There are relatively few recordings of Alcina out there, even though Handel’s Tempest-like opera of infatuation, rescue and enchantment is one of his most popular on stage. This new one scores highly, partly for the dramatic relish with which the conductor Marc Minkowski and his Musiciens du Louvre dispatch the music, but principally for a tour de force performance in the title role from the mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená. She keeps the emotional import of the words she sings absolutely front and centre of her delivery, without compromising the shape or sense of the music, and she has fabulous low notes as a bonus. Her two great Act 2 scenes of rejection, vengeance and despair are riveting.
She has top-notch support from Erin Morley, who brings a crystalline soprano to Morgana, Alcina’s flightier sister, Elizabeth DeShong’s richly expressive Bradamante, and Anna Bonitatibus, whose dark, agile voice captures Ruggiero’s impetuosity. Minkowski encourages them to decorate the repeats in their arias lavishly from the off, and all rise to the challenge. The three men aren’t quite this sonorous level, but the only real let-down is the physical CD release, which has no synopsis and an English translation of the libretto that’s chock full of misprints, including a god/cod line worthy of my local chippie.
Stream it on Apple Music (above) or on Spotify
