Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Andrew Foster-Williams, Thomas Walker, Hilary Summers, Iestyn Davies, Tim Mead, Rosemary Joshua, Renata Pokupić, Early Opera Company Chorus
Orchestra: Early Opera Company Orchestra
Conductor: Christian Curnyn
Number of Discs: 2
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN0773
Release: 2010
Size: 665 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Flavio
CD 01
01. Overture
02. Act I Scene 1: Fra i ciechi orror’ notturni (Vitige, Teodata)
03. Act I Scene 1: Ricordati mio ben (Teodata, Vitige)
04. Act I Scene 2: Sinfonia
05. Act I Scene 2: Lotario, al sacro nodo (Ugone, Lotario, Guido, Teodata)
06. Act I Scene 3: Con l’alma reverente (Emilia, Guido, Ugone, Lotario, Teodata) – Quanto dolci, quanto care (Emilia)
07. Act I Scene 4: Son pur felice al fine (Guido)
08. Act I Scene 4: Bel contento gia gode quest’alma (Guido)
09. Act I Scene 5: O dell’Italo soglio, eccelso nume (Ugone, Flavio, Teodata)
10. Act I Scene 5: Benche povera donzella (Teodata)
11. Act I Scene 6: Della mia prole Emilia (Lotario, Flavio, Vitige)
12. Act I Scene 7: Di qual sovrano e riverito impero (Ugone, Flavio, Lotario) – Se a te vissi fedele (Lotario)
13. Act I Scene 8: Vitige! (Flavio, Vitige)
14. Act I Scene 8: Di quel bel che m’innamora (Flavio)
15. Act I Scene 9: Io vo temendo, O Dio (Vitige)
16. Act I Scene 9: Che bel contento (Vitige)
17. Act I Scene 10: Ah! Guido, Guido! (Ugone, Guido)
18. Act I Scene 11: Amor, Emilia, onore (Guido) – L’armellin vita non cura (Guido)
19. Act I Scene 12: Guido? Consorte? (Emilia, Guido)
20. Act I Scene 13: Chi mai l’intende, Oh Dio! (Emilia) – Amante stravagante (Emilia)
21. Act II Scene 1: Al tuo cenno reale ubbidiente (Teodata, Flavio) – Scene 2: Dove, dove mi celo? (Ugone, Flavio, Teodata)
22. Act II Scene 3: Ah! Teodata, Teodata! (Ugone, Teodata) – Fato tiranno e crudo (Ugone)
23. Act II Scene 4: Dunque per le mie nozze (Emilia, Lotario)
24. Act II Scene 4: S’egli ti chiede affetto (Lotario)
25. Act II Scene 5: Che mai chiedete, o stelle (Emilia, Guido)
26. Act II Scene 5: Parto, si; ma non so poi (Emilia)
27. Act II Scene 6: Privarmi ancora (Guido)
28. Act II Scene 6: Rompo i lacci, e frango i dardi (Guido)
CD 02
01. Act II Scene 7: Di Teodata assai men vago splende (Flavio, Vitige)
02. Act II Scene 7: Chi puo mirare (Flavio)
03. Act II Scene 8: Teodata! (Vitige, Teodata)
04. Act II Scene 8: Con un vezzo, con un riso (Teodata)
05. Act II Scene 9: Amo, e quel ben ch’adoro (Vitige)
06. Act II Scene 9: Non credo instabile (Vitige)
07. Act II Scene 10: Io deluso? Lotario? ed altri miete (Lotario, Guido)
08. Act II Scene 11: Ah! misera, che veggio? ah, genitore (Emilia, Lotario) – Ma chi punir desio? (Emilia)
09. Act III Scene 1: Alma, tu non m’intendi (Flavio, Emilia, Ugone)
10. Act III Scene 1: Da te parto; ma concedi (Emilia)
11. Act III Scene 2: Guido, Lotario uccise? (Flavio, Vitige, Teodata)
12. Act III Scene 2: Corrispondi a chi ti adora (Vitige, Flavio, Teodata)
13. Act III Scene 2: Starvi accanto e non languire (Flavio)
14. Act III Scene 2: Barbara Teodata (Vitige, Teodata)
15. Act III Scene 2: Che colpa e la mia (Teodata)
16. Act III Scene 3: Del nuovo amante, e dell’impero accesa (Vitige)
17. Act III Scene 3: Sirti, scogli, tempeste, procelle (Vitige)
18. Act III Scene 4: O Guido, o mio tiranno! (Emilia) – Emilia, eccoti al piede (Guido, Emilia)
19. Act III Scene 4: Aria: Amor, nel mio penar (Guido)
20. Act III Scene 5: Vitige! (Teodata, Vitige, Flavio) – Signor, se il mio delitto (Guido, Ugone, Flavio)
21. Act III Scene 7: Deh, perdona, o dolce bene (Guido, Emilia)
22. Act III Scene 7: E tu, Vitige, in pena (Flavio, Vitige, Teodata, Ugone, Guido)
23. Act III Scene 7: Doni pace ad ogni core (Chorus)
Although Flavio, premiered in 1723, deals with motives of love, honour, and duty, the tone is domestic, with less emphasis than in many other operas on political or military changes of fortune. Though hardly a comedy, it does seem to move to a more detached view of human interactions. The action is set in Lombardy during the dark ages: the stratagem of sending unwanted individuals away to govern Britain – striking overtones of honour and punishment – would no doubt have been taken humorously by the London audiences.
The music embraces a wide variety of emotions, with duets, one for each pair of lovers, framing the beginning and end of the opera. In Act III, as one lover pleads the case of his rival, the ambiguity of the situation causes a splendid ironical frisson in the plot, reflected in the music. Handel revived Flavio once, in 1732, its modest success in its day reflecting the tastes of contemporary audiences rather than its musical or dramatic quality. It is far better appreciated today as one of the composer’s most inventive operas, full of the varied imagination, superb arias, and excellent melody we expect from Handel’s best operas.
Founded in 1994 by its music director, Christian Curnyn, the Early Opera Company is now firmly established as one of Britain’s leading early music ensembles. The Company’s debut production of Handel’s Serse led to an invitation to perform at the BOC Covent Garden Festival, and this was followed by three performances of Ariodante. In 1998 the Company made its debut at St John’s, Smith Square with a concert performance of Charpentier’s Actéon and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and was invited to stage Handel’s Orlando at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the South Bank Early Music Festival.
Since then the Company has performed at many leading festivals. Highlights have included productions of Dido and Aeneas at the Vic Early Music Festival in Spain, Handel’s Agrippina at St John’s, and Handel’s Partenope at the Buxton Festival and the Snape Proms at Aldeburgh.
Future plans include performances of Così fan tutte at New York City Opera and Medée at Chicago Opera Theater.
For Chandos, Christian Curnyn and the Early Opera Company have recorded Handel’s Partenope and Semele (winner of the 2009 Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize) and Eccles’s The Judgment of Paris.