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George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759): Italian cantatas

[I] "Un'alma innamorata"
Francesca Aspromonte, soprano
Arsenale Sonoro
Dir: Boris Begelman
rec: Dec 2022, Fusignano, Auditorium 'Arcangelo Corelli'
Pentatone - PTC5187083 (© 2023) (67'06")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Mi palpita il cor (HWV 132b); Sonata for violin and bc in g minor (HWV 364a)a; Sonata for two violins and bc in g minor, op. 2,6 (HWV 391)ab; S'un dì m'appaga (HWV 223); Tu fedel, tu costante? (HWV 171); Un'alma innamorata (HWV 173)

Boris Begelman (soloa), Andrea Vassalle, Mauro Massa, Angelo Calvo (solob), Maria Cristina Vasi, violin; Ludovico Minasi, cello; Riccardo Coelati, double bass; Giangiacomo Pinardi, archlute; Federica Bianchi, harpsichord

[II] "Handel in Rome"
Nardus Williams, soprano
Dunedin Consort
Dir: John Butt
rec: Jan 19 - 21, 2024, Stoke d'Abernon, Menuhin Hall
Linn Records - CKD 747 (© 2024) (60'20")
Liner-notes: E; lyrics - translations: E
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Armida abbandonata (HWV 105); Ero e Leandro (Qual ti riveggio, oh Dio) (HWV 150); Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (HWV 46a) (Tu del ciel ministro eletto); Tra le fiamme (HWV 170)

László Rózsa, Olwen Foulkes, recorder; Alexandra Bellamy, Frances Norbury, oboe; Matthew Truscott, Sarah Bevan-Baker, Hilary Michael, Huw Daniel, Rebecca Livermore, Kristin Deeken, violin; John Crockatt, viola; Jonathan Manson, Lucia Capellaro, cello; Hannah Turnbull, double bass; Liz Kenny, theorbo; John Butt, harpsichord

Scores

When George Frideric Handel arrived in Italy, he must have been especially interested in one of the main genres which had its roots there: opera. However, he also made acquaintance with a genre that was equally appreciated: the cantata. In its subject matter it was close to opera, as it also focused on love and its trials and tribulations. The protagonists were often characters from antique mythology, just like those in operas. Although many cantatas were written by Italian composers, it is unlikely he had heard or seen them, as they were mostly not published. He enthusiastically embraced the genre, and started to compose cantatas for the various patrons of music and the arts he met during his sojourn, such as the Cardinals Ottoboni and Pamphili and the Marquis Ruspoli. In their palaces music of various kinds was performed, including oratorios, serenatas and cantatas. The cantata was the favourite musical genre of the academies, based on the ideal of Arcadia, the imaginary world of shepherds and nymphs.

Cantatas are often described as pocket size operas. That is only partly true. Some were written for a very small scoring of one voice and basso continuo. In such works the - mostly single - protagonist deals with his happy or unhappy love. However, there were also cantatas for a larger scoring, with strings and sometimes also winds. These were often also longer than the two pairs of recitative and aria that had become the standard, thanks to in particular Alessandro Scarlatti. In Handel's oeuvre both kinds are represented.

Mi palpita il cor is one of the small-scale cantatas, which must have been one of Handel's favourite works, as he reworked it a number of times for various scorings after his arrival in England. At first is was set for soprano and basso continuo; here we get the second version, in which an oboe is added, and this version may be the first reworking from his English period. The protagonist is in love with the nymph Chloris and hopes for Cupid's piercing her heart. The structure is unusual: it opens with a mixture of recitative and aria. The first real aria has a siciliano rhythm. Un'alma innamorata has a comparable scoring, but then with a violin instead of an oboe. It consists of three pairs of recitative and aria. This cantata was performed in the summer of 1707 at Vignanelli, the country estate of Marquis Ruspoli near Rome; the vocal part may have been sung by Margherita Durastanti. The content is different from that of most cantatas about love: the protagonist does not speak about his personal fate, but rather treats the subject of love, which turns a person into a prisoner. He then laughs the trials of love away: "I enjoy myself, I laugh and I hope, and love more than one sweetheart". Apparently he does not believe in constancy, a frequent subject of cantatas, like Tu fedel, tu costante?.

This cantata has been preserved in two versions. The probably first version, included in the Handel catalogue as HWV 171a, was discovered some time ago in Ton Koopman's library, and includes a part for oboe. Here we get the apparently second version, scored for soprano, two violins and basso continuo, which was written in Rome. It may have been given its first performance by Margherita Durastanti. It consists of four pairs of recitative and aria, preceded by a sinfonia. The protagonist accuses her lover Fileno of being unfaithful, as he loves different women for different reasons: "[With] your fickle and inconstant character you are, oh Fileno, the faithless betrayer of us all, not a faithful lover". The penultimate aria includes a strong contrast between the A and B sections. In the last aria she says that she will find a new and faithful lover or, if she does not find one, "this heart of mine will return to its old liberty, without love". After such a statement a dacapo would weaken the message; there is also no ritornello.

Francesca Aspramonte has a nice voice, which suits this repertoire rather well. She treats the recitatives with the rhythmic freedom they need, and she shows to have the dramatic feeling the cantatas require, without making them too operatic. The embellishments in the dacapos are stylistically convincing, but in a few cases she crosses the tessitura of her part, which is not required. Unfortunately her singing is marred by an incessant vibrato, which is not wide, but is not what this music needs. The instrumental parts are excellently executed, especially by Boris Begelman in his obbligatos and the violin sonata, including fine ornamentation.

The cantatas just discussed are fairly well-known, and from that angle this disc does not add anything substantial to the discography, except that we get here, as a kind of encore, a single aria, which has never been recorded before. S'un di m'appaga, la mia crudele was written much later than the cantatas: around 1740. According to the liner-notes it was meant as a substitute aria, but if the time of composition is right, then we are in a stage of Handel's career in which he had left opera behind. Most other single arias in the Handel catalogue are of a much earlier date. Could it have been written for an opera by another composer, or an opera pasticcio?

The second disc includes three cantatas of different scorings and content. What they have in common is that the subject matter roots in classical Antiquity. The names in the titles all refer to mythological characters, whereas Tra le fiamme is about Icarus, the son of Daedalus, architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power.

The latter is the least dramatic cantata and has a rather moral tenor; the text is from the pen of Cardinal Pamphili. It is scored for soprano and an instrumental ensemble of two recorders or oboes, two violins, viola da gamba and basso continuo. The scoring for a viola da gamba is unusual, as in Italy this instrument had become obsolete. It has been suggested that this part was written for Ernst Christian Hesse, a gamba virtuoso who was in the service of the court in Dresden and who visited Italy in 1708. This could also give a clue about the time the cantata was written, as in that year Handel composed and performed his oratorio La Resurrezione, which also includes a part for viola da gamba. The cantata is about the mythological story of Daedalus and Icarus, which is used as an allegory for love. "Icarus is known as the boy who flew too close to the sun and tragically died as a result. The story of Icarus is sometimes used as shorthand for someone who was too ambitious or tried to do something too risky, suffering devastating consequences." (Study.com) The first aria, whose A section is repeated at the end, says: "You play amid the flames for fun, o heart of mine, in search of happiness, but a fair beauty is deceiving you. A thousand moths perish in the fire, and there is only one phoenix that rises from the ashes after death". Handel made use of material from his first opera in Italy Rodrigo and the cantata Apollo e Dafne, both written in 1707.

The text of Ero e Leandro may have been written by another Cardinal, Pietro Ottoboni. It is scored for soprano, two oboes, strings and basso continuo. "Hero finds her love, Leander, drowned, tears out her hair, thus symbolically rejecting the beauty which had led to Leander's fascination with her (and thus his death), then drowns herself." (Wikipedia, after Ellen T. Harris) The cantata comprises three recitative-aria pairs, where Hero is speaking. It closes with a recitative of a narrator, who tells how she drowns herself.

The most operatic of the three cantatas is Armida abbandonata. Armida is a character from the epic poem Gerusalemme liberata. by Torquato Tasso. She has been the subject of many cantatas and operas; the author of the libretto of Handel's cantata is not known. It was first performed in the palace of the Marquis Ruspoli by Margherita Durastanti. The story is simple: Armida is deserted by her lover and urges the sea monsters to destroy him. The text is characterised by strongly opposing feelings, as Armida hates him for having left her, but at the same time continues to adore him. This is reflected by contrasting arias: the first is a lamento, the second an aria of madness and rage. Musically the cantata is remarkable for the opening accompagnato, where the soprano is accompanied by arpeggios from the first violin, whereas the basso continuo is omitted.

Handel's cantatas are rather well-known, and that goes for both recordings reviewed here. The exception may be Ero e Leandro, which seems to attract less interest than a piece like Armida abbandonata. As I wrote at the start of this review, the connection between cantatas like these and opera is different. Most chamber cantatas, which were performed at the gatherings of the academies, require a rather intimate approach. The performer should realise that he/she is not on the opera stage. However, as one may have gathered, Handel's cantatas are often real pocket-size operas. That certainly goes for Armida abbandonata, which is a kind of opera scene. It is telling that Handel reused material from his cantatas in his operas, this way underlining the connection between the two genres.

This justifies the dramatic approach to these three cantatas by Nardus Williams. She undoubtedly is a great operatic talent; she is at the start of her career and has already made appearances in opera. This is the first time I have heard her, and overall I like what she brings to the table. She has a nice voice, which is well suited to baroque opera, and she delivers differentiated performances. Here and there, and especially in Tra le fiamme, she uses too much vibrato too frequently, but it is not very wide and she does not use it indiscriminately. There are also moments where she nearly completely avoids it. These are expressive performances, which lovers of Handel's dramatic music should investigate. It will be interesting to see how Nardus Williams develops with time. The Dunedin Consort is here her excellent partner, playing with more panache than I have heard on other occasions, but entirely appropriate given the character of the programme.

Johan van Veen (© 2025)

Relevant links:

Francesca Aspromonte
Arsenale Sonoro
Dunedin Consort


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