Serse is one of Handel’s latest and most frequently performed operas, famous for its marvellous opening aria “Ombra mai fu”. At the centre of the confusing tragicomedy, very loosely based upon the life of Xerxes I of Persia, is a powerful and lovesick royal eccentric, King Serse. Rising opera star Gaëlle Arquez in the title role of Serse “scintillates with her nimble, luminous mezzo-soprano”, singing “irresistibly beautiful, impassioned, furious – but never mean” (Frankfurter Rundschau). Conducted by Constantinos Carydis, the performance is also musically excellent. “Over and over again, the orchestra, in an intelligent, often witty way, comments with improvised gestures on the stage proceedings, the fine dynamic differentiation, and the many eloquent timbres” (Stuttgarter Nachrichten). Frankfurt’s excellent Opern- and Museumsorchester contributes “all sorts of refinements” to this “musical smash hit” (Deutschlandfunk) and „In Frankfurt Tilman Köhler ensures a three-hour short abundant and furious banquett… a great evening of opera.“ (Deutschlandfunk).
Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Triumphantly premiered in 1724 at the King’s Theatre in London, George Frideric Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto masterfully combines human emotions: Triumph with sorrow, despair with happiness and love with profound melancholy in the face of the transience of all earthly life. Star director Keith Warner creates a production that imaginatively blends silent film and baroque opera, delightfully echoing Mankiewicz’s legendary Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. An excellent cast of singers is led by two of the world’s leading countertenors: Bejun Mehta and Christophe Dumaux. Louise Alder shines as the seductive Cleopatra. Patricia Bardon, Simon Bailey and Jake Arditti are further highlights in this extraordinary group of singers, while Ivor Bolton provides the appropriate soundtrack on the podium of the Concentus Musicus Wien. “Cheers for all involved” Kurier. “A must for baroque opera fans.” Kronen Zeitung
Saul
After his impressive Messiah of 2009, Claus Guth once again succeeds in a breathtaking realisation of a Handel oratorio with Saul. Florian Boesch in the title role dominates the production as the ruler slipping into madness. He is an elemental force that attracts attention on stage like a black hole. As David, British countertenor Jake Arditti gives a perfect presentation of the change from the innocent boy to the man who, after many dramatic events, becomes Saul’s successor. “The pure Handel stroke of luck!” (Neue Musikzeitung). Anna Prohaska, Giulia Semenzato and Rupert Charlesworth perform convincingly the roles of Saul’s children who succumb to David’s physical and spiritual charms. The Freiburger Barockorchester under Christopher Moulds holds a finely textured balance between powerful ensemble and delicate solo passages of Handel’s score. The Arnold Schönberg Choir’s nuanced singing – alternately exulting, admonitory or mournful – is as inspiring as the sound of the renowned period-instrument ensemble.
Raphaël Pichon conducts Handel & Bach
Bach and Handel, opera and oratorio, and extreme affects such as frenzy and deep suffering – Raphaël Pichon and his Ensemble Pygmalion at the Philharmonie de Paris. The phenomenal French coloratura soprano Sabine Devieilhe makes the colorful program shine as a vivid Baroque panorama. PROGRAM Handel: Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno: “Un pensiero nemico di pace”, Giulio Cesare in Egitto: “Che sento? O dio!…Se pietà”; Bach: Cantatas: Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal, BWV 146: Sinfonia, Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut, BWV 199, “Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe”, BWV 156: Sinfonia, “Geist und Seele wird verwirret”, BWV 35: Concerto, “Ich habe genug”, BWV 82 (excerpts)
Teseo
From the Schlosstheater Neues Palais Potsdam 2004 Handel’s five act opera Teseo was premièred in 1713 at the Queen’s Theatre in London. After flopping with his previous work Il pastor fido Handel tied up to his big success Rinaldo and again created an opera with a heroic subject, sophisticated stagecraft and a big orchestra. In 1947 the opera was rediscovered and staged for the first time after Handel’s death at the Göttinger Händelfestpiele, followed by a production at the Goethe-Theater Bad Lauchstädt and few others. Finally, in 2004 Handel’s jewel of operatic work was performed at the beautiful setting of the Schlosstheater Potsdam under the direction of Axel Köhler. (Sung in Italian)