Composer: George Frideric Handel
Performer: Magdalena Kožená, Anna Bonitatibus, Erin Morley, Elizabeth DeShong, Alois Mühlbacher, Alex Rosen, Valerio Contaldo
Orchestra: Les Musiciens du Louvre
Conductor: Marc Minkowski
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Pentatone
Catalogue: PTC5187084
Release: 2024
Size: 3.47 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Alcina, HWV 34
CD 01
Act I
01. Ouverture
02. Ouverture, Musette
03. Ouverture, Menuet
04. Oh Dei!
05. O s’apre al riso
06. Questo è il cielo di contenti
07. Ballet, Gavotte
08. Sarabande
09. Menuet
10. Gavotte
11. Ecco l’infido
12. Di, cor mio, quanto t’amai
13. Generosi guerrier
14. Chi m’insegna il caro padre
15. Mi ravvisi, Ruggier, dimmi?
16. Di te mi rido
17. Qua dunque ne veniste
18. Io sono tua difesa
19. È gelosia
20. Io dunque
21. La cerco invano
22. Semplicetto! A donna credi?
23. Ah! Infidele
24. Regina, il tuo soggiorno
25. Sì, son quella
26. Se nemico mi fossi
27. Bradamante favella?
28. La bocca vaga
29. A quai strani perigli
30. Fuggi, cor mio
31. Tornami a vagheggiar
CD 02
Act II
01. Col celarvi a chi v’ama un momento
02. Taci, taci, codardo
03. Qual portento
04. Atlante, dove sei?
05. Pensa a chi geme d’amor piagata
06. Qual odio ingiusto contro me?
07. Vorrei vendicarmi del perfido cor
08. Chi scuopre al mio pensiero
09. Mi lusinga il dolce affetto
10. S’acquieti il rio sospetto
11. E la tua pace
12. Ama, sospira
13. Non scorgo nel tuo viso
14. Mio bel tesoro
15. Regina, io cerco invano
16. Tra speme e timore
17. Regina, sei tradita
18. Ah, mio cor!
19. Or che dici, Morgana?
20. Alla offesa il disprezzo
21. È un folle
22. Ed è ver che mi narri?
23. Eccomi a’ piedi tuoi
24. Verdi prati
25. Ah! Ruggiero crudel
26. Ombre pallide
27. Entrée des Songes agréables
28. Entrée des Songes funestes
29. Entrée des Songes agréables effrayés
CD 03
Act III
01. Sinfonia
02. Voglio amar e disamar
03. Credete al mio dolore
04. M’inganna, me ne avveggo
05. Un momento di contento
06. Molestissimo incontro
07. Ma quando tornerai
08. Tutta d’armate square
09. Sta nell’ircana pietrosa
10. Vanne tu seco ancora
11. All’alma fedel
12. Niuna forza l’arresta
13. Mi restano le lagrime
14. Sin per le vie del sole
15. Già vicino è’l momento
16. Barbara! Io ben lo so
17. Le lusinghe, gl’inganni non udir più
18. Non è amor
19. Prendi, e vivi
20. Ah, mio Ruggier, che tenti?
21. Misera, ah, no!
22. Ah, che tardi?
23. Dall’orror di notte cieca
24. Entrée
25. Tamburino
26. Dopo tante amare
Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre return to Handel with a complete recording of his opera Alcina.The title role is interpreted by Magdalena Kožená, who reunites with Les Musiciens and maestro Minkowski after a series of acclaimed baroque recordings.She is joined by an excellent cast of soloists, consisting of Erin Morley (Morgana), Anna Bonitatibus (Ruggiero), Elizabeth De Shong (Bradamante), Alois Mühlbacher (Oberto), Valerio Contaldo (Oronte) and Alex Rosen (Melisso).This studio recording transports the listener to Alcina’s enchanted island, and shows Handel at the peak of his power: the score is dramatic, lush and colourful as well as introspective and profound where the story requires it.
Since its foundation in 1982, and under the baton of its founder and musical director Marc Minkowski, Les Musiciens du Louvre have developed into one of the world’sbest period-instrument ensembles, with a vast discography. The ensemble returns to Pentatone after having presented Mozart’s Mass in C Minor in 2020.Alcina is star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená’s fifth album as part of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented the baroque cantatas recital album Il Giardino dei sospiri and the songs in chamber-musical setting project Soirée in 2019, as well as Nostalgia together with Yefim Bronfman (2021) and Folk Songs with the Czech Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle (2023). The other soloists all make their Pentatone debut.
Handel’s Alcina, a work in the vocally virtuosic opera seria genre from 1735, returned to opera stages after a revival by Joan Sutherland in 1960, but recordings of it are not abundant. This is partly because it is a very visual work, with dances and sorcery special effects that don’t come through on a recording. Another reason is that it contains some of Handel’s most strenuous vocal writing, requiring a trio of top-notch female singers. The latter problem is solved in this 2024 release by Les Musiciens du Louvre and its director Marc Minkowski, who keep the massive, three-and-a-quarter-hour spectacle moving with tough, resolute playing. The title role is sung by mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená (Lady Rattle for peerage freaks), a Handel specialist of long standing who has absolutely outdone herself here in one of the big Handel roles that exploits her entire range, both physically and emotionally. The love-triangle (or rectangle) plot, however, requires other singers who can stand up to the star, and this the opera receives in Erin Morley as Alcina’s sister, Morgana, and Elizabeth DeShong as Bradamente, a fiancée disguised as her own brother. Though the plot is over-intricate, the emotional threads remain clear in this performance, and the engineering from PentaTone Classics is top-notch. This release made classical best-seller charts in early 2024, something not often accomplished by hefty Handel opera recordings.