We are all getting ample chance to listen to most of Handel's operatic output in his anniversary year.
But which do we think are the most successful of the operas - and why?
SERSE, GIULIO CESARE, & RODELINDA seem to be performed and recorded more frequently than the others - is this any indication, or is it more of a self-fulfilling prophecy, selling works to a public which clings onto the few pieces it has heard and recognised? The winsome subtleties of ORLANDO and OTTONE, or indeed the glamourous bravura of RINALDO and RADAMISTO seem to score poorly with both opera companies and recording labels.
What "makes" a successful Handel opera, and why are some more successful than others? A credible and gripping story in the libretto? Some arias which have acquired independent life on "greatest Handel aria" albums of solo performers like Scholl, de Niese, Daniels, or Connolly? Subtle and elegantly-scored numbers such as those set in the Egyptian court of Cleopatra in GIULIO CESARE (with its array of exotic harps and lirone-viols)?
And which recordings have you particularly enjoyed? The question of interpretation seems more vital to the success of these works than with later operas. For example I have enormously enjoyed the William Christie/Arts Florissants performance of SERSE. However, I recently bought the McGegan/Hanover Band recording (downloaded MP3 from Amazon) of the same and I'm completely underwhelmed - ickle-pritty playing without any conviction, singing that seems more suited for Choral Evensong than the opera-house, and no sense whatsoever of the comic situations which underscore the witty libretto. Dearie me :(
For anyone as yet unconvinced by the splendours of Handelian opera, even the credit-crunched might be tempted to reach out for this gripping performance (despite the absence of "star names" in the cast):