy countertenor is not inappropriate. Lesley Garrett gives Dalinda just the right touch of vulnerability as she submits to Polinesso’s wiles while being sexually captivated by him. Gwynne Howell is the upright King to the life. Ivor Bolton conducts a vital, well-played account of the score with modern strings sounding very much like their period counterparts. The BBC’s Kriss Rusmanis catches all the claustrophobia of Alden’s enclosed world, capturing the agony and ecstasies of the plot as they happen. Almost three hours of gripping music-drama pass in a trice, helped by the unbroken sequence of DVD. The sound is commendable, the picture superb.'