When one of Germany’s most famous filmmakers and stimulating operatic directors focuses her creativity on a rarely performed Handel opera, the result is a ‘mixture of dancers and singers, comedy and pathos’ (The Times). ‘Admeto’, one of Handel’s most popular operas in his lifetime, was premiered in London in January 1727. Doris Dörrie, whose Japan-inspired feature film ‘Cherry Blossoms – Hanami’ was a major German box-office hit and won several international awards, returns to her beloved Japan in this production. Flowing robes, translucent panels and the participation of Japan’s Mamu Dance Theater and its choreographer/dancer Tadashi Endo add an evocative dimension to the work whose lead roles were written for a popular castrato and two rivaling primadonnas.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Born in Halle an der Saale in 1685, George Frideric Handel became the court music director of Prince Elector Georg Ludwig in Hanover in 1710. When his master was crowned King George I of England, Handel moved to London and remained there until his death in 1759. Handel wrote more than 30 operas there and was an initiator of the Royal Academy of Music, founded in 1720, which pursued the goal of popularizing Italian opera in London. “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” is Handel’s fifth work for this institution and was given its first performance with resounding success in 1724 at the theater on the Haymarket. After Handel’s death, “Julius Caesar” fell into oblivion like his other operas, but was rediscovered in the 20th century through several successful and often unconventional stagings. Next to “Serse,” it is now considered as the most popular Handel opera of our time. For some, Peter Sellars is an enfant terrible of the opera; for others, the most imaginative of directors, who takes unconventional paths in his work. What distinguishes his stagings from the often belabored modernizations of other directors is that he brings out the timelessness and topicality of the works with convincing naturalness.
Ariodante
Sung in English. When this production of Handel’s Ariodante – directed by David Alden and conducted by Ivor Bolton – had ist premiere, it met with unanimous critical and popular acclaim. Alden, as a theatrical modernist, transformed the opera seria into an eroticallycharged nightmare of lust, betrayal and violated innocence. With a superlative cast including Ann Murray, Joan Rodgers and Gwynne Howell this rich and strange Ariodante is a surprisingly modern drama of psychological and physical cruelty.
Ariodante is Handel’s 1735 setting of an episode from Ariosto, in which the King of Scotland’s daughter is treacherously accused of infidelity to her promised husband. The central situation of sexual jealousy and mistaken identity is set amidst a web of intense family
relationships. The range of feelings provoked as the characters develop is caught in music of quite extraordinary emotional power, even by Handel’s own exalted standards.
Great Arias
This on-going series of ten-minute programmes introduces some of opera’s finest
moments, performed and presented by some of the greatest singers of our day, Dame Joan
Sutherland, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Eva Marton, Marilyn Home, Anne Sofie von Otter, Roberto Alagna,
Philip Langridge, René Kollo and Yuri Marusin among them. Their performances are drawn from
recent live recordings of acclaimed productions of key works in the operatic repertoire and
include such high-spots as Vissi d’arte from Puccini’s Tosca, the Mad Scene from Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor, Elektra’s murderous confrontation with her mother in Strauss’s Elektra, and
Leonora’s D’amor sull’ali rosee from the final act of Puccini’s Tosca.
Xerxes
From the English National Opera 1988 Nicholas Hytner’s innovative production has been
much acclaimed and this live recording from the English National Opera features outstanding
performances from a fine English cast, including Dame Ann Murray, Christopher Robson, Jean Rigby,
Lesley Garrett, Rodney Macann and Valerie Masterson. Designer David Fielding adds curious,
surreal touches to his eighteenth-century settings in the London pleasure gardens at Vauxhall,
which heighten the absurdity of the love intrigues in Handel’s comic opera. (Sung in
English)
God Rot Tunbridge Wells!
Tony Palmer’s feature on Handel’s life, scripted by John Osborne, is both extremely amusing and profoundly moving. It centres on the last week of his life, when, outraged by a poor performance of his Messiah in Tunbridge Wells, the decrepit composer took to his bed. Shot on location in Germany, England, Ireland and Italy, the film stars Trevor Howard and features Handel’s music as an integral part of the drama, performed by The English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.
Julius Caesar
Dame Janet Baker, in one of her greatest roles, leads a cast of some of Britain’s finest interpeters of baroque opera and their performance under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras is one of the highest musical excellence. John Copley’s acclaimed English National Opera production was restaged in studio, skilfully using all the technical advantages offered, to create this top quality recording.
The opera was first performed in 1724 at the Haymarket Theatre in London using castrati singers in the heroes’ roles. This production follows modern practice in using women in these parts. Dame Janet’s virtuoso role as Julius Caesar has been heralded as a masterful recreation of the music which Handel wrote for the finest singers of his time. Sung in English.
Cecilia Bartoli: Sacrificium – The Art of the Castrati
Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, one of the most successful classical artists of her time, is a passionate musical explorer who regularly uncovers thrilling but little-known chapters of music history. This time her in-depth research takes her on a fascinating expedition into the world of castrato singers. The legendary art of the castratos continues to exert a strong fascination today, and, despite the great human sacrifice it exacted, this extraordinary period justifies the new assessment that she delivers.
Albrecht Mayer New Seasons – Händel for Oboe and Orchestra
Unlike the piano, the violin or even the flute, the oboe is a relatively rare instrument for a solo career. And when a soloist such as Albrecht Mayer plays the oboe, one wishes composers had written more works for this weetly mellow instrument. Critics write about the “divine spark” that inspires his playing, and about the “miraculous oboe” that turns into “an instrument of seduction.” With his particularly warm tone and exceptionally broad palette of nuances, it’s no surprise that Albrecht Mayer is one of today’s most sought-after international oboists. In this documentary portrait of the oboist, we retrace the musician’s impressive career and witness some of its many high points. Mayer embarked on a professional career in 1990, when he joined the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra as solo oboist. Two years later, he made the transition to the absolute top league with his appointment as solo oboist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and since then he has made countless international appearances, playing under such eminent conductors as Abbado, Rattle and Harnoncourt. In addition to his work as a soloist, Mayer also attaches great importance to chamber music. He is a permanent member of the Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble and also plays with such partners as Thomas Quasthoff, Matthias Goerne and Leif Ove Andsnes.