Orchestra of Patras, George Petrou - Händel: Arianna in Creta, HWV 32 (2006)

Tracklist

CD1
01. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32: Ouverture
02. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32: Sinfonia
03. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Egeo, mio genitor
04. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Sinfonia
05. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Qual presagio funesto!
06. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Mirami, altero in volto
07. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Non si disperi
08. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Dille, che nel mio seno serbo
09. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Pur siam soli
10. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Deh! lascia un tal desio
11. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Mà, non è questi Alceste?
12. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Nel pugnar col mostro infi do
13. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Speriam; mà non si attenda
14. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Tal' or d'oscuro
15. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Non più, che l'amor tuo m'offende!
16. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Quel cor che adora
17. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Della patria e de' miseri
18. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Sdegnata sei con me
19. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: E mi lasciò il crudele?
20. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Primo: Sdegno, amore

CD2
01. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Oh patria! oh cittadini!
02. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Disseratevi, o porte
03. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Salda quercia in erta balza
04. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Alceste è qui, si tenti
05. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Non ha diffesa
06. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Il soccorer Carilda
07. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Sò che non è più mio
08. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Pensa, che di Carilda
09. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Qual Leon che fere irato
10. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Eh! la speme l'inganna
11. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Narrargli allor saprei
12. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Idolo mio!
13. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Al' fi ne amore
14. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Fuggiam, fuggiam!
15. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Che se fi era poi mi nieghi
16. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Numi! e voi lo soffrite!
17. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Son qual stanco Pellegrin
18. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Perdon ti chiedo.
19. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Se ti condanno
20. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Ah! Silenzio spietato!
21. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Bell' Idolo amato
22. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Quel crudele di mè pietà non sente
23. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Secondo: Se nel bosco resta solo

CD3
01. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Sinfonia
02. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Vorrai dunque, oh Carilda?
03. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Un tenero pensiero
04. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Questa sola speranza
05. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Par che voglia il ciel sereno
06. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Ove son? qual orrore?
07. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Qui ti sfi do, o mostro infame
08. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Hò vinto! grazie ai Numi
09. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Turbato il Mar si vede
10. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Se il Minotauro ei vinse
11. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: In Mar tempestoso
12. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Di te in traccia nè vengo.
13. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Mira adesso questo seno
14. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Meta del mio gior la più gradita
15. Arianna in Creta, HWV 32, Atto Terzo: Bella sorge la speranza



This is the first commercial recording of Arianna in Creta but, just as importantly, it is also the last of Handel's surviving operas to be issued on CD. Handel, according to his usual practice for the London stage, chose to set an old Italian libretto: Arianna e Teseo set by Leonardo Leo for Rome in 1729, although a few of Handel's aria texts were instead taken from a pasticcio that his new London rival Porpora had organised at Naples in 1721.
Handel's opera portrays Theseus' love affair with the Cretan King Minos' daughter Ariadne, the hero's victory over the Minotaur, and his escape from the labyrinth. It ends happily, with the sentiment that love overcomes cruelty.
None of the later dejection when Ariadne is forsaken on Naxos is portrayed.
Curiously, Porpora and the 'Opera of the Nobility' organised Arianna in Nasso at Lincoln's Inn Fields on December 29, 1733, just under a month before Handel's treatment of the Theseus and Ariadne story could make it to the King's Theatre stage. However, Handel's opera was a much greater success, notching up 16 performances and earning a prompt revival at the beginning of the following season. Produced between Orlando and Ariodante, Ariannain Creta does not quite match the pinnacles that surround it in the chronology of Handel's works but this new recording illustrates that it is high time Arianna's reputation was restored.
The cocky villain Tauride, who spends the opera spouting off at Teseo, opens proceedings with 'Mirami' (a marvellous portrayal of swaggering arrogance, not quite captured by the Orchestra of Patras's elegant phrasing but sung resolutely by Marita Paparizou) and the spectacular 'Qual leon' (featuring two magnificent horns, although it is rushed a fraction here). The secondary lovers Carilda and Alceste get a few impressive scenes too, especially Alceste's sublime 'Son qual stanco pellegrino' with a mellifluous cello solo (the soprano castrato Carlo Scalzi might have stolen the show with this in 1734).
Soprano Mata Katsuli delivers Arianna's taxing arias with sensitivity.
However, the towering figure of the opera is Mary-Ellen Nesi's heroic Teseo. This was the first role Handel composed for the star castrato Carestini and every aria is a gem: 'Nel pugnar' is an extensive florid showpiece; sentimental reconciliation is tenderly expressed in 'Sdegnata sei con me'; and Handel rises to the challenge of the Minotaur scene with a stirring accompanied recitative and a dashing heroic aria ('Quì ti sfido').
George Petrou has a firm grasp on Handelian style and presents a persuasive case for the opera's merits. The predominantly Greek cast and period-instrument orchestra will not be familiar to many but, despite some approximate orchestral intonation, they reveal that Ariannain Creta is well worth investigation.

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