Did someone say that Handel’s opera plots were too complicated? Not Imeneo: Princess Rosmene, rescued from pirates by Imeneo, has to choose between him and her former beloved, Tirinto. After going into a trance, she decides in favour of Imeneo, reason and gratitude prevailing over love (and that, incidentally, is how Hymen, or in Italian Imeneo, became god of marriage).

Handel composed the opera in 1738 but didn’t perform it until 1740; it had a mere two performances, then another in Dublin in 1742. It is typical of his later operatic manner, lightly scored, relatively short of phrase, unheroic in tone and sometimes gently ironic. But the plot allows scope for some deeply felt music, from the unfortunate Tirinto, the original castrato part, and of course from Rosmene herself; and her final aria in particular, with its strange shifts of key, movingly suggests the disorientation and internal conflict that she has suffered. A particularly fine number is the terzetto for Rosmene and her two lovers at the end of Act 2 – the only ensemble in the opera beside the choruses, for the duets that Handel added (arguably at the expense of the drama) for Dublin are not included.

I found the opera much more compelling here than one might have expected from the plot, or indeed than I can remember from the three theatre productions I have seen. The opera is taken seriously. The singer of Rosmene, Johanna Stojkovic, has a commanding manner and a bright, firm voice. Her desolate little arietta at the beginning of the Second Act is beautifully poised, with some nice details of timing, and the stormy aria that soon follows and the one that opens Act 3 have fine attack and precise detail. Anna Hallenberg’s Tirinto shows a pure, high mezzo capable of delicate expressive singing; her gentle opening aria is touchingly done, and the noble declamatory one at the end has considerable power. I wish the conductor had allowed her a little more time over her central showpiece, ‘Sorge nell’alma’ (music that foreshadows ‘Why do the nations’). The role of Clomiri, Rosemene’s confidante (unrequitedly in love with Imeneo), is sung lightly and with much charm by Siri Karoline Thornhill.

For the Dublin version, Handel made Imeneo into a tenor; here the original lower version at baritone pitch is preferred. Kay Stiefermann sings it with considerable agility and in forthright fashion (which I suppose is apt for someone who has single-handedly slain a crew of pirates and then demands his reward). The music for Rosmene’s father, Argenio, is neatly shaped by Locky Chung, with some effective expression of the words through his phrasing. Several singers add a little appropriate ornamentation in the da capo sections.

Andreas Spering directs effectively and draws precise playing from his orchestra, which is modest in size (strings 5.4.3.2.1); in several arias he allows rather over-energetic, almost rough playing and at times the bass-line is unshapely and allowed to plod. But as a whole this is an impressive recording that belatedly does justice to an unjustly neglected opera.