CD Review
Feb. 9, 2006. 01:00 AM
CLASSICAL MUSIC CRITIC
GEORGE
FRIDERIC HANDEL
Rinaldo
(Naxos)
Toronto
conductor Kevin Mallon and the Aradia Ensemble teamed up with Opera in Concert
to present this full-length, three-CD recording of Handel’s 1711 masterpiece Rinaldo.
The instrumental writing is as exciting as the vocal pyrotechnics. The Canadian
singers are uniformly good, with particularly nice work from bass-baritone Sean
Watson as Argante and soprano Barbara Hannigan as his sorceress-lover Armida.
The orchestral and continuo playing are of the highest order. The final-act
dramatics are impressive. Like most of the operas from Handel’s Italian period,
this one relies on arias, not great choruses for aural impact. There is only
one chorus, an aren’t-we-all-happy-now affair, at the very end. This marathon
effort was recorded at Grace Church-on-the-Hill in 2004.