Georg Frideric Handel: Alcina (Stuttgart, 1999)
 

Cast: Catherine Naglestad (Alcina), Alice Coote (Ruggiero), Helene Schneiderman (Bradamante), Catriona Smith (Morgana), Rolf Romei (Oronte), Michael Ebbecke (Melisso), Claudia Mahnke (Oberto), Heinz Gerger (Astolfo), Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Alan Hacker (conductor), Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito (stage directors)

Recorded at the Staatsoper Stuttgart in 1999

Published by Arthaus Musik in 2002 in two versions:
NTSC (100 339/region 0/ with menus in English, French, Spanish and Japanese and subtitles in the same languages and Italian), and PAL (100 338/region 0/ with menus in English, German, French and Spanish and subtitles in the same languages and Italian).

Technical Details:
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Running time: 159 minutes

Sung in Italian
 
This disc will inspire controversy. It is at once faithful and violative; beautiful and disgusting; literal and perverse.
 
The single set is a room in Alcina's palace dominated by a frame appearing to be perhaps two meters high by five wide. It is at times a distorting mirror, at times a clear glass, at times an empty frame depending on how the singers use its space. Behind the frame is a wall with or without door or balcony which may move or stand still; those seen through the frame may move or be moved. In short, it is an access port into another sort of space, though no alien space is called for in the score. In the rear left corner of the room is a jumble of weaponry: swords, a French horn, revolvers, a rifle, shoes, helmets, a wicker chair. Early on, many are arrayed on the stage; they remain throughout the opera, occasionally being arranged or fondled.
 
To begin with the unalloyed pleasure, the conducting of Alan Hacker and the playing of the Staatsorchester are exemplary. The instruments are sonorous but they are played stylistically. The performers have clearly been selected for their acting as well as their vocal skills. Matters have gone as far as in Felsenstein's work, but for this production to succeed at all, the singers must be credible while doing incredible things - and singing very difficult music. All do remarkably well physically, with a minor quibble that our Bradamante appears a decade or so too mature for her Ruggiero.
 
Now to the soloists in some detail. Naglestad succeeds in most respects but substitutes slinking for menace both physically and vocally. Coote is excellent in all ways once over some hoarseness in the first half-dozen scenes. Schneiderman makes light of her physical and vocal assignments - a feat I would not have expected of any artist. Smith's Morgana is problematic; she portrays a harridan with her sleazy attire and shrill top notes. That is particularly painful when 'Tornami a vagheggiar' is restored to her, as here, instead of being taken over by the prima donna. (Since the four roles with top billing are all female, the 'donne' must be counted more deeply than in most works.) Romei's tenor is a bit rough for the demands but he handles the action with aplomb. Ebbecke is sonorous and authoritative, though there are moments of suspect intonation. Mahnke does not quite know how to portray a lad but has no problem with the singing. Gerger is capable in his small part.
 
It must be noted that there are some dominant images which overwhelm the singing - elements of the staging which cause the viewer to puzzle about their justification while the roulades and trills are playing in the back of the mind. They include the proclivity of all (save our Melisso) to lose clothing either by removing it or by having it removed. Sexual encounters are suggested - often quite clearly - in strange circumstances and in odd combinations. For example, Oronte strips to shorts and shirt to attack Ruggiero while singing of Alcina, their common amour. Morgana fondles and partially disrobes Bradamante while her subject is bound hand and foot, captive to her aria. And speaking of 'foot', there is a persistent and inexplicable foot and shoe fetish which eludes my reading of the libretto.
 
Again, it is not that these actions are in themselves disturbing but that they divert attention from the music. Truth to tell, that is not altogether bad. The audience for Handel's operas did not sit rapturously, devouring each note; they milled about, discussing this and that, interrupting for the music when a favorite was singing. Sitting at home, one can relish the more than two and a half hours in modest doses interrupted by mental refreshment - or one can let the mind wander over the antics on stage while the music tells another tale in the background.
 
Technically, the disc is outstanding with brilliant video even where the lighting is low. Crystalline sound permits the text to be understood with the aid of the singers' excellent enunciation. [NTSC version reviewed]
 
Related website:
Arthaus Musik www.arthaus-musik.de
 
Michael Richter, 1 June 2002
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.